Image Details
Caption: Figure 9.
Stellar astrophysical targets in the MWM: the Gaia (Bp − Rp) color and absolute Gaia G magnitude of MWM targets within 1 kpc, color-coded by number density. The left panel includes all stars observed with either APOGEE or BOSS that will be included in the DR19 data release. The right panel shows stars expected to be observed by the end of the survey (based on a representative survey simulation, “theta-1”). The diversity of spectral types allows the wide range of science cases of MWM (Section 2.2). The luminous hot stars in the upper left corner ionize the gas seen by the LVM in the MW (Section 2.3), and the cool dwarfs in the lower right corner yield prime hunting ground for rocky planets in the habitable zone, whose host stars must be carefully characterized. The GG program will probe the MW with luminous red giants, while the YSO and solar neighborhood census programs will probe stellar formation with stars along and near the main sequence. Thanks to Gaia’s measurements of distances to faint white dwarfs, MWM is well poised to characterize a large sample of these stellar “cinders.”
© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.