{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.04883720930232558, 'fraction_numerical': 0.02868217054263566, 'mean_word_length': 4.564655172413793, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 3, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The Sun’s distance from the Galactic Centre and mid-plane, and the Galactic old bulge’s morphology: 715 VVV Type II Cepheids


 A statistical method is employed in tandem with new VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) near-infrared observations to determine the Sun’s distance from the Galactic Centre (r0, GC), the Sun’s height from the local mid-plane (z0), and to likewise infer the shape of the Galactic ∼10 Gyr old bulge. Specifically, the conclusions stem from an investigation of 715 high-latitude (|b| > 1°) and centrally symmetric concentrated Type II Cepheids (T2Cs) recently identified in the VVV survey by Braga et al. The analysis yields r0 = 8.35 ± 0.10 kpc and z0 = 10 ± 2 pc. The T2Cs distribution within the effective bulge radius rbulge = 2–3 kpc is an ellipsoid exhibiting axial ratios of ≈1:0.7:0.6, with the major axis inclined at an angle θ ≈ −3° to the Sun–GC sightline. T2Cs do not trace a prominent barred structure at distances >1 kpc from the GC. A key conclusion is that analyses of independent optical and infrared Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) and VVV observations yield consistent results (e.g. r0 > 8.0 kpc and both observations display a comparable shape of an ellipsoid), thus providing a constrained and reduced systematic uncertainty.