Local stellar kinematics from RAVE data - I. Local standard of rest

Abstract

We analyse a sample of 82 850 stars from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey, with well-determined velocities and stellar parameters, to isolate a sample of 18 026 high-probability thin-disc dwarfs within 600 pc of the Sun. We derive space motions for these stars, and deduce the solar space velocity with respect to the local standard of rest. The peculiar solar motion we derive is in excellent agreement in radial U-circle dot and vertical W-circle dot peculiar motions with other recent determinations. Our derived tangential peculiar velocity, V-circle dot, agrees with very recent determinations, which favour values near 13 km s-1, in disagreement with earlier studies. The derived values are not significantly dependent on the comparison sample chosen, or on the method of analysis. The local Galaxy seems very well dynamically relaxed, in a near symmetric potential.