Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-astrophysics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/7/a/i/solution

For an ensemble of nearly circular stellar orbits with randomly oriented planes, radial motion is small while tangential motion is substantial: . The two tangential variances remain equal by spherical symmetry. There need not be bulk rotation even though individual stars move on nearly circular paths. The anisotropy parameter is strongly negative; its exactly circular limit is singular as .

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