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arXiv · 1903.07641

The Multidimensional Milky Way

Robyn E. Sanderson·Jeffrey L. Carlin·Emily C. Cunningham·Nicolas Garavito-Camargo·Puragra Guhathakurta·Kathryn V. Johnston·Chervin F. P. Laporte·Ting S. Li·S. Tony Sohn
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Abstract

Studying our Galaxy, the Milky Way (MW), gives us a close-up view of the interplay between cosmology, dark matter, and galaxy formation. In the next decade our understanding of the MW's dynamics, stellar populations, and structure will undergo a revolution thanks to planned and proposed astrometric, spectroscopic and photometric surveys, building on recent advances by the Gaia astrometric survey. Together, these new efforts will measure three-dimensional positions and velocities and numerous chemical abundances for stars to the MW's edge and well into the Local Group, leading to a complete multidimensional view of our Galaxy. Studies of the multidimensional Milky Way beyond the Gaia frontier---from the edge of the Galactic disk to the edge of our Galaxy's dark matter halo---will unlock new scientific advances across astrophysics, from constraints on dark matter to insights into galaxy formation.

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Robyn E. Sanderson, Jeffrey L. Carlin, Emily C. Cunningham, Nicolas Garavito-Camargo, Puragra Guhathakurta, Kathryn V. Johnston, Chervin F. P. Laporte, Ting S. Li, S. Tony Sohn. 2019-03-18. The Multidimensional Milky Way. https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.07641

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