Unveiling Dark Matter and Fossil Records in the Solar Neighborhood (A07)

• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2011 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 138713538

Even with the large spectroscopic surveys and the upcoming Gaia astrometric data, it is a chal-lenge to determine consistently the total gravitational potential and to construct a dynamical model of the Milky Way. We combine our likelihood approach with Schwarzschild¿s orbit-superposition method to derive consistently the gravitational potential and the phase space distribution functions of stellar subpopulations dependent on their abundance pattern. We can address important questions like: What is the local Dark Matter density and which stars originate from disrupted satellite galaxies?

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 881: The Milky Way System
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Co-Applicant Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA)
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Burkhard Fuchs, until 12/2014; Professor Dr. Andreas Just, since 1/2015; Professor Dr. Glenn van de Ven