Gaia's velocity map (Gaia Data Release 3)

which uses Gaia DR3 proper motions, APOGEE DR17 line-of-sight velocities and spectro-photometric distances derived from astroNN neural-network (Leung & Bovy, 2019), with the corresponding plot derived in the paper: "Gaia Data Release 3: Mapping the asymmetric disc of the Milky Way" by the Gaia Collaboration, Drimmel, R., et al. 2022.

We see how the extension of the sample is larger with Gaia DR3 and the resolution is better. The cloverleaf pattern of negative-positive-negative-positive radial velocities is also clearly seen, which corresponds to stars orbiting in the Galactic bar. The far side of the Galaxy is not visible by Gaia though the pattern is clearly detectable. The change in sign is aligned with the bar axes.

This is the first time the velocity pattern of the Milky Way is so well resolved, thanks to Gaia DR3.

Credits ESA/Gaia/DPAC, using figures from the paper "Gaia Data Release 3: Mapping the asymmetric disc of the Milky Way" by the Gaia Collaboration, Drimmel, R., et al. 2022. ; and from Leung+2022.

Acknowledgements: M. Romero-Gómez, L. Chemin