Document
About this Digital Document
We present an investigation of the structure and characteristics of the Milky Way Galaxy using data from the Gaia mission's second data release (DR2). We began by plotting the spatial distribution of stars in a variety of directions around the Galactic plane. Using Python, we have generated several random populations of stars with different distributions. The stars in each model are assigned a random mass, M, according to the Salpeter initial mass function, and we assign a luminosity, L, by assuming a simple power law, L ~ M3, to account for their visibility. Finally, we compare the modeled stellar density distributions to the observed distribution within the Milky Way.
Full Title
Investigating Milky Way Structure with Gaia
Member of
Contributor(s)
Creator: Dethero, Mary Geer
Department: Physics
Publisher
Lehigh University
Date Issued
2019-05-01
Language
English
Type
Genre
Form
electronic documents
Department name
Physics
Media type
Subject (LCSH)
Keywords
Date Other
2019
Dethero, Mary Geer. (2019). Investigating Milky Way Structure with Gaia (1–). https://preserve.lehigh.edu/lehigh-scholarship/undergraduate-publications/eckardt-scholars/investigating-milky-way-structure
Dethero, Mary Geer. 2019. “Investigating Milky Way Structure With Gaia”. https://preserve.lehigh.edu/lehigh-scholarship/undergraduate-publications/eckardt-scholars/investigating-milky-way-structure.
Dethero, Mary Geer. Investigating Milky Way Structure With Gaia. 1 May 2019, https://preserve.lehigh.edu/lehigh-scholarship/undergraduate-publications/eckardt-scholars/investigating-milky-way-structure.