ABSTRACT

The formation of galaxies like the Milky Way was long thought to be a steady process that created a smooth distribution of stars. Instead, recent discoveries of complex substructure in the distribution of the Milky Way's stars have deeply shaken this standard view. I will discuss how the unprecedentedly accurate and robust data from modern surveys, such as Sloan Digital Sky Survey, have enabled some of these discoveries, and will speculate what further progress can be expected from the upcoming next-generation surveys, such as Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.