Rediscovering Our Galaxy (IAU S334)

While observations of distant galaxies allow us to probe the cosmic past, only our own Galaxy provides a detailed fossil record that reveals its complete formation history. IAU S334 presents a summary of the astrometric, spectroscopic and photometric surveys that will unveil Milky Way's inner- and outermost regions.

Astronomers are at a crucial point in our understanding of the Milky Way. Deciphering the assembly history of our galaxy requires detailed mapping of the structure, dynamics, chemical composition, and age distribution of its stellar populations. In the last decade, astrometric, spectroscopic, photometric, and asteroseismic surveys have started to unveil the inner- and outermost regions of the Milky Way. IAU Symposium 334 explores the still open questions and focusses on the concepts emerging from the analysis of these large, new, and complex datasets. This volume presents a summary of these topics, including the current novel data and the challenges they already pose to modeling, before Gaia end-of-mission, PLATO, and large spectroscopic surveys such as WEAVE and 4MOST are about to start. Graduate students and researchers will learn that, in this golden era of galactic archaeology, we are about to rediscover our galaxy.