Origin and structure of the Galactic disc(s)

2009/07/10 by Ralph Schönrich, Ralph Schoenrich, James Binney · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Classical mechanics #Disc galaxy #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Kinematics #Milky Way #Physics #Star formation #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.GA

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15365.x

published as Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.399:1145-1156,2009 · 13 pages, 16 figures, accepted by MNRAS

arxiv created 2009/07/10 · openalex publication_date 2009/09/07 · arxiv updated 2014/11/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

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 simulation's star formation rate declines monotonically from its unique peak and no merger or tidal event ever takes place, the model replicates all known properties of a thick disc, as well as matching special features of the local stellar population such as a metal-poor extension of the thin disc that has high rotational velocity. We divide the disc by chemistry and relate this dissection to observationally more convenient kinematic selection criteria. We conclude that the observed chemistry of the Galactic disc does not provide convincing evidence for a violent origin of the thick disc, as has been widely claimed.

Citations

• The local star formation history of the thin disc derived from kinematic data
• α-, r-, and s-process element trends in the Galactic thin and thick disks
• Elemental abundance survey of the Galactic thick disc
• Structural Parameters of Thin and Thick Disks in Edge-on Disk Galaxies
• Constraints on Type Ia supernova progenitor time delays from high-z supernovae and the star formation history
• Abundance Gradients and the Formation of the Milky Way
• Stellar Chemical Signatures and Hierarchical Galaxy Formation
• The Global Schmidt Law in Star‐forming Galaxies
• The chemical evolution of a Milky Way-like galaxy: the importance of a cosmologically motivated infall law
• Chemical evolution with radial mixing
• Radial mixing and the transition between the thick and thin Galactic discs
• Chemical similarities between Galactic bulge and local thick disk red giant stars
• The Geneva-Copenhagen survey of the Solar neighbourhood

Cited by

• The age structure of stellar populations in the solar vicinity
• Dissecting simulated disc galaxies – II. The age–velocity relation
• The Stellar Population of the Thin Disk