The Galactic Disc in Action Space as seen by Gaia DR2

TL;DR

This study uses Gaia DR2 data to analyze the detailed structure of stellar orbits in the Galactic disc, revealing complex sub-structures and resonances in action space that inform models of Galactic dynamics.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale analysis of orbital actions for millions of stars, uncovering detailed sub-structures and resonances in the Galactic disc beyond the Solar neighborhood.

Findings

Identification of sub-structures in action space correlating with known moving groups

Detection of density ridges indicating orbital diffusion and resonances

Evidence of stars not being phase-mixed along their orbits

Abstract

The quality and quantity of 6D stellar position-velocity measurements in the second Gaia data release (DR2) allows to study small-scale structure in the orbit distribution of the Galactic disc beyond the immediate Solar neighborhood. We investigate the distribution of orbital actions $(J_R,J_\phi=L_z,J_z)$ of $\sim 3.5$ million stars within $1.5~\text{kpc}$ of the Sun, for which precise actions can be calculated from Gaia DR2 alone. This distribution $n(J_R,L_z)$ reveals a remarkable amount of sub-structure. The known moving groups in the $(U,V)$-plane of the Solar neighborhood correspond to overdensities in $(J_R,L_z)$, as expected. But $n(J_R,L_z)$ also exhibits a wealth of density clumps and ridges that extend towards higher $J_R$. These $n(J_R,L_z)$ features are most prominent among orbits that stay close to the Galactic plane and remain consistently visible out to $\sim1.5~\text{kpc}$, as opposed to the sub-structure in velocity space. Some of these $n(J_R,L_z)$ ridges resemble features expected from rapid orbit diffusion along particular ($J_R,L_z$)-directions in the presence of various resonances. Several of these $n(J_R,L_z)$ structures show a dramatic imbalance of stars moving in or out, suggesting that stars are not phase-mixed along orbits or on resonant orbits. Orbital action and angle space of stars in Gaia DR2 is therefore highly structured over kpc-scales, and appears to be very informative for modeling studies of non-axisymmetric structure and resonances in the Galactic disc.