Towards Real-Time Galactic Dynamics

Advances in technology now enable precision time-series measurements to characterize the mass distribution in galaxies - we have now entered the era of “real-time” Galactic dynamics.  This emerging field has benefitted from the synergy with precision techniques developed in the exoplanet, eclipsing binaries and the pulsar timing communities, as well as from the revolutionary Gaia dataset.  At the same time, various different phenomenological models of dark matter are now being more definitively confronted with observations.  

As there is not much cross-talk across these somewhat disparate areas, our goal here is to bring together participants from these areas to enable discussion of key challenges towards reaching specific measurement frontiers, and ultimately enable a mature framework for “real-time” Galactic dynamics that leverages the combined expertise of participants across these areas of astronomy.