Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: SKA-VLBI is poised to revolutionize our understanding of the Galactic structure through its unprecedented astrometric precision and sensitivity. As a next-generation facility, it will answer long-standing questions about the Galactic structure by mapping its entire spiral structure in detail, spanning from the solar neighborhood, through the Galactic Center, to the far side of the Milky Way. Its access to the Southern sky will allow us to obtain more precise 3D parameters of the Galactic bar, reveal the nature of the 3-kpc Arm, and clarify the dynamical coupling between the bar and the spiral arms. By leveraging high-precision astrometry of numerous celestial objects with SKA-VLBI, the Galactic fundamental parameters such as the Solar motion and the Galactic rotation curve can be constrained more precisely. These advancements will not only elucidate the structure of our Milky Way, but also provide benchmarks for understanding barred spiral galaxies in general. Furthermore, they are important for advancing our knowledge of cosmological structure formation. The capabilities of SKA-VLBI will open a new era of high precision Galactic astrometry.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Purple Mountain Observatory, Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna, Leiden University, Leiden Observatory, Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC, China Three Gorges University, University of Tasmania, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Spanish National Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China, Chalmers University of Technology
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G2385575189, G3611544531, G5824176002
OpenAlex ID: W7166575613
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