Super Star Clusters and Galaxy Evolution

超级星团和星系演化

• 批准号: 0502649
• 负责人: Nathan McCrady
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: McCrady Nathan T
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0502649&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Super; Star; Clusters; Galaxy; Evolution

AST-0502649McCrady, NathanDr. McCrady is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of California, Los Angeles. Thought to be the building blocks of galaxies, massive star clusters are integrally linked to the formation of galactic stellar populations and provide potential sites for intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) that may represent the seeds for formation of super-massive black holes in galactic centers. Dr. McCrady will conduct a research program that seeks to answer two questions: (1) what role does substructure play in the dissolution of massive star clusters in the formation of galactic stellar populations? and (2) do intermediate-mass black holes form in dense star clusters? The proposed work involves diffraction-limited observations using adaptive optics (AO) systems on 8- and 10-m class ground-based telescopes and observations from space-based optical, infrared and X-ray telescopes to characterize the substructure and mass segregation of young, massive super star clusters in nearby galaxies. Additional observations will be used to identify star clusters associated with ultraluminous X-ray sources, which are thought to be IMBHs. Dr. McCrady will also design and teach an integrative undergraduate course entitled "Energy in the Universe" that will use astronomy as the context and energy as a theme for investigating the scientific understanding of humans' place in the Universe. In addition, Dr. McCrady will use astronomy to foster interest in science among secondary school students through the Project ASTRO program.

AST-0502649McCrady, Nathan 博士。麦克雷迪获得美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在加州大学洛杉矶分校开展研究和教育项目。大质量星团被认为是星系的组成部分，与星系恒星群的形成密切相关，并为中等质量黑洞（IMBH）提供了潜在的场所，而中等质量黑洞可能代表着银河系中心超大质量黑洞形成的种子。麦克拉迪博士将开展一项研究计划，旨在回答两个问题：（1）在银河系恒星群形成过程中，子结构在大质量星团的溶解过程中发挥什么作用？ （2）中等质量黑洞是否在致密星团中形成？拟议的工作涉及在 8 米和 10 米级地面望远镜上使用自适应光学 (AO) 系统进行衍射极限观测，以及使用天基光学、红外和 X 射线望远镜进行观测，以表征附近星系中年轻的大质量超级星团的子结构和质量分离。额外的观测将用于识别与超亮 X 射线源相关的星团，这些星团被认为是 IMBH。麦克拉迪博士还将设计和教授一门名为“宇宙中的能量”的综合本科课程，该课程将以天文学为背景，以能源为主题，研究对人类在宇宙中位置的科学理解。此外，McCrady 博士还将通过 ASTRO 项目利用天文学培养中学生对科学的兴趣。