The Low Mass End of the Mass Function in OB Associations with Small and Medium Astronomical Research Telescopes System (SMARTS)

OB 中质量函数的低质量端与中小型天文研究望远镜系统 (SMARTS) 的关联

• 批准号: 0307454
• 负责人: Frederick Walter
• 金额: $ 24.66万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-09-01 至 2007-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0307454&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Low; Mass; End; Function; OB

AST 0307454PI WalterGroups of stars known as OB associations are the birthplaces of the hot and massive O and B stars. They are fossil star formation regions, retaining a complete record of all the stars that formed therein. All the low mass stars that formed in such an OB association are still present, generally unobscured, and are at their final masses. The stars have the same times of birth, and the very low mass stars and substellar mass objects are still sufficiently bright to be easily observable. Since most low mass stars form in OB associations, these regions provide a representative view of low mass star formation in our Galaxy. The observational effort investigates several questions: Are the low mass stars formed in-situ in the Orion OB1b association, with their development arrested by the massive stars, or are they ejected from the association by multi-body gravitational interactions as underdone embryos? What is the distribution of stellar rotation periods, and how do the stars spin up at ages between two and ten million years, an age interval currently not well sampled? New observations will provide a uniform set of mass distribution functions for the stars in a sample of young nearby OB associations, and so we may ask how universal is the low mass end of the initial mass function?Broader Impact: This project contributes to both undergraduate and graduate astronomy programs at Stony Brook, as well as to local outreach efforts. Large amounts of guaranteed observation time through the Small and Medium Astronomical Research Telescopes System consortium allows research proposals from qualified undergraduates to obtain data for use in the undergraduate courses. To that end, two undergraduate data aides will be employed, and the project will offer research opportunities to others. This support will also enhance outreach to local secondary schools. About 2 high school students per year have been supervised over the past decade for science fair projects. The guaranteed observing time will afford these students a wider range of options for planning, proposing, reducing, and analyzing data on projects of their choosing.

AST 0307454 PI沃尔特被称为OB星协的恒星群是炽热的大质量O星和B星的诞生地。它们是星星形成区的化石，保留了所有在其中形成的恒星的完整记录。所有在这样一个OB星协中形成的低质量恒星仍然存在，通常没有被遮蔽，并且处于它们的最终质量。恒星的诞生时间相同，质量很低的恒星和亚恒星质量的物体仍然足够明亮，很容易被观察到。由于大多数低质量恒星形成在OB协会，这些地区提供了一个代表性的看法，低质量星星形成在我们的银河系。 观测工作调查了几个问题：低质量恒星是在猎户座OB1b协会中原位形成的，它们的发展被大质量恒星阻止，还是它们被多体引力相互作用作为未完成的胚胎从协会中弹出？恒星自转周期的分布是什么？恒星在200万年到1000万年之间是如何自转的？ 新的观测将提供一组统一的质量分布函数的恒星在一个样本的年轻的附近OB协会，所以我们可能会问，如何普遍的低质量端的初始质量函数？更广泛的影响：该项目有助于在斯托尼布鲁克本科和研究生天文学课程，以及当地的推广工作。通过中小型天文研究望远镜系统联合体提供的大量有保证的观测时间，使合格的本科生能够提出研究建议，以获得数据供本科生课程使用。 为此，将雇用两名本科生数据助理，该项目将为其他人提供研究机会。 这种支持还将加强对当地中学的外联。在过去的十年里，每年大约有2000名高中生接受科学博览会项目的监督。保证的观察时间将为这些学生提供更广泛的选择，以规划，提出，减少和分析他们选择的项目的数据。