CAREER: Compact Objects in the Era of Celestial Cinematography

作为一类，致密天体由白矮星、中子星和黑洞组成。作为正常恒星演化的终点态，它们代表了物理宇宙的基本组成部分。对致密天体最有说服力的观测来自致密的恒星系统，在这些系统中，恒星之间的距离足够近，可以进行频繁的相互作用。这种致密天体和其他恒星之间的相互作用产生了观测结果，与模拟相比，这些观测结果提供了关于这些极端形式物质的性质的确凿结论。根据这一奖项，Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz博士(加州大学圣克鲁斯分校)将为各种恒星相遇建立完整的模型。只有通过全面的模拟，才有能力通过直接与观测进行比较，来批判性地测试我们对恒星相遇及其后果的物理理解。将开发一个关于瞬变事件的综合模型数据库，并向天文学界传播。随着天文学迈向天体摄影时代，这方面的工作尤其重要，在这个时代，整个可访问的天空被成像到前所未有的深度，对可变来源进行近乎实时的检测和分类。预测和理解恒星相遇的可观测特征是这个建模项目的主要目标之一。作为该项目的一部分，Ramirez-Ruiz博士将与哈特内尔社区学院的教职员工合作，有效地识别潜在的转学学生，这些学生在职业生涯开始时是有前途的研究人员，也是加州大学传统上代表性不足的群体的成员。该计划的关键组成部分包括通过暑期实习进行密集的研究指导、学术咨询和指导，以及融合家庭成员的研讨会。被选中的暑期实习生将与拉米雷斯-鲁伊斯博士在一个研究项目上密切合作，并被纳入加州大学洛杉矶分校现有的许多学生支持计划之一，例如加州少数族裔参与联盟计划。这将为实习生提供一个学生社区，以及发展更多技能的机会，以促进他们的教育和职业生涯。家庭参与该计划被认为是必不可少的。因此，作为公众推广工作的一部分，拉米雷斯-鲁伊斯博士将开发一个家庭天文之夜系列讲座。该系列讲座的价值将是双重的。首先，它将向一群不同的社区大学生及其家长传达拟议研究的各个方面和发现的兴奋。其次，它将有助于确保父母拥有支持孩子学业成功所需的信息。

As a class, compact objects consist of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. As the endpoint states of normal stellar evolution, they represent fundamental constituents of the physical Universe. The most telling observations of compact objects come from dense stellar systems, where stars are crowded close enough to each other to undergo frequent interactions. This interplay between compact objects and other stars yields observations which when compared to simulations provides firm conclusions about the properties of these extreme forms of matter. Under this award, Dr. Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (University of California - Santa Cruz, UCSC) will build complete models for a wide variety of stellar encounters. Only through full-scale simulations will come the ability to critically test our understanding of the physics of stellar encounters and their aftermath, with a direct comparison with observations. A comprehensive model database of transient events will be developed and disseminated to the astronomical community. This aspect of the work is particularly important as astronomy moves toward an era of celestial cinematography where the entire accessible sky is imaged to unprecedented depth, with near-real-time detection and classification of variable sources. The prediction and, hence, understanding of the observable characteristics of stellar encounters is one of the main goals of this modeling program.As a part of this project, Dr. Ramirez-Ruiz will join forces with the faculty, and staff at Hartnell Community College to effectively identify potential transfer students who are promising researchers at the beginning of their careers and also members of groups who are traditionally underrepresented in the University of California. Key components of the program include intensive research instruction through summer internships, academic counseling and mentoring, and workshops that integrate family members. The selected summer interns will work closely with Dr. Ramirez-Ruiz on a research project and also be integrated into one of the many existing student support programs at UCSC, such as the California Alliance for Minority Participation program. This will provide the interns with a student community as well as the opportunity to develop additional skills to advance their education and career. Family involvement in the program is considered essential. For this reason, as part of the public outreach effort, Dr. Ramirez-Ruiz will develop a Family Astronomy Night lecture series. The value of the lecture series will be twofold. First, it will communicate aspects of the proposed research and the thrill of discovery to a diverse group of community college students and their parents. Second, it will help ensure that parents have the information needed to support their child's academic success.