Related papers: Modeling the Milky Way as a Dry Galaxy
Recently the commissioning APOGEE observations of the Galactic bulge reported that a significant fraction of stars ($\sim10%$) are in a cold ($\sigma_{\rm V} \approx 30$ km/s) high velocity peak (Galactocentric radial velocity $\approx 200$…
We use particle data from the Illustris simulation, combined with individual kinematic constraints on the mass of the Milky Way (MW) at specific distances from the Galactic center, to infer the radial distribution of the MW's dark matter…
We use Schwarzschild's orbit-superposition technique to construct self-consistent models of the Galactic bar. Using $\chi^2$ minimisation, we find that the best-fit Galactic bar model has a pattern speed $\Omega_{\rm p}=60 \rm{km s^{-1}…
We present axisymmetric maximum disk mass models for a sample of 74 spiral galaxies taken from the southern sky Fabry-Perot Tully-Fisher survey (Schommer et al. 1993). The sample contains galaxies spanning a large range of morphologies and…
Using $N$-body simulations we study the buckling instability in a galactic bar forming in a Milky Way-like galaxy. The galaxy is initially composed of an axisymmetric, exponential stellar disk embedded in a spherical dark matter halo. The…
The structure, extent, and mass of the Milky Way's (MW) dark matter (DM) halo are observationally challenging to determine due to our position within the Galaxy. To overcome this limitation, we study a combined sample of 127 MW analogs from…
The size of a galaxy is one of the fundamental parameters that reflects its growth and assembly history. Traditionally, the size of the Milky Way has been characterized by the scale length of the disk, based on the assumption of an…
We explore the properties of Milky Way subhalos in self-interacting dark matter models for moderate cross sections of 1 to 5 cm$^2$g$^{-1}$ using high-resolution zoom-in N-body simulations. We include the gravitational potential of a…
Here we present a kinematic study of the Galactic halo out to a radius of $\sim$ 60 kpc, using 4664 blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars selected from the SDSS/SEGUE survey, to determine key dynamical properties. Using a maximum likelihood…
We use $N$-body simulations to investigate the excitation of bending waves in a Milky Way-like disc-bulge-halo system. The dark matter halo consists of a smooth component and a population of subhaloes while the disc is composed of thin and…
Observations reveal that mature spiral galaxies consist of stars, gases and plasma approximately distributed in a thin disk of circular shape, usually with a central bulge. The rotation velocities quickly increase from the galactic center…
Stars and their kinematics provide one of the tools available for studies of the shapes of galaxies and their halos. In this review I focus on two specific applications: the shape of the Milky Way dark halo and the shape of the LMC disk.…
Recent observational studies have uncovered a small number of very metal-poor stars with cold kinematics in the Galactic disc and bulge. However, their origins remain enigmatic. We select a total of 138 Milky Way (MW) analogs from the TNG50…
In this work, two new axisymmetric models for the Galactic mass distribution are presented. Motivated by recent results, these two models include the contribution of a stellar thin disc and of a thick disc, as massive as the thin…
The Milky Way is a unique laboratory, where stellar properties can be measured and analyzed in detail. In particular, stars in the older populations encode information on the mechanisms that led to the formation of our Galaxy. In this…
We describe a new phenomenon of `bar damping' that may have played an important role in shaping the Milky Way bar and bulge as well as its spiral structure. We use a collisionless N-body simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy initially…
We map the stellar structure of the Galactic thick disk and halo by applying color-magnitude diagram (CMD) fitting to photometric data from the SEGUE survey, allowing, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of their structure at both…
We examine the metallicity trends in the Milky Way (MW) bulge - using APOGEE DR13 data - and explore their origin by comparing two N-body models of isolated galaxies which develop a bar and a boxy/peanut (b/p) bulge. Both models have been…
The signatures of the formation and evolution of a galaxy are imprinted in its stars. Their velocities, ages, and chemical compositions present major constraints on models of galaxy formation, and on various processes such as the gas…
We build a sample of distant (D > 80 kpc) stellar halo stars with measured radial velocities. Faint ($20 < g <22$) candidate blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars were selected using the deep, but wide, multi-epoch Sloan Digital Sky Survey…