The Galactic Bulge

The Galactic Bulge

The Galactic bulge is the least studied component of our Galaxy. Yet, its formation and evolution are key to understand the formation of the Galaxy itself. Studies on the Galactic bulge have increased significantly in the last years, but still there are many points of controversy. This volume contains several contributions from experts in different aspects of the bulge. Issues discussed include...

Composition of the Galactic Bulge

We present detailed abundance results for 9 Galactic bulge stars in Baade’s Window, based on HIRES (R=45,000–60,000) spectra taken with the Keck I telescope. The alpha elements show non-uniform enhancements relative to the solar neighborhood trends: Mg and Si are enhanced in all our bulge stars by ∼0.5–0.3 dex, showing a slight decrease with increasing [Fe/H]. Oxygen is enhanced in most bulge s...

The Galactic bulge: a review

The Milky Way is the only galaxy for which we can resolve individual stars at all evolutionary phases, from the Galactic center to the outskirt. The last decade, thanks to the advent of near IR detectors and 8 meter class telescopes, has seen a great progress in the understanding of the Milky Way central region: the bulge. Here we review the most recent results regarding the bulge structure, ag...

The Age of the Galactic Bulge

The dominant stellar population of the central bulge of the Milky Way is old, with roughly solar metallicity. The age is very similar to that of the old metal rich bulge globular clusters and to 47 Tucanae, which has an age of 13 Gyr. Stellar composition measurements from Keck/HIRES confirm that bulge stars are enhanced in Mg and Ti. New HST/NICMOS data are consistent with an old stellar popula...

The Chemical Evolution of the Galactic Bulge