Milky Way simulations: the Galaxy, its stellar halo and its satellites - insights from a hybrid cosmological approach

Abstract

Our 'home galaxy' - the Milky Way - is a fairly large spiral galaxy, prototype of the most common morphological class in the local Universe. Although being only a galaxy, it is the only one that can be studied in unique detail: for the MilkyWay and for a number of members of the Local Group, a wealth of observational data is available about the ages and chemical abundances of their stars. Much more information is expected to come in the next few years, from ongoing and planned spectroscopic and astrometric surveys, providing a unique benchmark for modern theories of galaxy formation. In this review, I will summarize recent results on the formation of our Milky Way, its stellar halo, and its satellite galaxies. I will focus, in particular, on results obtained in the framework of hybrid models of galaxy formation, and refer to other reviews in this issue for studies based on hydrodynamical simulations.