The Galaxy in Context: Structural, Kinematic, and Integrated Properties

2016/02/29 by Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Joss Bland‐Hawthorn, Ortwin Gerhard · 1,651 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Barred spiral galaxy #Bulge #Context (archaeology) #Dwarf galaxy #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Galaxy merger #Geology #Interacting galaxy #Lenticular galaxy #Milky Way #Paleontology #Peculiar galaxy #Physics #Spiral galaxy #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.GA

paper · pdf · doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-081915-023441

published in Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics 54(1), 529-596 (Annual Reviews) · 69 pages, 18 figures, LaTeX. See http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~jbh/S/ARAA_2016.pdf for published version

openalex publication_date 2016/08/08 · arxiv created 2017/01/05 · arxiv updated 2017/01/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is a benchmark for understanding disk galaxies. It is the only galaxy whose formation history can be studied using the full distribution of stars from faint dwarfs to supergiants. The oldest components provide us with unique insight into how galaxies form and evolve over billions of years. The Galaxy is a luminous (L⋆) barred spiral with a central box/peanut bulge, a dominant disk, and a diffuse stellar halo. Based on global properties, it falls in the sparsely populated “green valley” region of the galaxy color-magnitude diagram. Here we review the key integrated, structural and kinematic parameters of the Galaxy, and point to uncertainties as well as directions for future progress. Galactic studies will continue to play a fundamental role far into the future because there are measurements that can only be made in the near field and much of contemporary astrophysics depends on such observations.

Citations

• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)
• THE EDGE OF THE YOUNG GALACTIC DISK
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function

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Related

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