Presidential Young Investigator (PYI) Award - The Mass Distribution of The Inner Galaxy

特恩德鲁普博士将用这个总统青年研究员奖来支持他对银河系内凸起、光晕和盘状的研究。恒星的丰度和运动学将被测量，以确定银河系内部的质量分布，并约束我们银河系形成的模型。在过去的十年里，银河系核凸起的结构和恒星群一直是人们非常感兴趣的主题。然而，许多基本问题仍然没有答案：银河系的凸起和圆盘是如何相互作用的？凸起和光晕是否有各自的历史，或者它们是否可以被理解为同一古老恒星群的不同表现？凸起、圆盘和光晕的形成顺序是什么？导致银河系当前结构的大规模过程是什么？凸起处的热支撑与旋转支撑的相对重要性是什么？是否有条状或其他大块运动的迹象？特恩德鲁普博士的研究将通过对银河系凸起部分的运动学和恒星丰度进行广泛的观测调查来解决这些问题。

Dr. Terndrup will use this Presidential Young Investigator Award to support his research on the inner bulge, halo, and disk of our Galaxy. Stellar abundances and kinematics will be measured to determine the mass distribution of the inner Galaxy and to constrain models of the formation of our Galaxy. The structure and stellar population of the nuclear bulge of our Galaxy have been subjects of great interest in the last ten years. Many basic questions, however, are yet unanswered: How do the bulge and the disk of the Galaxy interact? Do the bulge and halo have a separate history, or can they be understood as different manifestations of the same old stellar population? What was the order of formation of the bulge, disk, and halo, and what were the large-scale processes that led to the current structure of the Milky Way? What is the relative importance of thermal versus rotational support in the bulge, and are there signs of bars or other bulk motions? Dr. Terndrup's research will address these questions with an extensive observational survey of the kinematics and abundances of stars in the Galactic bulge.