NGC 5694: A GLOBULAR CLUSTER ESCAPING FROM THE GALAXY?

A redetermination of the radial velocity and distance of the globular cluster NGC 5694 reveals that with .respect to the galactic center it lies at r = 26 ::::: 5 kpc with a velocity of Vel -2731 19 km -1 The escape velocity at the location of the cluster is Vesc = 190 1 35 km -1 for a conventional mass model of the Galaxy, which would indicate that NGC 5694 is indeed in a hyperbolic orbit. Alternatively, assuming the cluster to be in a bound orbit would require the galactic halo within r 25 kpc to contain a mass 0.8 x 1011 9)? , comparable with that of the disk. Key words: globular clusters - radial velocities - galactic structure