Large scale kinematics and dynamical modelling of the Milky Way nuclear star cluster

Understand

Within the central 10pc of our Galaxy lies a dense nuclear star cluster (NSC), and similar NSCs are found in most nearby galaxies.

• Studying the structure and kinematics of NSCs reveals the history of mass accretion of galaxy nuclei.
• Because the Milky Way (MW) NSC is at a distance of only 8kpc, we can spatially resolve the MWNSC on sub-pc scales.
• This makes the MWNSC a reference object for understanding the formation of all NSCs.