Event Details

For over a hundred years, the Milky Way has been the nexus between many fields of astrophysics, linking together investigations into the formation of planetary systems and stars to studies of galactic evolution, cosmology, and astroparticle physics. Obtaining a detailed understanding of our Galaxy’s structure, formation, and evolution is therefore crucial to the advancement of the whole of astrophysical knowledge. Long thought to be a simple spiral galaxy with a simple disk-plus-bulge structure leading a relatively unperturbed life, the advent of large surveys such as SDSS, Gaia, and soon LSST has breathed new life into the field of galactic structure. I will discuss the new view of the Milky Way—complex, dynamic, and very much in the process of evolving—and what it implies about galaxy formation, galaxy evolution, and the nature of dark matter.