Galactic Archaeology: A Radial Velocity Experiment to Unveil the History of the Milky Way

The ambitious international RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) is measuring accurate velocities and chemical properties of 500,000 stars, far more than the number previously measured throughout history. The RAVE sample is ideal for studying the relation between the age, kinematics and metallicity of Galactic stars: this relation provides unique chemical and kinematical fingerprints of our Galaxy's formation and evolution. A primary goal of RAVE is to discover the stellar remains of small galaxies that fell in and were absorbed long ago into the halo and disk of our Galaxy. We propose to complete the observations in 2012, and then wrap up the scientific analysis in 2013-4 using modelling techniques newly developed by our group in Australia.