Optical Determinations of the Galactic Pole (Paper IV)

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Abstract
A discussion is given of two new determinations of the galactic pole, based on recent surveys of distant OB stars and Cepheids (Table I). It is shown that, within the observational uncertainty, the plane defined by all optical objects observed between 1000 and 4000 pc from the Sun is parallel to the plane defined by the neutral hydrogen. It is concluded, however, that the optical objects should not be used in the determination of a new galactic pole because (i) they represent a very limited sample of the Galaxy, (ii) they are not free from the influence of observational selection (absorption), (iii) they are partly situated in the outer distorted regions of the Galaxy and (iv) they are closely related to the neutral hydrogen and therefore not really independent.

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