Galactic Structure and Morphology of the Milky Way from the TMGS

Abstract

We discuss the Two Micron Galactic Survey, a project which has been running since 1989 at the IAC mapping extended areas of the Galactic plane and bulge with a dedicated IR camera. With the analysis made so far we can suggest the existence of a central Galactic bar, whose receding end is found at l = 27° and which is associated with a huge star formation region holding the one of most luminous IR star clusters in the Galaxy. Also the internal distribution of the stars on the plane shows that the vast majority of these belong to the young and old disc population and to a well defined internal bulge, with almost no stars found in the classical spherical distribution of the bulge, or few with high luminosity. The latter is compatible with a barred gravitational potential, which could scatter the stars from the central plane. Finally, two observational follow-up programmes dedicated to enlarging the spectral coverage and scope of the TMGS are outlined.