The outer "halo" region of the Milky Way, as with other galaxies,
contains the vast majority of the mass of the Galaxy. Yet the exact mass
and shape of the halo are not known. Unlike the Galaxy's spiral arms,
which contain bright stars, the halo is mostly dark. The few stars in the
halo are the oldest stars in the Galaxy, and include the globular
clusters, but they can account for only a small fraction of the halo's
mass. Understanding the exact nature of the Milky Way halo may help to
explain the mysterious dark matter, which seems to pervade the universe.
Project Links
Century Survey Galactic Halo Project
Hypervelocity Star Project
Galactic Halo Binaries Project
Globular Clusters
People
Warren Brown,
David Latham, Guillermo Torres
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