Towards a Panoramic 7-D Map of the Milky Way

迈向银河系全景 7 维地图

• 批准号: 0707901
• 负责人: Zeljko Ivezic
• 金额: $ 39.98万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-09-15 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0707901&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Towards; Panoramic; Map; Milky; Way

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.

Zeljko Ivezic博士（华盛顿大学）将通过大大提高对银河系中恒星分布和运动学的认识，检验和影响星系形成和演化的理论。为了实现这一目标，Ivezic博士将利用最近在对前所未有数量的恒星的恒星颜色、自行和径向速度进行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，以及使用新的方法来分析和可视化这些庞大而复杂的数据集。计划中的研究的最终目标是将这些数据集综合成银河系的综合视图，弥合传统上不连贯的空间和运动学分布描述之间的界限，并将这些关于银河系结构的结果纳入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，例如自动搜索高维空间中的超密度。 至少在未来十年内，它们仍将是一个前沿资源，因为其他主要的恒星调查要浅得多，或者还没有开始。科学准备的公共目录和地图将提供许多方法来产生更小和定义明确的项目，这些项目是吸引本科生和研究生参与前沿研究的理想选择。这些独立的，但基于发现的项目非常适合向没有先前研究经验的学生介绍科学过程。对代表性不足群体的学生进行培训将产生直接影响。一些本科生将参与本研究的所有阶段，包括出版过程。这些结果将通过一个专门用于这项研究的教育和推广网站，在研究生和本科生课程中纳入，以及在科学和大众讲座中介绍，在专业天文学界之外公布。特别是，仿照SDSS天空服务器建立的项目网站将促进高中生了解当前的研究，使他们能够（重新）发现该项目预期的许多科学成果。