Institution: | aAstronomisches Rechen-Institut am Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstrasse 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany bMax-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse, 85748 Garching, Germany |
Abstract: | The general relativistic model of Cooperstock and Tieu, which attempts to fit rotation curves of spiral galaxies without invoking dark matter, is tested empirically using observations of the Milky Way. In particular, predictions for the mass density in the solar neighbourhood and the vertical density distribution at the position of the Sun are compared with observations. It is shown that the model of Cooperstock and Tieu, which was so constructed that it gives an excellent fit of the observed rotation curve, singularly fails to reproduce the observed local mass density and the vertical density profile of the Milky Way. |