Related papers: The Milky Way as a Key to Structural Evolution in …
The formation of galaxies can be understood in terms of the assembly patterns of each type of galactic component. To perform this kind of analysis, is necessary to define some criteria to separate those components. Decomposition methods…
The structure of spiral galaxies is essential to understanding the dynamics and evolution of disk galaxies; however, the precise nature of spiral arms remains uncertain. Two challenges in understanding the mechanisms driving spirals are how…
By analyzing a N-body simulation of a bulge formed simply via a bar instability mechanism operating on a kinematically cold stellar disk, and by comparing the results of this analysis with the structural and kinematic properties of the main…
Large-scale warps in the outer parts of spiral galaxy discs have been observed for almost forty years, but their origin remains obscure. We review the dynamics of warped galaxy discs. We identify several mechanisms that could excite warps,…
The current knowledge of the abundance structure in the Milky Way is reviewed. Special emphasis is put on recent results for stars with kinematics typical of the thin and the thick disks, respectively, and how these results can, apart from…
In the absence of an interaction, central bars might be the most effective mechanism for radial motions of gas in barred spiral galaxies, which represent two-thirds of disc galaxies. The dynamical effects induced by bars in the first few…
The magnetic fields of spiral galaxies are so strong that they cannot be primordial. Their typical values are over one billion times higher than any value predicted for the early Universe. Explaining this immense growth and incorporating it…
We will discuss some highlights concerning the chemical evolution of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. First we will describe the main ingredients necessary to build a model for the chemical evolution of the Milky Way. Then we will illustrate some…
We study the evolution of Milky Way thick and thin discs in the light of the most recent observational data. In particular, we analyze abundance gradients of O, N, Fe and Mg along the thin disc as well as the [Mg/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] relations…
The relics of building blocks that made stellar halo and bulge are yet to be discovered unless they were completely disrupted throughout the history of the Galaxy. Here we suggest that about 25% of the Milky Way globular clusters have…
Galaxy morphology is a product of how galaxies formed, how they interacted with their environment, how they were influenced by internal perturbations, AGN, and dark matter, and of their varied star formation histories. This article reviews…
HI observations in the 21cm line have been a principal tool for investigating the large-scale structure of the Milky Way. This review considers what was learned in the first decade after the discovery of the 21cm line, and how that…
Globular clusters are large and dense agglomerate of stars. At variance with smaller clusters of stars, they exhibit signs of some chemical evolution. At least for this reason, they are intermediate between open clusters and massive objects…
The outer parts of the Milky Way's disc are significantly out of equilibrium. Using only distances and proper motions of stars from Gaia's Early Data Release 3, in the range |b|<10{\deg}, 130{\deg}<l<230{\deg}, we show that for stars in the…
This chapter reviews theoretical work on the stellar dynamics of galaxy disks. All the known collective global instabilities are identified, and their mechanisms described in terms of local wave mechanics. A detailed discussion of warps and…
I discuss three different topics concerning the chemical evolution of the Milky Way (MW). 1) The metallicity distribution of the MW halo; it is shown that this distribution can be analytically derived in the framework of the hierarchical…
It has been known for a long time that a large fraction of disc galaxies are lopsided. We simulate three different mechanisms that can induce lopsidedness: flyby interactions, gas accretion from cosmological filaments and ram pressure from…
The thickness of a galaxy's disk provides a valuable probe of its formation and evolution history. Observations of the Milky Way and local galaxies have revealed an ubiquitous disk structure with two distinctive components: an old thick…
Galaxies with Milky Way-like stellar masses have a wide range of bulge and black hole masses; in turn, these correlate with other properties such as star formation history. While many processes may drive bulge formation, major and minor…
We study how structural properties of globular clusters and dwarf galaxies are linked to their orbits in the Milky Way halo. From the inner to the outer halo, orbital energy increases and stellar-systems gradually move out of internal…