Dr. Anja Feldmeier: The Milky Way Nuclear Star Cluster
Channel: IAA - Comunicación
Date: 2022-11-25

Fecha:  24/11/2022
Conferenciante:  Dr. Anja Feldmeier
Filiación:  Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany

The Milky Way nuclear star cluster (NSC) is located within the nuclear stellar disc (NSD) in the Galactic centre. The NSC and NSD are distinct structures of the Milky Way, but also connected to the larger Milky Way structures, e.g. via the inflow and outflow of gas, and the infall of star clusters. Our knowledge of the larger Milky Way structures, Galactic disc, bulge and halo, has expanded in recent years through surveys and dedicated missions. Hidden behind large amounts of interstellar dust, the Galactic centre structures, NSC and NSD, are inaccessible for these surveys, and they miss an important piece for our understanding of the Milky Way's formation and evolution. In this talk I will present spectroscopic observations of the NSC, resulting in more than 1,500 stellar spectra. I will show the spatial distribution of young (few Myr old) stars, the metallicity distribution of the older (several Gyr) red giant stars, and spatial variations of the metallicity distribution.