Completing the WIYN Speckle Survey: Toward the Thin and Thick Disk Binary Populations

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。在之前由nsf资助的工作中，Horch博士和他的团队开发了一种独特的仪器，用于高角度分辨率观测恒星。该项目将在亚利桑那州的WIYN望远镜上使用该仪器，完成对银河系各种恒星群中疑似和可能的双星的广泛调查。所得的恒星质量-半径关系数据将为恒星结构和演化理论提供许多潜在的检验。这些数据将与最近的光谱调查，特别是日内瓦-哥本哈根目录的资料结合使用，以便在恒星天体物理学以及星系结构和演化的经验知识方面取得重大进展。结合现有的和即将到来的光谱调查数据，可以用许多双星系统完成观测和恒星演化模型之间的可靠比较。重要的是，新的数据将允许测量诸如系统年龄和氦丰度之类的数量。霍希博士还将在南康涅狄格州立大学（SCSU）物理系定期举办一系列物理学和天文学研讨会。他将与该地区的高中物理教师以及SCSU成熟的物理俱乐部合作，通过这些讲座帮助康涅狄格州代表性不足的群体促进科学事业。通过拟议的工作，为SCSU的物理学本科生提供建议，将有助于满足美国对训练有素，具有研究能力的科学和工程专业人员的需求

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).In previous NSF-funded work, Dr. Horch and his group have developed a unique instrument for observing stars at high angular resolution. This project will use this instrument at the WIYN telescope in Arizona to complete an extensive survey of suspected and probable binary stars in various stellar populations of the Milky Way. The resulting data on the stellar mass-radius relation will provide many potential tests of stellar structure and evolution theory. The data will be used in combination with information from recent spectroscopic surveys, particularly the Geneva-Copenhagen Catalog, to make substantial progress in empirical knowledge of stellar astrophysics as well as galactic structure and evolution. In combination with existing and forthcoming spectroscopic survey data, robust comparisons between the observations and stellar evolution models can be completed with many binary systems. Importantly, the new data will permit the measurement of such quantities such as the system age and the helium abundance. Dr. Horch will also create a regular series of physics and astronomy seminars in the Department of Physics at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). He will work work with high school physics teachers in the area and with the well-established Physics Club at SCSU to help promote careers in science to underrepresented groups in Connecticut through these talks. The advising of undergraduate Physics students at SCSU through the proposed work will help serve the need for highly-trained, research-capable science and engineering professionals in the U.S.