Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Galaxy Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-04-14
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Galaxy Astrophysics
13 pages. Invited review to appear in Pramana - journal of physics (Indian Academy of Sciences)
Scientific paper
Our knowledge of the Galaxy is being revolutionised by a series of photometric, spectroscopic and astrometric surveys. Already an enormous body of data is available from completed surveys, and data of ever increasing quality and richness will accrue at least until the end of this decade. To extract science from these surveys we need a class of models that can give probability density functions in the space of the observables of a survey -- we should not attempt to "invert" the data from the space of observables into the physical space of the Galaxy. Currently just one class of model has the required capability, so-called "torus models". A pilot application of torus models to understanding the structure of the Galaxy's thin and thick discs has already produced two significant results: a major revision of our best estimate of the Sun's velocity with respect to the Local Standard of Rest, and a successful prediction of the way in which the vertical velocity dispersion in the disc varies with distance from the Galactic plane.
No associations
LandOfFree
Extracting science from surveys of our Galaxy does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Extracting science from surveys of our Galaxy, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Extracting science from surveys of our Galaxy will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-167347