No Arabic abstract
We construct a large set of dynamical models of the galactic bulge, bar and inner disk using the Made-to-Measure method. Our models are constrained to match the red clump giant density from a combination of the VVV, UKIDSS and 2MASS infrared surveys together with stellar kinematics in the bulge from the BRAVA and OGLE surveys, and in the entire bar region from the ARGOS survey. We are able to recover the bar pattern speed and the stellar and dark matter mass distributions in the bar region, thus recovering the entire galactic effective potential. We find a bar pattern speed of $39.0 pm 3.5 ,rm{km,s^{-1},kpc^{-1}}$, placing the bar corotation radius at $6.1 pm 0.5 rm{kpc}$ and making the Milky Way bar a typical fast rotator. We evaluate the stellar mass of the long bar and bulge structure to be $M_{rm{bar/bulge}} = 1.88 pm 0.12 times 10^{10} , rm{M}_{odot}$, larger than the mass of disk in the bar region, $M_{rm{inner disk}} = 1.29pm0.12 times 10^{10} , rm{M}_{odot}$. The total dynamical mass in the bulge volume is $1.85pm0.05times 10^{10} , rm{M}_{odot}$. Thanks to more extended kinematic data sets and recent measurement of the bulge IMF our models have a low dark matter fraction in the bulge of $17%pm2%$. We find a dark matter density profile which flattens to a shallow cusp or core in the bulge region. Finally, we find dynamical evidence for an extra central mass of $sim0.2times10^{10} ,rm{M}_{odot}$, probably in a nuclear disk or disky pseudobulge.
We compare distance resolved, absolute proper motions in the Milky Way bar/bulge region to a grid of made-to-measure dynamical models with well defined pattern speeds. The data are obtained by combining the relative VVV Infrared Astrometric Catalog v1 proper motions with the Gaia DR2 absolute reference frame. We undertake a comprehensive analysis of the various errors in our comparison, from both the data and the models, and allow for additional, unknown, contributions by using an outlier-tolerant likelihood function to evaluate the best fitting model. We quantify systematic effects such as the region of data included in the comparison, with or without possible overlap from spiral arms, and the choice of synthetic luminosity function and bar angle used to predict the data from the models. Resulting variations in the best-fit parameters are included in the final error budget. We measure the bar pattern speed to be Omega_b=35.4+-0.9 km/s/kpc and the azimuthal solar velocity to be V_phi_sun= 251.4+-1.7 km/s. These values, when combined with recent measurements of the Galactic rotation curve, yield the distance of corotation, 6.3 < R_(CR) [kpc] < 6.8, the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR), 10.5 < R_(OLR) [kpc] < 11.5, and the higher order, m=4, OLR, 8.5 < R_(OLR_4) [kpc] < 9.0. The measured low pattern speed provides strong evidence for the long-slow bar scenario.
Gas morphology and kinematics in the Milky Way contain key information for understanding the formation and evolution of our Galaxy. We present a high resolution hydrodynamical simulation based on a realistic barred Milky Way potential constrained by recent observations. Our model can reproduce most features in the observed longitude-velocity diagram, including the Central Molecular Zone, the Near and Far 3-kpc arms, the Molecular Ring, and the spiral arm tangents. It can also explain the non-circular motions of masers obtained by the recent BeSSeL2 survey. The central gas kinematics are consistent with a mass of $6.9times10^8; {rm M}_{odot}$ in the Nuclear Stellar Disk. Our model predicts the formation of an elliptical gaseous ring surrounding the bar, which is composed of the 3-kpc arms, Norma arm, and the bar-spiral interfaces. This ring is similar to those inner rings in some Milky Way analogs with a boxy/peanut-shaped bulge. The kinematics of gas near the solar neighbourhood are governed by the Local arm, which is induced by the four major stellar spiral arms. The bar pattern speed constrained by our gas model is $37.5-40; {rm km};{rm s}^{-1};{rm kpc}^{-1}$, corresponding to a corotation radius of $R_{rm CR}=6.0-6.4;{rm kpc}$. The rotation curve of our model rises gently within the central $sim5;{rm kpc}$, which is significantly less steep than those predicted by modern zoom-in cosmological simulations such as Auriga.
We investigate the inner regions of the Milky Way with a sample of unprecedented size and coverage thanks to APOGEE DR16 and {it Gaia} DR3 data. Our inner Galactic sample has more than 26,000 stars within $|X_{rm Gal}| <5$ kpc, $|Y_{rm Gal}| <3.5$ kpc, $|Z_{rm Gal}| <1$ kpc, and we also make the analysis for a foreground-cleaned sub-sample of 8,000 stars more representative of the bulge-bar populations. The inner Galaxy shows a clear chemical discontinuity in key abundance ratios [$alpha$/Fe], [C/N], and [Mn/O], probing different enrichment timescales, which suggests a star formation gap (quenching) between the high- and low-$alpha$ populations. For the first time, we are able to fully characterize the different populations co-existing in the innermost regions of the Galaxy via joint analysis of the distributions of rotational velocities, metallicities, orbital parameters and chemical abundances. The chemo-kinematic analysis reveals the presence of the bar; of an inner thin disk; of a thick disk, and of a broad metallicity population, with a large velocity dispersion, indicative of a pressure supported component. We find and characterize chemically and kinematically a group of counter-rotating stars, which could be the result of a gas-rich merger event or just the result of clumpy star formation during the earliest phases of the early disk, which migrated into the bulge. Finally, based on the 6D information we assign stars a probability value of being on a bar orbit and find that most of the stars with large bar orbit probabilities come from the innermost 3 kpcs. Even stars with a high probability of belonging to the bar show the chemical bimodality in the [$alpha$/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] diagram. This suggests bar trapping to be an efficient mechanism, explaining why stars on bar orbits do not show a significant distinct chemical abundance ratio signature.
Numerous studies of integrated starlight, stellar counts, and kinematics have confirmed that the Milky Way is a barred galaxy. However, far fewer studies have investigated the bars stellar population properties, which carry valuable independent information regarding the bars formation history. Here we conduct a detailed analysis of chemical abundance distributions ([Fe/H] and [Mg/Fe]) in the on-bar and off-bar regions to study the azimuthal variation of star formation history (SFH) in the inner Galaxy. We find that the on-bar and off-bar stars at Galactocentric radii 3 $< r_{rm GC}<$ 5 kpc have remarkably consistent [Fe/H] and [Mg/Fe] distribution functions and [Mg/Fe]--[Fe/H] relation, suggesting a common SFH shared by the long bar and the disc. In contrast, the bar and disc at smaller radii (2 $< r_{rm GC} <$ 3 kpc) show noticeable differences, with relatively more very metal-rich ([Fe/H]~0.4) stars but fewer solar abundance stars in the bar. Given the three-phase star formation history proposed for the inner Galaxy in Lian et al. (2020b), these differences could be explained by the off-bar disc having experienced either a faster early quenching process or recent metal-poor gas accretion. Vertical variations of the abundance distributions at small $r_{rm GC}$ suggest a wider vertical distribution of low-$alpha$ stars in the bar, which may serve as chemical evidence for vertical heating through the bar buckling process. The lack of such vertical variations outside the bulge may then suggest a lack of vertical heating in the long bar.
We re-analyse photometric near-infrared data in order to investigate why it is so hard to get a consensus for the shape and density law of the bulge, as seen from the literature. To solve the problem we use the Besancon Galaxy Model to provide a scheme for parameter fitting of the structural characteristics of the bulge region. The fitting process allows the determination of the global shape of the bulge main structure. We explore various parameters and shape for the bulge/bar structure based on Ferrers ellipsoids and fit the shape of the inner disc in the same process. The results show that the main structure is a quite standard triaxial boxy bar/bulge with an orientation of about 13 degree with respect to the Sun-centre direction. But the fit is greatly improved when we add a second structure, which is a longer and thicker ellipsoid. We emphasize that our first ellipsoid represent the main boxy bar of the Galaxy, and that the thick bulge could be either a classical bulge slightly flattened by the effect of the bar potential, or a inner thick disc counterpart. We show that the double clump seen at intermediate latitudes can be reproduced by adding a slight flare to the bar. In order to better characterize the populations, we further simulate several fields which have been surveyed in spectroscopy and for which metallicity distribution function (MDF) are available. The model is in good agreement with these MDF along the minor axis if we assume that the main bar has a mean solar metallicity and the second thicker population has a lower metallicity. It then creates naturally a vertical metallicity gradient by the mixing of the two poulations. (abridged)