Overview of the DESI Milky Way Survey

Understand

We describe the Milky Way Survey (MWS) that will be undertaken with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) on the Mayall 4m telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory.

• Over the next 5 yr DESI MWS will observe approximately seven million stars at Galactic latitudes |b|>20 degrees, with an inclusive target selection scheme focused on the thick disk and stellar halo.
• MWS will also include several high-completeness samples of rare stellar types, including white dwarfs, low-mass stars within 100pc of the Sun, and horizontal branch stars.
• We summarize the potential of DESI to advance understanding of Galactic structure and stellar evolution.