Rainer Schoedel – The nuclear stellar disc of the Milky Way

Titre: The nuclear stellar disc of the Milky Way

Par : Rainer Schoedel (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andaluzia)

Abstract: The Galactic Centre region is dominated by the nuclear stellar disc (NSD), a rotating structure with a radius of ~200 pc that is kinematically and chemically different from the surrounding bulge. The NSD overlaps with the central molecular zone (CMZ), where ~10% of the Galaxy’s molecular gas is concentrated. The extreme conditions in the NSD and CMZ closely match those in high-redshift star forming regions. I will summarise our current knowledge about the NSD, obtained mostly through high angular resolution near-infrared studies, and how the NSD relates to the larger structure of the Milky Way. I will describe how my group are currently working on obtaining proper motions for millions of stars in the NSD, a region inaccessible to Gaia, and how we use the new data to better understand structure, formation history and recent star formation in the NSD.