Galactic Dynamics

Dear Colleagues,

The stars and gas in galaxies make up the main observable component of our universe. However, we infer, by the motions of these stellar and gaseous components, that these galaxies also harbour the majority of the mass in the universe in unseen, non-baryonic components—dark matter. Galactic dynamics is perhaps one of the best tools by which we can understand the properties of this dark matter in the Milky Way and indeed, in other galaxies. Dynamical models of galaxies and their stellar populations also allow us to study the pathways of their formation and evolution which, in themselves, are two of the major outstanding problems in astrophysics. The last decade has seen great strides in the scale and quality of observational data on the Milky Way and external galaxies, providing strong constraints on dynamical models, which themselves have improved in their ability to predict and model the data. For example, the recent advent of the Gaia mission in the Milky Way is providing the most detailed and extensive mapping of stellar kinematics in the galaxy, while integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy has unlocked spatially resolved kinematics in external galaxies. This Special Issue aims to collect a set of papers presenting the most cutting-edge insights in the field of galactic dynamics in its broadest interpretation, providing insights into the dynamical structure of the Milky Way and external galaxies, constraints on their formation and evolution, and the nature of dark matter.

Dr. J. Ted Mackereth
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Universe is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Galaxies
• Stars
• Dynamical modelling
• Simulations
• Data mining/big data
• Dark matter
• Gaia
• IFU spectroscopy
• Milky Way
• Spiral galaxies
• Surveys