Dynamics in the Local Group

An international project studying the dynamics of the Local Group (LG) — dominated by its two massive spiral galaxies, the Andromeda galaxy (M31) and the Milky Way (MW). The motion of stars, globular clusters and dwarf galaxies near these galaxies depends on their mass distribution, so tracing that motion lets us reconstruct past and future positions and velocities — and, conversely, infer the mass distributions themselves, once equilibrium conditions and systematics are accounted for.

Work has spanned the origin and dynamics of the Milky Way’s dwarf galaxies, a Local Group mass estimate from the dynamics of the MW–M31 system, and a Milky Way mass estimate from the Gaia DR3 rotation curve. Most recently, a new Local Group mass measurement from Hubble-flow perturbations was presented at Journal Talk 24.

The project welcomes motivated undergraduate, post-baccalaureate and graduate students as (unpaid) Research Interns of CASSA; to apply, email the supervisor with your motivation and a CV.