The Dwingeloo/Villa-Elisa HI Survey - the first Super-Sensitive View of Galactic Structure and Dynamics

• Applicant: Dr. Peter M.W. Kalberla
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2004 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5442481

Presently one of us (PMW K) is combining the Leiden-Dwingeloo Northern Sky HI-Survey and the Villa Elisa Southern Sky HI-Survey to create the first highly sensitive total sky HI survey which contains also the very faint emission structures of the Galactic halo. It will for the first time allow a comprehensive analysis of galactic dynamics - not only of the disk but also of the other structural components of our Galaxy, in particular the Galactic halo. The corresponding dataset will be publicly available within about a year from now. We want to use our lead and therefore propose to analyze structures deviating in velocity and/or position from what one may define as the "regular disk" structure of our Galaxy. We want to use the new complete synoptic view of our Galaxy to analyze and parameterize galaxy-wide features like warping of the disk and flaring of its thickness. Based on such a model we intend an unbiased census of clouds and filaments belonging to the Galactic disk-halo interface and high-velocity components which cannot be explained by a standard Galactic rotation. The relation of these clouds to phenomena like the Magellanic Clouds, the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy and stellar streams caused by the accretion of nearby dwarf galaxies will also be studied. We expect that these investigations lead also to a better understanding of the gravitational potential of the Milky Way and the associated mass distribution, including dark matter.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Ulrich Mebold