A Study of Oxygen Abundances in Giant Stars in Globular Clusters

卡夫将观察和分析六个球状星团中每个星团中大约十几颗巨星的光谱。目标是更好地确定这些恒星中的氧气丰度。随着利克天文台3米望远镜上的哈密尔顿光谱仪的出现，观测成为可能。该奖项的大部分奖项都是为一名指定的研究生颁发的。球状星团是在我们银河系形成的时候形成的。它们的观测可以告诉我们当时存在的元素，以及从那时起我们银河系中的恒星对元素的形成。氧是恒星中形成的元素之一，也是一种对老化恒星的演化和任何地方的化学都最重要的元素。新的观测设施首次允许可靠地测量球状星团内巨星的氧气丰度。克拉夫特和一名研究生将获得这样的测量结果，并评估六个球状星团中恒星的氧气丰度。

Kraft will observe and analyze spectra of about a dozen giant stars in each of six globular clusters. The goal is a better determination of the oxygen abundance in these stars. The observations have become possible with the advent of the Hamilton spectrograph at the 3-meter telescope of Lick Observatory. Most of the award supports a named graduate student. Globular star clusters were formed at the time when our Galaxy was formed. Their observation can inform us of the elements present at that time and the formation of the elements since then by stars in our Galaxy. Oxygen is one of the elements made in stars and an element that is most important both for the evolution of aging stars and for chemistry everywhere. For the first time, new observational facilities permit a reliable measurement of the oxygen abundance in giant stars within globular star clusters. Kraft and a graduate student will obtain such measurements and evaluate the oxygen abundances for stars in six globular star clusters.