Collaborative Research: White Dwarfs and the Age Distribution of the Disk, Thick Disk, and Halo

AST-0607480机构：德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校PI：Ted von Hippel标题：合作研究：白色矮星和圆盘、厚圆盘和Halo的年龄分布。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的泰德·冯·希佩尔和亚利桑那大学的詹姆斯·利伯特博士将进行一项计划，以确定盘、厚盘和银河系晕中白色矮星的光度函数和空间密度。该团队将利用斯隆数字巡天（SDSS）提供的数万颗新的白色矮星。 找到最低光度的白色矮星将允许在磁盘的年龄进行细化，并首次使用白色矮星冷却时间的方法获得厚盘和晕的年龄。此外，光度函数的形状应该允许重建人口的星星形成历史。该方案的更广泛影响包括参加在麦克唐纳天文台举行的教师专业发展讲习班。 这些讲习班是与合作者（Harry Shipman博士）以及麦克唐纳天文台和亚利桑那大学的教育和外联工作人员合作举办的。课程内容和研讨会的做法符合科学教育和得克萨斯州，亚利桑那州和特拉华州科学标准的国家标准。

AST-0607480INSTITUTION: University of Texas at AustinPI: Ted von HippelTITLE: Collaborative Research: White Dwarfs and the Age Distribution of the Disk, Thick Disk, and HaloABSTRACTDr. Ted von Hippel, at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. James Liebert, at the University of Arizona, will undertake a program to determine the luminosity functions and space densities of the white dwarfs in the disk, thick disk, and Galactic halo. The team will utilize the tens of thousands of new white dwarfs, made accessible in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Finding the lowest luminosity white dwarfs will allow for a refinement in the age of the disk to be made, and for the first time the ages of the thick disk and halo will be obtained using the method of white dwarf cooling times. Additionally, the shape of the luminosity functions should allow for the star formation history of the population to be reconstructed. The broader impacts of the program include participation in the teacher professional development workshops held at McDonald Observatory. The workshops are a collaboration with a collaborator (Dr. Harry Shipman) and the education and outreach staff at McDonald Observatory and the University of Arizona. Curriculum content and workshop practices align with the National Standards for Science Education and Texas, Arizona, and Delaware science standards.