Milky Way Satellites as Cosmological Probes (A02)

• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2011 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 138713538

There is a wide range of predictions about the structural properties of the debris of dissolving satellite galaxies. For the interpretation of stellar populations in disk and bulge of the Milky Way it is essential to quantify the number of stars formed in satellite galaxies and ending up in the inner Galaxy. In our hybrid approach we combine satellite galaxy populations from cosmological simulations with a high-resolution realization of the Milky Way. In a series of numerical simula-tions, we will analyze the spatial distribution of stars originating from satellites and investigate their kinematic properties in order to identify them in observational samples.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 881: The Milky Way System
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Norbert Christlieb, until 12/2014; Professorin Dr. Eva K. Grebel, until 12/2018; Professor Dr. Andreas Just, since 1/2015; Professor Dr. Andrea Valerio Macciò, from 1/2015 until 8/2015; Professor Dr. Hans-Walter Rix, from 9/2015 until 12/2018