Globular Clusters as Probes of Galaxy Formation and Evolution

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AST-0302095Rhode, KatherineDr. Rhode is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at Yale and Wesleyan Universities. She will address the fundamental problem of understanding how galaxies form. In particular, she will address the formation of elliptical galaxies through observations of globular star clusters (GCs). The GCs act as probes of the formation history of galaxies. Their heavy element content, spatial distributions, and kinematics provide important clues to the conditions present in a galaxy at the time of their formation. Dr. Rhode has already surveyed a large sample of GC systems around both elliptical and spiral galaxies. With her fellowship, she will obtain spectroscopy of these GCs to measure their kinematics, heavy element content, and ages. These data will provide further constraints on how giant galaxies are formed. She will also compare her wide-field optical images with space-based X-ray data to explore the connection between GCs and X-ray emission from discrete sources in normal galaxies. In addition to her research, Dr. Rhode will develop laboratory exercises, aimed at non-science-majors in undergraduate astronomy courses, that involve observing with a small telescope and Charge Coupled Device (CCD) cameras. These labs will provide students first-hand experience with the tools used in modern astronomy. After being tested and refined, the labs will be disseminated to the community via a web site and presented at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. ***