The Milky Way's middle aged inner ring.

We investigate the metallicity, age, and orbital anatomy of the inner Milky Way specifically focussing on the outer bar region. We integrate a sample of APOGEE DR16 inner Galaxy stars in a state of the art bar-bulge potential with a slow pattern speed and investigate the link between the resulting orbits and their [Fe/H] and ages. By superimposing the orbits we build density, [Fe/H], and age maps of the inner Milky Way, which we divide further using the orbital parameters eccentricity, |Xmax|, and |Zmax|. We find that at low heights from the Galactic plane the Galactic bar gradually transitions into a radially thick, vertically thin, elongated inner ring with average solar [Fe/H]. This inner ring is mainly composed of stars with AstroNN ages between 4 and 9 Gyr with a peak in age between 6 and 8 Gyr, making the average age of the ring ~6 Gyr. The vertical thickness of the ring decreases markedly towards younger ages. We also find very large L4 Lagrange orbits that have average solar to super-solar metallicities and intermediate ages. Lastly, we confirm a clear X-shape in the [Fe/H] and density distributions at large Galactic heights. The orbital structure obtained for the APOGEE stars reveals that the Milky Way hosts an inner ring-like structure between the planar bar and corotation. This structure is on average metal rich, intermediately aged, and enhances the horizontal gradient along the bar's major axis.