Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Rotation curves of high luminosity spiral galaxies are flat, to distances as great as r=49 kpc. This implies a significant mass at large r. Rotational velocities increase about 20 km/s across a spiral arm, as predicted by the density wave theory. By analogy, it is suggested that our Galaxy has a flat rotation curve out to r∼60 kpc, with V ∼ constant at near the solar rotational velocity, and m ∼7×1011 m⊙. Values of A and B imply that the sun is not located in a spiral arm.