Top: spatial distribution of the 298 spectroscopically confirmed PNs in the halo of M 87, colour-coded according to their V_LOS and their size scaled according to their probability of belonging to the smooth halo. The centre of M 87 is shown by the black circle, and the photometric major axis of the galaxy by the dashed line. Middle: smoothed mean velocity field for M 87 using the probability weighted Kernel average of the PNs. Bottom: errors on the smooth velocity map computed by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The mean velocity map indicates that the kinematics is characterised by ordered motion along the galaxy’s major axis. The large positive velocities north-east of M 87 without counterparts in the south-west are likely due to the presence of several PNs with large (∼2σ) velocities relative to M 87 (see text). North is up, east to the left.