I will present first science results obtained with the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). The results include deriving constraints on the escape velocity of the Milky Way, the verticals structure of the thin and thick galactic disk and the search for in-falling stellar streams on the local Milky Way disk. The results are compared with predictions of recent high resolution simulations of the formation of disk galaxies.

We wish to present most recent observational data on the magnetic fields in the Milky Way. We combine information from optical polarization studies, recent radio continuum polarization surveys, the radio Zeeman effect as well as from new Rotation Measure data of pulsars and extragalactic radio sources. We conclude that the magnetic fields both in the disc and the halo of the Milky Way are quite turbulent with some indication of overlaying large scale structure.

Our Local Group companions, M31 and M33, offer ideal laboratories for studying in magnificent detail the processes which drive the formation and evolution of typical disk galaxies. Over the past 5 years, our understanding of these systems has been revolutionized as a result of several wide-field photometric and spectroscopic surveys, as well as deep pencil-beam studies with HST. These studies have provided the first detailed probes of the far outer regions of the galaxies, mapping their surface brightness profiles to unprecedented levels and establishing their radial extents far beyond what was previously thought. In this talk, I will highlight some key results from studies of the resolved fossil populations in M31 and M33 and conclude by discussing how this type of archaeological work may be extended to study the outskirts of disk galaxies lying beyond the Local Group.

The Local Group spirals M31 and M33 are our closest disk galaxies and offer a unique opportunity to trace in detail the distribution of the baryonic and dark component and gain important information on the disk formation and evolution. Starting from the most recent results on the atomic and molecular gas distribution in these two galaxies I will then add important information for M33 to trace the processes which regulate the star formation in this nearby blue, low luminosity galaxy. The M33 disk is made up of four distinct zones: the central one where we have just found kinematic evidence for a weak bar, the second zone where spiral arms trigger the formation of giant molecular clouds and bright star forming sites, the third one where active star formation proceeds without large molecular complexes, and finally the outer disk which links the active star forming disk to the environment. We complement data of previous surveys with Spitzer images and IR photometry of discrete SF sites in this galaxy. The sensitivity and resolution of Spitzer maps for this galaxy are so high as to unveil all necessary ingredients for understanding the gas to stars conversion process throughout the whole star forming disk. M33 becomes then an ideal prototype for future studies on blue galaxies, actively forming stars which host no large amount of molecules or dust.

We present initial results from the M33 Metallicity Project. Out of the thousands of cataloged HII regions in M33, only about 20 have electron-temperature based abundances in the literature. We have obtained Keck spectroscopy of a sample of about 200 HII regions in M33, with 58 detections of the [OIII]4363Å line that can be used for determining electron temperatures, including measurements at small galactocentric radii where auroral lines are generally difficult to detect. We find an oxygen abundance gradient of -0.030±0.012 dex/kpc, in agreement with infrared measurements of the neon abundance gradient but much shallower than most previous oxygen gradient measurements. There is substantial intrinsic scatter of 0.12 dex in the metallicity at any given radius in M33, which imposes a fundamental limit on the accuracy of gradient measurements that rely on small samples of objects. We also show that the ionization state of neon does not follow the ionization state of oxygen as is commonly assumed, suggesting that neon abundance measurements from optical emission lines may be problematic. Finally, we present a 2D map of oxygen abundances across the southern half of M33 and discuss the evidence for deviations from axisymmetry.

We review the recent progress in observational study of rotation curves and mass distributions in disk galaxies. We focus on the central massive cores and molecular-gas nuclei, and discuss the mechanism for high-density molecular nuclei to accumulate in the deep central potential.

The strength and structure of interstellar magnetic fields can be studied by observations of radio continuum emission, its polarization and its Faraday rotation. Fields with a well-ordered spiral structure exist in grand-design, barred, flocculent and even in irregular galaxies. Total field strengths in spiral arms and bars are 10 - 30 MicroGauss, due to compression of turbulent fields, and are dynamically important. The scale length of total fields in galaxy disks are larger than 15 kpc. Only weak polarization is observed in spiral arms and bars because field lines are tangled by star-formation processes. The strongest regular fields are found in interarm regions, sometimes forming “magnetic spiral arms” between the optical arms, mostly aligned parallel to the optical arms. The regular field is hardly compressed in spiral arm and bar shocks. Faraday rotation of polarization vectors in spiral galaxies reveals large-scale patterns which are signatures of coherent fields generated by dynamos. Field structures in galaxies often require a superposition of several modes. Dynamos also seem to operate in circumnuclear regions around active nuclei, where magnetic stress may drive gas inflow towards the nucleus.

I propose a review of our (limited) knowledge of global structural properties (velocity V, size R, luminosity L) that encompasses the latest data at optical and infrared bands and related analyses for local field and cluster spiral galaxies in the context of galaxy structure and formation studies. My review focuses on and ties together the direct and residual correlations in the global VRL galaxy scaling relations with recent reports of similar correlations on the smallest scales (BH, nuclear star clusters). I address a number of pervasive conundrums about spiral galaxies such as the nature of the Tully-Fisher and size-luminosity relations, the final distribution of dark and baryonic matter in galaxies, the M_BH-σ-V_c-C relation, and the ubiquitous nature of (and departures from) exponential disks.

The Disk Mass Survey forms a census of the result of ongoing assembly and processing of baryons in normal spirals galaxies. The survey breaks the disk-halo degeneracy and establishes dynamical M/L ratios for a wide range in disk color, surface-mass-density, and star-formation rate. The data wealth includes stellar velocity-dispersion maps, plus photometric UBVRIJHK and Spitzer IRAC + MIPS images for 40 face-on galaxies. These were selected from a larger sample of 130 galaxies with Hα velocity-fields. HI mapping is in progress. With a rigorous error-budget in hand, we give present limits on the range of disk maximality. We also calibrate models which underpin estimates of stellar mass in galaxy-evolution studies. Capabilities for an extension of this survey further into the low-surface brightness regime are demonstrated.