Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar: How the Galactic Disk Reshapes Itself

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85026880674?pwd=MW4wZ2tjUFBpMmI4aVAvQUZpd1Btdz09

Abstract:

By the standards of massive galaxies, the Milky Way has lived a sheltered life, unbattered by mergers with other large galaxies. Most of its stars indeed live in a thin, dynamically fragile disk. But does that imply that not much dynamical evolution has happened? Far from it: with new data we can now show unequivocally that the orbits in the Galactic disk have extensively rearranged themselves over the lifetime of the disk. I’ll show how we know that, what mechanisms are at play and why this may explain the remarkable regularity of disk galaxies.

Seminar Organizer: Dr. Iair Arcavi