Since the Hipparcos mission and recent large scale surveys in the optical and the near-infrared, new constraints have been obtained on the structure and evolution history of the Milky Way. The population synthesis approach is a useful tool to interpret such data sets and to test scenarios of evolution of the Galaxy. We present here new constraints on evolution parameters obtained from the Besancon model of population synthesis and analysis of optical and near-infrared star counts. The Galactic potential is computed self-consistently, in agreement with Hipparcos results and the observed rotation curve. Constraints are posed on the outer bulge structure, the warped and flared disc, the thick disc and the spheroid populations. The model is tuned to produce reliable predictions in the visible and the near-infrared in wide photometric bands from U to K. Finally, we describe applications such as photometric and astrometric simulations and a new classification tool based on a Bayesian probability estimator, which could be used in the framework of Virtual Observatories. As examples, samples of simulated star counts at different wavelengths and directions are also given.

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A synthetic view on structure and evolution of the Milky Way

The c2d Spitzer Legacy project obtained images and photometry with both IRAC and MIPS instruments for five large, nearby molecular clouds. Three of the clouds were also mapped in dust continuum emission at 1.1 mm, and optical spectroscopy has been obtained for some clouds. This paper combines information drawn from studies of individual clouds into a combined and updated statistical analysis of star-formation rates and efficiencies, numbers and lifetimes for spectral energy distribution (SED) classes, and clustering properties. Current star-formation efficiencies range from 3% to 6%; if star formation continues at current rates for 10 Myr, efficiencies could reach 15-30%. Star-formation rates and rates per unit area vary from cloud to cloud; taken together, the five clouds are producing about 260 M ☉ of stars per Myr. The star-formation surface density is more than an order of magnitude larger than would be predicted from the Kennicutt relation used in extragalactic studies, reflecting the fact that those relations apply to larger scales, where more diffuse matter is included in the gas surface density. Measured against the dense gas probed by the maps of dust continuum emission, the efficiencies are much higher, with stellar masses similar to masses of dense gas, and the current stock of dense cores would be exhausted in 1.8 Myr on average. Nonetheless, star formation is still slow compared to that expected in a free-fall time, even in the dense cores. The derived lifetime for the Class I phase is 0.54 Myr, considerably longer than some estimates. Similarly, the lifetime for the Class 0 SED class, 0.16 Myr, with the notable exception of the Ophiuchus cloud, is longer than early estimates. If photometry is corrected for estimated extinction before calculating class indicators, the lifetimes drop to 0.44 Myr for Class I and to 0.10 for Class 0. These lifetimes assume a continuous flow through the Class II phase and should be considered median lifetimes or half-lives. Star formation is highly concentrated to regions of high extinction, and the youngest objects are very strongly associated with dense cores. The great majority (90%) of young stars lie within loose clusters with at least 35 members and a stellar density of 1 M ☉ pc–3. Accretion at the sound speed from an isothermal sphere over the lifetime derived for the Class I phase could build a star of about 0.25 M ☉, given an efficiency of 0.3. Building larger mass stars by using higher mass accretion rates could be problematic, as our data confirm and aggravate the "luminosity problem" for protostars. At a given T bol, the values for L bol are mostly less than predicted by standard infall models and scatter over several orders of magnitude. These results strongly suggest that accretion is time variable, with prolonged periods of very low accretion. Based on a very simple model and this sample of sources, half the mass of a star would be accreted during only 7% of the Class I lifetime, as represented by the eight most luminous objects.

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The Spitzer c2d legacy results: star-formation rates and efficiencies; evolution and lifetimes

Astronomical data analysis software and systems

Our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is a benchmark for understanding disk galaxies. It is the only galaxy whose formation history can be studied using the full distribution of stars from faint dwarfs to supergiants. The oldest components provide us with unique insight into how galaxies form and evolve over billions of years. The Galaxy is a luminous (L⋆) barred spiral with a central box/peanut bulge, a dominant disk, and a diffuse stellar halo. Based on global properties, it falls in the sparsely populated “green valley” region of the galaxy color-magnitude diagram. Here we review the key integrated, structural and kinematic parameters of the Galaxy, and point to uncertainties as well as directions for future progress. Galactic studies will continue to play a fundamental role far into the future because there are measurements that can only be made in the near field and much of contemporary astrophysics depends on such observations.

The Galaxy in Context: Structural, Kinematic, and Integrated Properties

We have performed an abundance analysis for F- and G- dwarfs of the Galactic thick-disc component. A sample of 176 nearby (d≤ 150 pc) thick-disc candidate stars was chosen from the Hipparcos catalogue and subjected to a high-resolution spectroscopic analysis. Using accurate radial velocities combined with the Hipparcos astrometry, kinematics (U, V and W) and Galactic orbital parameters were computed. We estimate the probability for a star to belong to the thin disc, the thick disc or the halo. With a probability P≥ 70 per cent taken as certain membership, we assigned 95 stars to the thick disc, 13 to the thin disc, and 20 to the halo. The remaining 48 stars in the sample cannot be assigned with reasonable certainty to one of the three components.

Abundances of C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Ba, Ce, Nd and Eu have been obtained. The abundances for the thick-disc stars are compared with those for the thin-disc members from Reddy et al. The ratios of α-elements (O, Mg, Si, Ca and Ti) to iron for thick-disc stars show a clear enhancement compared to thin-disc members in the range −0.3 < [Fe/H] < −1.2. There are also other elements – Al, Sc, V, Co, and possibly Zn – which show enhanced ratios to iron in the thick disc relative to the thin disc. The abundances of Na, Cr, Mn, Ni and Cu (relative to Fe) are very similar for thin- and thick-disc stars. The dispersion in abundance ratios [X/Fe] at given [Fe/H] for thick-disc stars is consistent with the expected scatter due to measurement errors, suggesting a lack of ‘cosmic’ scatter.

A few stars classified as members of the thick disc by our kinematic criteria show thin-disc abundances. These stars, which appear older than most thin-disc stars, are also, on average, younger than the thick-disc population. They may have originated early in the thin-disc history, and been subsequently scattered to hotter orbits by collisions. The thick disc may not include stars with [Fe/H] > −0.3. The observed compositions of the thin and thick discs seem to be consistent with the models of galaxy formation by hierarchical clustering in a Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) universe.

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Elemental abundance survey of the Galactic thick disc

The IRSA 2MASS all-sky point source catalog

This paper presents a global analysis of the 2MASS (Two Micron All Sky Survey) data as observed in seven fields at different galactic latitudes in our Galaxy. The data allow the preliminary determination of the scale parameters, which lead to strong constraints on the radial and vertical structure of the galactic thin and thick disc. The interpretation of star counts and colour distributions of stars in the near-infrared with the synthetic stellar population model gives strong evidence that the galactic thin disc density scalelength (h R ) is rather short (2.8 ± 0.3 kpc). The galactic thick disc population is revisited in the light of new data. We find the thick disc to have a local density of 3.5 ± 2.0 per cent of the thin disc, exponential scaleheight (h z ) of 860±200 pc and exponential scalelength (h R ) of 3.7 ± 0.8 0.5 kpc.

Radial scalelengths of the galactic thin and thick disc with 2MASS data

We present a deep JHKs-band imaging survey of the W3 Main star forming region, using the near-infrared camera, SIRIUS, mounted on the University of Hawaii 2.2m telescope. The near-infrared survey covers an area of ~ 24 sq. arcmin with 10 sigma limiting magnitudes of ~ 19.0, 18.1, and 17.3 in J, H, and Ks-band, respectively. We construct JHK color-color and J/J-H and K/H-K color-magnitude diagrams to identify young stellar objects and estimate their masses. Based on these color-color and color-magnitude diagrams, a rich population of YSOs is identified which is associated with the W3 Main region. A large number of previously unreported red sources (H-K > 2) have also been detected around W3 Main. We argue that these red stars are most probably pre-main sequence stars with intrinsic color excesses. We find that the slope of the Ks-band luminosity function of W3 Main is lower than the typical values reported for the young embedded clusters. The derived slope of the KLF is the same as that found by Megeath et al. (1996), from which analysis by Megeath et al. indicates that the W3 Main region has an age in the range of 0.3--1 Myr. Based on the comparison between models of pre-main sequence stars with the observed color-magnitude diagram we find that the stellar population in W3 Main is primarily composed of low mass pre-main sequence stars. We also report the detection of isolated young stars with large infrared excesses which are most probably in their earliest evolutionary phases.

Deep near-infrared observations of W3 Main star forming region

We investigate the star formation activity in the molecular complex associated with the Galactic HII region Sh2-90, using radio-continuum maps obtained at 1280 MHz and 610 MHz, Herschel Hi-GAL observations at 70 -- 500 microns, and deep near-infrared observation at JHK bands, along with Spitzer observations. Sh2-90 presents a bubble morphology in the mid-IR (size ~ 0.9 pc x 1.6 pc). Radio observations suggest it is an evolved HII region with an electron density ~ 144 cm^-3, emission measure ~ 6.7 x 10^4 cm^-6 pc and a ionized mass ~ 55 Msun. From Hi-GAL observations it is found that the HII region is part of an elongated extended molecular cloud (size ~ 5.6 pc x 9.7 pc, H_2 column density >= 3 x 10^21 cm^-2 and dust temperature 18 -- 27 K) of total mass >= 1 x 10^4 Msun. We identify the ionizing cluster of Sh2-90, the main exciting star being an O8--O9 V star. Five cold dust clumps (mass ~ 8 -- 95 Msun), four mid-IR blobs around B stars, and a compact HII region are found at the edge of the bubble.The velocity information derived from CO (J=3-2) data cubes suggests that most of them are associated with the Sh2-90 region. 129 YSOs are identified (Class I, Class II, and near-IR excess sources). The majority of the YSOs are low mass ( = 15 Msun. We suggest multi-generation star formation is present in the complex. From the evidences of interaction, the time scales involved and the evolutionary status of stellar/protostellar sources, we argue that the star formation at the immediate border/edges of Sh2-90 might have been triggered by the expanding HII region. However, several young sources in this complex are probably formed by some other processes.

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The molecular complex associated with the Galactic HII region Sh2-90: a possible site of triggered star formation

We present a comprehensive multiwavelength study of the star-forming region NGC 1893 to explore the effects of massive stars on low-mass star formation. Using near-infrared colours, slitless spectroscopy and narrow-band Hα photometry in the cluster region we have identified candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) distributed in a pattern from the cluster to one of the nearby nebulae Sim 129. The V, (V- I) colour-magnitude diagram of the YSOs indicates that majority of these objects have ages between 1 and 5 Myr. The spread in the ages of the YSOs may indicate a non-coeval star formation in the cluster. The slope of the K-band luminosity function for the cluster is estimated to be 0.34 ± 0.07, which agrees well with the average value (∼0.4) reported for young clusters. For the entire observed mass range 0.6 < M/M ⊙ ≤ 17.7 the value of the slope of the initial mass function, 'Γ', comes out to be -1.27 ± 0.08, which is in agreement with the Salpeter value of - 1.35 in the solar neighbourhood. However, the value of 'Γ' for pre-main-sequence phase stars (mass range 0.6 < M/M ⊙ ≤ 2.0) is found to be -0.88 ± 0.09 which is shallower than the value (-1.71 ± 0.20) obtained for main-sequence stars having mass range 2.5 < M/M ⊙ ≤ 17.7 indicating a break in the slope of the mass function at ∼2M ⊙ . Estimated 'Γ' values indicate an effect of mass segregation for main-sequence stars, in the sense that massive stars are preferentially located towards the cluster centre. The estimated dynamical evolution time is found to be greater than the age of the cluster, therefore, the observed mass segregation in the cluster may be the imprint of the star formation process. There is evidence for triggered star formation in the region, which seems to govern initial morphology of the cluster.

D. K. Ojha

Papers

The IRSA 2MASS all-sky point source catalog

Radial scalelengths of the galactic thin and thick disc with 2MASS data

Deep near-infrared observations of W3 Main star forming region

The molecular complex associated with the Galactic HII region Sh2-90: a possible site of triggered star formation

Star formation in young star cluster NGC 1893