Galactic Archaeology:
Understanding the Milky Way's Origins from "Fossils"
in the Sky
This picture shows how the streamers from the destruction of several dwarf
galaxies may appear on the sky. These are the fossilised signatures of
events from early in the Milky Way's history. Unfortunately, actually detecting
these streams is not as trivial as it may appear. I am currently working
with Dr M.J. Irwin on a project to search for these streams in the U.S.
Naval Observatory's digitized plate survey. Watch this space for results
soon......
Kathryn V. Johnston
Astronomy Department
Wesleyan University
Middletown
CT 06459
kvj@astro.wesleyan.edu