Published March 15, 2019 | Version v1
Presentation Open

The Milky Way bulge stellar ages

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ESO, Germany

Description

A number of recent photometric and spectroscopic surveys are producing a comprehensive and coherent picture of the Milky Way bulge through the detailed properties of its stellar content. While there is a general consensus on the overall morphology, 3D structure, kinematics and metallicity of the bulge, a still debated question regards the age of its stellar population. Photometric studies find the bulk of the bulge stellar population to be consistently old (i.e. >10 Gyr) across different fields. Yet, this picture of a purely old bulge has been challenged by recent spectroscopic results, which advocate for the presence of a substantial fraction of young-intermediate-age population (i.e. <5Gyr). In this context, I will provide an overview of all stellar age determinations in the bulge, highlighting pros and cons of all different methods. The impact of different age estimates on the formation and evolution of the bulge is also discussed.

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GBX2018_Talk_Valenti.pdf

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