Lessons from the Milky Way: the Kapteyn Universe

TL;DR

This paper reviews Kapteyn's model of the Milky Way, highlighting its accurate vertical structure but also its misconceptions, especially regarding interstellar absorption and the interpretation of star streams, which impacted its overall validity.

Contribution

It critically analyzes Kapteyn's historical model, clarifying which aspects were correct and identifying key misconceptions that influenced its development.

Findings

Kapteyn's vertical star distribution was accurate.

Misinterpretation of star streams led to flawed rotational assumptions.

Neglect of interstellar absorption was a significant error.

Abstract

Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn (1851-1922) presented a model for the distribution of stars in space together with a dynamical interpretation in terms of an equilibrium between the gravitational field of the stars and their random motion and rotation. In the vertical direction Kapteyn's results are substantially correct. Usually the Kapteyn Universe is described as being flawed due to neglect of interstellar absorption. Kapteyn was led to adopt this on the basis of widely accepted evidence by Shapley on an absence of reddening of stars in globular clusters. But another, equally important misconception was Kapteyn's interpretation of the two Star Streams as manifestations of two groups of stars rotating around a center in opposite directions. This was supported by the observation of very different mixes in stellar types in the two streams. Had Kapteyn adopted the absorption as he himself had determined it he would not have been able to arrive at a consistent picture.