The outer rotation curve of the Milky Way

Abstract
A straightforward determination of the circular-speed curve vc(R) of the Milky Way suggests that near the Sun vc starts to rise approximately linearly with R. If this result were correct, the Galactic mass density would have to be independent of radius at RR0. We show that the apparent linear rise in vc arises naturally if the true circular-speed curve is about constant or gently falling at R0 < R ≾ 2R0, but most tracers that appear to be at R ≿ 1.25R0 are actually concentrated into a ring of radius R1 ≃ 1.6R0.
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