Velocity dispersion is the standard deviation of velocities about their mean. Its tensor form records anisotropy, while a line-of-sight measurement combines intrinsic kinematics with projection and observational weighting.
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Velocity dispersion is a measure of the range of velocities within a group of objects, such as stars in a galaxy or galaxies in a cluster. It quantifies how much the velocities of the objects deviate from the average velocity of the group. In a more technical sense, it is defined as the standard deviation of the velocities of the objects in the sample. In astrophysics, velocity dispersion is an important metric because it provides insights into the dynamics and mass distribution of celestial bodies.