Tidal Tales of Minor Mergers and Beyond Pretty Pictures

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Dr. Karen Knierman is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Virginia. Dr. Knierman will study star formation and its influences in the tidal debris of minor galaxy mergers with the goals of: (1) determining the origin of the tidal debris and (2) characterizing how star formation occurs in debris. By using the metallicity calculated from deep spectra of both tidal clumps in minor mergers and comparison regions in the parent spiral and dwarf galaxy, Dr. Knierman proposes to discover the origins of the tidal debris of minor mergers. Narrowband infrared images of H2 will provide a picture of the hot molecular gas component and how the gaseous environment within the debris has been molded by the stars that have formed within it. With this information about the gas phase in the low metallicity, low gas density, and lower ambient pressure of tidal debris, Dr. Knierman will address star cluster formation and the factors that drive the initial collapse. This research will enable understanding of how galaxy halos and the intergalactic medium are assembled and where and how the stars within them form.Dr. Knierman will also create Astronomy Camps for Girl Scouts and weekend educator workshops for teachers and Girl Scout Leaders that utilize existing and new instructional resources and inquiry-based activities in widely applicable astronomical techniques such as image processing.