The ensemble of chemical element abundance measurements for stars, along with precision distances and orbit properties, provides high-dimensional data to study the evolution of the Milky Way. With this third data release of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey, we publish 678 423 spectra for 588 571 mostly nearby stars (81.2 per cent of stars are within 75 stellar clusters. We derive stellar parameters T_eff, log g, [Fe/H], v_mic, v_broad, and v_rad using our modified version of the spectrum synthesis code Spectroscopy Made Easy (sme) and 1D marcs model atmospheres. We break spectroscopic degeneracies in our spectrum analysis with astrometry from Gaia DR2 and photometry from 2MASS. We report abundance ratios [X/Fe] for 30 different elements (11 of which are based on non-LTE computations) covering five nucleosynthetic pathways. We describe validations for accuracy and precision, flagging of peculiar stars/measurements and recommendations for using our results. Our catalogue comprises 65 per cent dwarfs, 34 per cent giants, and 1 per cent other/unclassified stars. Based on unflagged chemical composition and age, we find 62 per cent young low-|$\alpha$|⁠, 9 per cent young high-|$\alpha$|⁠, 27 per cent old high-|$\alpha$|⁠, and 2 per cent stars with [Fe/H] ≤ −1. Based on kinematics, 4 per cent are halo stars. Several Value-Added-Catalogues, including stellar ages and dynamics, updated after Gaia eDR3, accompany this release and allow chrono-chemodynamic analyses, as we showcase.

The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is a large-scale stellar spectroscopic survey of the Milky Way, designed to deliver complementary chemical information to a large number of stars covered by the Gaia mission. We present the GALAH second public data release (GALAH DR2) containing 342 682 stars. For these stars, the GALAH collaboration provides stellar parameters and abundances for up to 23 elements to the community. Here we present the target selection, observation, data reduction, and detailed explanation of how the spectra were analysed to estimate stellar parameters and element abundances. For the stellar analysis, we have used a multistep approach. We use the physics-driven spectrum synthesis of Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) to derive stellar labels (T_eff, log g, [Fe/H], [X/Fe], v_mic, vsin i, |$A_{K_S}$|⁠) for a representative training set of stars. This information is then propagated to the whole sample with the data-driven method of The Cannon. Special care has been exercised in the spectral synthesis to only consider spectral lines that have reliable atomic input data and are little affected by blending lines. Departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) are considered for several key elements, including Li, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, and Fe, using 1D marcs stellar atmosphere models. Validation tests including repeat observations, Gaia benchmark stars, open and globular clusters, and K2 asteroseismic targets lend confidence to our methods and results. Combining the GALAH DR2 catalogue with the kinematic information from Gaia will enable a wide range of Galactic Archaeology studies, with unprecedented detail, dimensionality, and scope.

The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is a massive observational project to trace the Milky Way's history of star formation, chemical enrichment, stellar migration and minor mergers. Using high-resolution (R ≃ 28 000) spectra, taken with the High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph (HERMES) instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope, GALAH will determine stellar parameters and abundances of up to 29 elements for up to one million stars. Selecting targets from a colour-unbiased catalogue built from 2MASS, APASS and UCAC4 data, we expect to observe dwarfs at 0.3–3 kpc and giants at 1–10 kpc. This enables a thorough local chemical inventory of the Galactic thin and thick discs, and also captures smaller samples of the bulge and halo. In this paper, we present the plan, process and progress as of early 2016 for GALAH survey observations. In our first two years of survey observing we have accumulated the largest high-quality spectroscopic data set at this resolution, over 200 000 stars. We also present the first public GALAH data catalogue: stellar parameters (T_eff, log(g), [Fe/H], [α/Fe]), radial velocity, distance modulus and reddening for 10 680 observations of 9860 Tycho-2 stars, 7894 of which are included in the first Gaia data release.

AU Microscopii (AU Mic) is the second closest pre-main-sequence star, at a distance of 9.79 parsecs and with an age of 22 million years¹. AU Mic possesses a relatively rare² and spatially resolved³ edge-on debris disk extending from about 35 to 210 astronomical units from the star⁴, and with clumps exhibiting non-Keplerian motion^5,6,7. Detection of newly formed planets around such a star is challenged by the presence of spots, plage, flares and other manifestations of magnetic ‘activity’ on the star^8,9. Here we report observations of a planet transiting AU Mic. The transiting planet, AU Mic b, has an orbital period of 8.46 days, an orbital distance of 0.07 astronomical units, a radius of 0.4 Jupiter radii, and a mass of less than 0.18 Jupiter masses at 3σ confidence. Our observations of a planet co-existing with a debris disk offer the opportunity to test the predictions of current models of planet formation and evolution.

Our understanding of planetary systems different to our own has grown dramatically in the past 30 yr. However, our efforts to ascertain the degree to which the Solar system is abnormal or unique have been hindered by the observational biases inherent to the methods that have yielded the greatest exoplanet hauls. On the basis of such surveys, one might consider our planetary system highly unusual – but the reality is that we are only now beginning to uncover the true picture. In this work, we use the full 18-yr archive of data from the Anglo-Australian Planet Search to examine the abundance of ‘cool Jupiters’ – analogues to the Solar system’s giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn. We find that such planets are intrinsically far more common through the cosmos than their siblings, the hot Jupiters. We find that the occurrence rate of such ‘cool Jupiters’ is $6.73^{+2.09}_{-1.13}$ per cent, almost an order of magnitude higher than the occurrence of hot Jupiters (at $0.84^{+0.70}_{-0.20}$ per cent). We also find that the occurrence rate of giant planets is essentially constant beyond orbital distances of ∼1 au. Our results reinforce the importance of legacy radial velocity surveys for the understanding of the Solar system’s place in the cosmos.