Russian astronomers accurately determine the speed of the sun’s movement around the center of the galaxy

But not so long ago, astronomers obtained new data collected by researchers at the famous Gaia Observatory.

Researchers from Russia decided to use this data to determine the rotation speed of our Milky Way galaxy and to determine the rotational speed of the Sun in this reference frame.

For this, the researchers chose 9750 stars of the OB category, which are small and a few million years old, but have a large mass, as their astronomical “weight” exceeds the mass of the Sun by more than 10 times. These stars are very bright, and therefore can be seen from very great distances.

These three characteristics (small age, large mass and brightness) allow the construction of a large structure of the galaxy and its movement, as well as determining the speed of the rotational movement of the sun relative to the center of the galaxy.

And it became clear to the researchers, that the results they obtained are consistent with the results of other researchers (232.5 – 243 kilometers per second), but they are more accurate, because they are based on the latest astronomical data for stars.