THE LOCAL GROUP OF GALAXIES* Sidney van den Bergh National Research Council of Canada Dominion Astrophysical Observatory Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics 5071 West Saanich Road Victoria, British Columbia, V8X 4M6 Canada e-mail:
[email protected] Summary Hubble's (1936, p. 125) view that the Local Group (LG) is "a typical, small group of nebulae which is isolated in the general field" is confirmed by modern data. The total number of certain and probable Group members presently stands at 35. The half-mass radius of the Local Group is found to be Rh . 350 kpc. The zero-velocity surface, which separates the Local Group from the field that is expanding with the Hubble flow, has a radius Ro = 1.18 " 0.15 Mpc. The 12 total mass of the LG is MLG = (2.3 " 0.6) x 10 Mu . Most of this mass appears to be concentrated in the Andromeda and Milky Way subgroups of the LG. The total luminosity of the Local Group is found to be MV = -22.0:. This yields a mass-to-light ratio (in solar units) of M/LV = 44 " 12. The solar motion with respect to the LG is 306 " 18 km s-1 , directed towards an apex at R = 99E " 5E, - 1 and b = -4E " 4E. The velocity dispersion within the LG is Fr = 61 " 8 km s . The galaxies NGC 3109, Antlia, Sextans A and Sextans B appear to form a distinct grouping with Vr = +114 " 12 kpc relative to the LG, that is located * Based, in part, on a series of lectures given at the University of Victoria in the early spring of 1999.