2015/01/06 by Naomi M. McClure-Griffiths, N. M. McClure‐Griffiths, Snežana Stanimirović +30 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #astro-ph.GA
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1501.01130
25 pages, from "Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array", to appear in Proceedings of Science
arxiv created 2015/01/06 · openalex publication_date 2015/01/06 · arxiv updated 2015/01/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
As we strive to understand how galaxies evolve it is crucial that we resolve physical processes and test emerging theories in nearby systems that we can observe in great detail. Our own Galaxy, the Milky Way, and the nearby Magellanic Clouds provide unique windows into the evolution of galaxies, each with its own metallicity and star formation rate. These laboratories allow us to study with more detail than anywhere else in the Universe how galaxies acquire fresh gas to fuel their continuing star formation, how they exchange gas with the surrounding intergalactic medium, and turn warm, diffuse gas into molecular clouds and ultimately stars. The λ21-cm line of atomic hydrogen (HI) is an excellent tracer of these physical processes. With the SKA we will finally have the combination of surface brightness sensitivity, point source sensitivity and angular resolution to transform our understanding of the evolution of gas in the Milky Way, all the way from the halo down to the formation of individual molecular clouds.