Collaborative Research: Chemical Composition of the Galactic Bulge

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AST-0098739RichThis is a collaborative research project involving Dr. Andrew McWilliam, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Dr. R. Michael Rich, University of California at Los Angeles. These researchers will undertake a large survey of detailed chemical abundances in giant stars along the minor axis of the bulge of the Milky Way Galaxy, at distances ranging from 40 to 1000 parsec from the nucleus of the Galaxy. The study will provide detailed knowledge of the chemical composition and metallicity function of the Galactic bulge, which is presently well known only for the local disk and halo of the Galaxy. Since extant chemical evolution models are based on these local components, the bulge provides a very different environment with which to test the widely accepted paradigm of chemical evolution. The survey will use the newly commissioned 6.5-meter Magellan telescope in Chile and the Keck telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. ***