CAREER: Using Globular Clusters to Unravel the Mysteries of Galaxy Formation, Galaxy Structure, and Black Holes

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。凯瑟琳·罗得博士（印第安纳大学）将对巨大星系的球状星团（GC）系统进行为期数年的宽视场成像调查。主要目的是确定每个星系GC系统的总数、特定频率、空间分布和颜色分布。这些数据将用于确定这些属性如何随星系形态和环境而变化，测试星系如何形成和演化的模型，并约束基本量，如宇宙中第一批gc形成时的红移。调查数据还将用于其他两项科学应用：(1)后续光谱测量GCs的径向速度，并利用它们来追踪星系及其暗物质晕的结构；(2)将巡天的光学图像与x射线数据相结合，研究巨型星系中的x射线源——包括发射x射线的黑洞。该项目包括社区服务、公众推广和教育的重要组成部分。在为调查做准备的过程中，罗德博士正在领导一项工作，以生产一种集成良好的系统，用于“一度成像仪”（ODI）相机数据的传输、分析、可视化和存储。其目标是使天文社区中的任何人都可以分析ODI数据，而不必购买和维护昂贵的硬件或编写专门的软件来处理这些大型图像。为ODI创建的解决方案将为其他十亿像素相机项目铺平道路，并将使其他使用大图像进行研究的学科受益。罗德博士的团队将为每个星系制作高质量的彩色图像，并附带文字，并利用这些图像向教育工作者和公众介绍星系的总体情况，以及通过这些图像进行的具体研究。最后，该调查将允许研究生和本科生参与旨在探索天体物理学和宇宙学中一些最基本问题的研究，使用来自新仪器的数据。学生将被鼓励参与该项目的研究和推广活动。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Dr. Katherine Rhode (Indiana University) will carry out a multi-year, wide-field imaging survey of the globular cluster (GC) systems of giant galaxies. The primary objective is to determine the total number, specific frequency, spatial distribution, and color distribution of each galaxy's GC system. The data will be used to establish how these properties vary with galaxy morphology and environment, to test models of how galaxies form and evolve, and to constrain fundamental quantities like the redshift at which the first GCs formed in the Universe. The survey data will also be used for two other science applications: (1) follow-up spectroscopy to measure the radial velocities of the GCs and use them to trace the structure of the galaxies and their dark matter halos; and (2) combining the optical images from the survey with X-ray data to study the X-ray sources - including X-ray emitting black holes - in giant galaxies. This project includes significant components of service to the community, public outreach, and education. In preparation for the survey, Dr. Rhode is leading an effort to produce a well-integrated system for transfer, analysis, visualization and storage of "One Degree Imager" (ODI) camera data. The goal is to make it possible for anyone in the astronomical community to analyze ODI data without having to purchase and maintain expensive hardware or write specialized software to work with these large images. The solutions created for the ODI will pave the way for other Gigapixel camera projects and will benefit other disciplines that use large images to do research. Dr. Rhode's team will create high-quality color images of each galaxy with accompanying text and use these to inform educators and the public about galaxies in general and the specific research that is enabled by these types of images. Finally, the survey will allow graduate and under-graduate students to engage in research aimed at exploring some of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics and cosmology, using data from a new instrument. The students will be encouraged to participate in both the research and outreach activities of the project.