Related papers: Galactic Structure
We report the first robust measurement of the Milky Way star formation history using the imprint left on chemical abundances of long-lived stars. The formation of the Galactic thick disc occurs during an intense star formation phase between…
We investigate the properties of a galaxy similar to the Milky Way within the context of standard disk formation theory in a LCDM universe. Using the standard assumption that baryons conserve specific angular momentum when they collapse, we…
We examine the chemical and dynamical structure in the solar neighbourhood of a model Galaxy that is the endpoint of a simulation of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way in the presence of radial mixing of stars and gas. Although the…
Our Milky Way provides a unique test case for galaxy evolution models, thanks to our privileged position within the Milky Way's disc. This position also complicates comparisons between the Milky Way and external galaxies, due to our…
A galaxy's orientation is one of its most basic observable properties. Astronomers once assumed that galaxies are randomly oriented in space, however it is now clear that some have preferred orientations with respect to their surroundings.…
We compare the star-formation history and dynamics of the Milky Way (MW) with the properties of distant disk galaxies. During the first ~4 Gyr of its evolution, the MW formed stars with a high star-formation intensity (SFI), Sigma_SFR~0.6…
After summarizing the characteristics of different types of dwarf galaxies I briefly review our current state of knowledge of dwarf galaxy evolution in the Local Group, for which we now have a fairly detailed although by no means…
In the local (redshift z~0) Universe, collisional ring galaxies make up only ~0.01% of galaxies and are formed by head-on galactic collisions that trigger radially propagating density waves. These striking systems provide key snapshots for…
The dynamical and virial mass of the Milky Way galaxy is estimated using latest high precision stellar halo and dwarf galaxy satellite kinematics. The new data suggest the Galaxy is a highly compact, classically thermalized object.…
The formation of our Milky Way can be parsed qualitatively into different phases that resulted in its structurally different stellar populations: the halo and the disk components. Revealing a quantitative overall picture of the Galactic…
The Milky Way and the Local Sheet form a peculiar galaxy system in terms of the unusually low velocity dispersion in our neighbourhood and the seemingly high mass of the Milky Way for such an environment. Using the TNG300 simulation we…
We investigate the dependence of galaxy structure on a variety of galactic and environmental parameters for ~500,000 galaxies at z<0.2, taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 7 (SDSS-DR7). We utilise bulge-to-total stellar…
Our Galaxy is a barred spiral. Recent work based on the COBE NIR data implies a small bulge-bar and a disk with a short scale-length. The corotation radius of the bar is in the range 3-4.5 kpc. The stellar density distribution beyond the…
The motion of the baryonic components of the Milky Way is governed by both luminous and dark matter content of the Galaxy. Thus, the dynamics of the Milky Way globular clusters can be used as tracers to infer the mass model of the Galaxy up…
Following the recent surge of interest in peculiar galaxies at high redshifts we consider the definition, or lack thereof, of morphological peculiarities on a sample of local universe galaxies. Studying the morphology of local universe…
It is now generally believed that galaxies were built up through gravitational amplification of primordial fluctuations and the subsequent merging of smaller precursor structures. The stars of the structures that assembled to form the Milky…
There exists a gradual, but persistent, evolutionary effect in the galaxy population such that galaxy structure and morphology change with redshift. This galaxy structure-redshift relationship is such that an increasingly large fraction of…
The evolution of galaxies results from a combination of internal and external processes. The star formation is an internal process transforming cold and dense cores of molecular clouds to stars. It may be triggered internally by expanding…
The spiral structure of a spiral galaxy can be seen through different observational tracers such as the dust in the interstellar medium, the free electrons in ionized regions, the molecular gas, or the atomic hydrogen in H{\alpha} regions.…
In its first part, this paper summarizes recent work on the mass and shape of the Galactic dark halo. The second part presents a review of the large-scale structure of the Milky Way, and of the evidence that the inner Galaxy is dominated by…