A recent conference on the origins of the galaxy and its stellar content saw Australian and international scientists join together to share their latest research.
The 2016 Elizabeth and Frederick White Conference on Galactic Archaeology and Stellar Physics was held at the Academy's Shine Dome last week.
Much like an archaeologist sifting through remnants of a past civilisation, stellar physicists and galactic archaeologists study the 'fossil record' of the light from stars to determine how galaxies are formed.
The conference presented new datasets on the positions, colours, motions and chemical compositions for hundreds of thousands of stars, including first results from Australia’s very own SkyMapper and GALAH Surveys, giving astronomers never before seen details of the stellar content of the Milky Way. With this newly available information, astronomers can now 'chemically tag' stars to identify where they were born.
Among the discoveries discussed at the conference were that our galaxy formed 'inside-out' with the oldest stars being in the central parts; and that stars can 'migrate' from their birth site to other parts of the galaxy disk.
The conference commemorated the 75th birthday of Professor Ken Freeman FAA, a pioneering driver of galactic archaeology.
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