Towards a Panoramic 7-D Map of the Milky Way

Zeljko Ivezic博士（华盛顿大学）将通过开发对银河系中恒星分布和运动学的显著改进的理解来测试和影响星系形成和演化的理论。为了实现这一目标，伊维齐克博士将利用最近在恒星颜色、适当运动和径向速度的精确测量方面取得的重大进展，并将应用可靠的统计方法来估计距离和金属丰度，以及使用新颖的方法来分析和可视化这些庞大而复杂的数据集。计划研究的最终目标是将这些数据集综合成一个全面的银河系视图，弥合传统上不连贯的空间和运动分布描述之间的界限，并将这些关于银河系结构的结果置于星系形成和演化模型的背景下。这项研究的结果不仅与银河系的研究有关，而且与一般星系形成和演化的研究有关。大型增值恒星目录和三维地图将促进现代统计方法在天文数据分析中的新应用，例如在高维空间中自动搜索超密度。它们将在至少十年的时间里保持前沿资源，因为其他主要的恒星调查要浅得多，或者还没有开始。科学准备好的公共目录和地图将提供许多方法来产生较小的和明确定义的项目，这些项目非常适合本科生和研究生参与前沿研究。这些独立但以发现为基础的项目非常适合向没有研究经验的学生介绍科学过程。培训来自代表性不足群体的学生将产生直接影响。几名本科生将参与这项研究的所有阶段，包括出版过程。这些结果将通过一个致力于这项研究的教育和推广网站在专业天文社区之外公布，它们将被纳入研究生和本科生的课程，并在科学和大众讲座中进行展示。特别值得一提的是，该项目网站将以SDSS Sky Server为模型，通过让高中生（重新）发现该项目预期的许多科学成果，促进他们对当前研究的了解。

Dr. Zeljko Ivezic (University of Washington) will test and influence theories of galaxy formation and evolution by developing a significantly improved understanding of the distribution and kinematics of stars in our Galaxy. To achieve this goal, Dr. Ivezic will make use of recent significant advances in the availability of accurate measurements of stellar colors, proper motion and radial velocity for unprecedented numbers of stars, and will apply robust statistical methods for estimating distance and metallicity as well as using novel methods for analysing and visualizing these voluminous and complex data sets. The ultimate goal of the planned studies is to synthesize these data sets into a comprehensive view of the Galaxy, to bridge the boundary between traditionally disconnected descriptions of spatial and kinematic distributions, and to place these results on the Milky Way structure into the context of galaxy formation and evolution models. The results of this research will be relevant not only to studies of the Milky Way, but to studies of galaxy formation and evolution in general. The large value-added stellar catalogs and three-dimensional maps will foster novel applications of modern statistical methods to astronomical data analysis, such as automated search for overdensities in high-dimensional spaces. They will remain a cutting edge resource for at least a decade because other major stellar surveys are much shallower, or have not started yet.The science-ready public catalogs and maps will offer many ways of producing smaller and well defined projects that are ideal for engaging undergraduate and graduate students in cutting-edge research. These stand-alone, but discovery-based, projects are excellent for introducing the scientific process to students without prior research experience. An immediate impact will come from the training of students from under-represented groups. Several undergraduate students will be involved in all phases of this research, including the publication process. These results will be made known outside of the professional astronomical community through an education and outreach web site devoted to this research, their inclusion in both graduate and undergraduate courses, and their presentation in both scientific and popular talks. In particular, the project web site, modeled after the SDSS Sky Server, will promote the exposure of high school students to current research by enabling them to (re)discover many of the scientific results expected from this project.