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The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. The term Milky Way is a translation of the Latin via lactea, from the Greek γαλακτικὸς κύκλος (galaktikòs kýklos), meaning "milky circle". From Earth, the Milky Way appears as a band because its disk-shaped structure is viewed from within. Galileo Galilei first resolved the band of light into individual stars with his telescope in 1610. Until the early 1920s, most astronomers thought that the Milky Way contained all the stars in the Universe. Following the 1920 Great Debate between the astronomers Harlow Shapley and Heber Doust Curtis, observations by Edwin Hubble showed that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies. The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with a D25 iso

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Rotation measure and synchrotron emission signatures in simulations of magnetized galactic discs

Yoan Rappaz

We analyse observational signatures of magnetic fields for simulations of a Milky Way-like disc with supernova-driven interstellar turbulence and self-consistent chemical processes. In particular, we post-process two simulations data sets of the SILCC Project for two initial amplitudes of the magnetic field, B-0 = 3 and 6 mu G, to study the evolution of Faraday rotation measures (RM) and synchrotron luminosity. For calculating the RM, three different models of the electron density n(e) are considered. A constant electron density, and two estimations based on the density of ionized species and the fraction of the total gas, respectively. Our results show that the RM profiles are extremely sensitive to the n(e) models, which assesses the importance of accurate electron distribution observations/estimations for the magnetic fields to be probed using Faraday RMs. As a second observable of the magnetic field, we estimate the synchrotron luminosity in the simulations using a semi-analytical cosmic ray model. We find that the synchrotron luminosity decreases over time, which is connected to the decay of magnetic energy in the simulations. The ratios between the magnetic, the cosmic ray, and the thermal energy density indicate that the assumption of equipartition does not hold for most regions of the ISM. In particular, for the ratio of the cosmic ray to the magnetic field energy the assumption of equipartition could lead to a wrong interpretation of the observed synchrotron emission.

OXFORD UNIV PRESS2022

Tracing the formation of the Milky Way through ultra metal-poor stars

Pascale Jablonka, Nicolas Lawrence Etienne Longeard

We use Gaia DR2 astrometric and photometric data, published radial velocities and MESA models to infer distances, orbits, surface gravities, and effective temperatures for all ultra metal-poor stars ([Fe/H] < -4.0 dex) available in the literature. Assuming that these stars are old (> 11 Gyr) and that they are expected to belong to the Milky Way halo, we find that these 42 stars (18 dwarf stars and 24 giants or sub-giants) are currently within similar to 20 kpc of the Sun and that they map a wide variety of orbits. A large fraction of those stars remains confined to the inner parts of the halo and was likely formed or accreted early on in the history of the Milky Way, while others have larger apocentres (> 30 kpc), hinting at later accretion from dwarf galaxies. Of particular interest, we find evidence that a significant fraction of all known UMP stars (similar to 26 per cent) are on prograde orbits confined within 3 kpc of the Milky Way plane (J(z) < 100 km s(-1) kpc). One intriguing interpretation is that these stars belonged to the massive building block(s) of the proto-Milky Way that formed the backbone of the Milky Way disc. Alternatively, they might have formed in the early disc and have been dynamically heated, or have been brought into the Milky Way by one or more accretion events whose orbit was dragged into the plane by dynamical friction before disruption. The combination of the exquisite Gaia DR2 data and surveys of the very metal-poor sky opens an exciting era in which we can trace the very early formation of the Milky Way.

OXFORD UNIV PRESS2019

The Pristine Dwarf-Galaxy survey - II. In-depth observational study of the faint Milky Way satellite Sagittarius II

Pascale Jablonka, Nicolas Lawrence Etienne Longeard

We present an extensive study of the Sagittarius II (Sgr II) stellar system using MegaCam g and i photometry, narrow-band, metallicity-sensitive calcium H&K doublet photometry and Keck II/DEIMOS multiobject spectroscopy. We derive and refine the Sgr II structural and stellar properties inferred at the time of its discovery. The colour-magnitude diagram implies Sgr II is old (12.0 +/- 0.5 Gyr) and metal poor. The CaHK photometry confirms the metal-poor nature of the satellite (Fe/H = -2.32 +/- 0.04 dex) and suggests that Sgr II hosts more than one single stellar population (sigma(CaHK)([FeH]) = 0.11(-0.03)(+0.05) dex). Using the Ca infrared triplet measured from our highest signal-to-noise spectra, we confirm the metallicity and dispersion inferred from the Pristine photometric metallicities (Fe/H = -2.23 +/- 0.05 dex, sigma(spectro)([Fe/H]) = 0.10(-0.04)(+0.06) dex). The velocity dispersion of the system is found to be sigma(v) = 2.7(-1.0)(+1.3) km s(-1) after excluding two potential binary stars. Sgr II's metallicity and absolute magnitude (M-V = -5.7 +/- 0.1 mag) place the system on the luminosity-metallicity relation of the Milky Way dwarf galaxies despite its small size. The low but resolved metallicity and velocity dispersions paint the picture of a slightly dark-matter-dominated satellite (M/L = 23.0(-23.0)(+32.8) M-circle dot L-circle dot(-1)). Furthermore, using the Gaia Data Release 2, we constrain the orbit of the satellite and find an apocentre of 118.4(-23.7)(+28.4) kpc and a pericentre of 54.8(-6.1)(+3.3) kpc. The orbit of Sgr II is consistent with the trailing arm of the Sgr stream and indicates that it is possibly a satellite of the Sgr dSph that was tidally stripped from the dwarf's influence.

OXFORD UNIV PRESS2020

PHYS-402: Astrophysics IV : observational cosmology

Cosmology is the study of the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. This course describes the principal themes of cosmology, as seen from the point of view of observations.

PHYS-209: Astrophysics I: introduction to astrophysics

Ce cours décrit de façon simple les processus physiques qui expliquent l'univers dans lequel nous vivons. En couvrant une large gamme de sujets, le but du cours est aussi de donner un aperçu général des objets astrophysiques qui nous entourent.

PHYS-401: Astrophysics III : stellar and galactic dynamics

The aim of this course is to acquire the basic knowledge on specific dynamical phenomena related to the origin, equilibrium, and evolution of star clusters, galaxies, and galaxy clusters.

Galaxy

A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from

Star

A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night;

Solar System

The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it. The largest of such objects are the eight planets, in order from the Sun: four terrestrial planets named