The Structure and Dynamics of the Milky Way Galaxy

Abstract

Now that we have become familiar with the stars, their properties and their motions, and also with the various components of the interstellar medium, we have collected all the “parts” we need in order to consider our Milky Way galaxy. We begin in Sect. 11.1 with the information about the structure of the Milky Way which can be gained from observations of the distribution and motions of the stars within it. In Sect. 11.2, we treat the rotation of the Milky Way, its distribution of various kinds of matter, and the star populations, as well as the phenomenon of the spiral arms. Finally, in Sect. 11.3, we describe the central core region of the Milky Way, which cannot be observed optically and must be investigated by observations in the radiofrequency and infrared spectral regions.