Galactic substructures as tracers of dark matter and stellar evolution

Reino, S. (2022)

Doctoral Thesis

One of the most important puzzles in modern astrophysics is the nature of dark matter. Stellar streams, formed by tidal stripping of the stars from globular clusters or dwarf galaxies, behave as a group of test particles allowing us to measure the Milky Way’s dark matter content and, therefore, offering us a key to understanding its nature. Open clusters, loosely bound groups of stars that move through the Galaxy together, are, in contrast, an important driver of stellar evolution research. This Thesis presents our studies of these Galactic substructures and the conclusions we can draw on the larger Universe and physics based on these local observations. In chapters 2 - 4, we apply a novel method to map the Milky Way’s dark matter content using stellar streams, taking care to understand the various possible contributors to the systematics. Chapter 5 is dedicated to the study of the Hyades open cluster.

• Dark matter
• Galactic halo
• Galactic dynamics
• Milky Way
• Galactic structure
• Stellar streams
• Open clusters

• All authors: Reino, S.
• Supervisor: Kuijken, K.H.
• Co-supervisor: Rossi, E.M.; Sanderson, R.E.
• Committee: Röttgering, H.J.A.; Hoekstra, H.; Brown, A.G.A.; Hogg, D.W.; Johnston, K.V.; Zaritsky, D.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden Observatory, Faculty of Science, Leiden University
• Date: 2022-09-27
• ISBN (print): 9789464690156