# Unveiling the Milky Way: A New Technique for Determining the Optical Color and Luminosity of our Galaxy

@article{Licquia2015UnveilingTM,
title={Unveiling the Milky Way: A New Technique for Determining the Optical Color and Luminosity of our Galaxy},
author={Timothy C. Licquia and Jeffrey A. Newman and Jarle Brinchmann},
journal={arXiv: Astrophysics of Galaxies},
year={2015}
}
• Published 13 August 2015
• Physics
• arXiv: Astrophysics of Galaxies
We demonstrate a new statistical method of determining the global photometric properties of the Milky Way (MW) to an unprecedented degree of accuracy, allowing our Galaxy to be compared directly to objects measured in extragalactic surveys. Capitalizing on the high-quality imaging and spectroscopy dataset from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we exploit the inherent dependence of galaxies' luminosities and colors on their total stellar mass, $\mathrm{M}_\star$, and star formation rate (SFR…

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