Vasily Belokurov

Vasily Belokurov is Professor of Astronomy at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. His research uses large astronomical surveys to study how galaxies form and evolve, discover new structures in and around the Milky Way, and reconstruct the galaxy’s past through galactic archaeology. Much of his work draws on Gaia, SDSS, DES, APOGEE and related data sets to map stellar motions, chemistry, streams, satellites, merger debris, and the dynamical structure of the galactic halo and disc.

His work has helped define several areas of near-field cosmology, including the discovery and interpretation of Milky Way substructure, the Gaia Sausage/Enceladus merger, ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, stellar streams, and the role of the galactic bar. These systems provide some of the sharpest tests of dark matter. He also works on binary stars, globular clusters, and the connection between Milky Way archaeology, numerical simulations and high-redshift galaxy formation.