Madeline Horn edited The_next_question_I_needed__.tex  over 8 years ago

Commit id: 8a1ac6b685610d395ff5faa1bdb6738d686128dc

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The next question I needed to answer was which radial velocity along the line of nodes I should use to calculate the orbital velocity. To find the mass of the whole galaxy, you need to find the mass enclosed in the orbit. In other words, you need to take the velocity of the point on the line of nodes furthest from the center point becausethe stars orbit  that is most toward the outside of the galaxy stellar orbit  will enclose the most mass. We can do this because the mass enclosed affects the orbit of the stars on the line of nodes, so the whole mass of the galaxy affects the very end point on the line of nodes. In order to find the radial velocity at the furthest stellar orbit, you need to take the velocity of the last value on the line of nodes and subtract the velocity from the center point in order to find the true radial velocity. That means, I did: