COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Citizen Science Assists a Novel Measurement of Mass-Loss Rates and Extends the Galactic Census of Runaway Massive Stars

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Stars with masses much greater than that of our Sun are the engines that drive the evolution of our galaxy, mixing the interstellar gas and dust with their winds, radiation, and eventually their violent deaths in supernova explosions. The rate at which these massive stars lose matter is an important quantity in determining how these stars evolve near the ends of their lives. There are, however, large uncertainties in the measurements of mass-loss rate for these stars with major discrepancies between theoretical and observational results. The goal of this project is to measure mass loss from massive stars through a unique program that involves "citizen science" called Zooniverse. This project will use the Zooniverse citizen science program to enable thousands of non-scientists to comb through recently completed Spitzer and WISE space telescope surveys in search of bow shock nebulae. These bow shock nebulae are indicative of runaway massive stars ejected from their stellar birthplaces. It is expected that the citizen scientists will identify approximately 300 massive stars through their bow shock structure. These identifications will be followed up by spectroscopic measurements with the 2.3m Wyoming Infrared Observatory (WIRO) in order to derive mass-loss rates, which will result in a statistically compelling sample of objects for comparison with theoretical models.Both PIs are heavily involved in the education and training of graduate and undergraduate students, and the proposed work will further strengthen the students' exposure to astronomical research. The observations with WIRO telescope will foster mutually beneficial exchanges between the urban, predominantly Hispanic undergraduate institution Cal Poly Pomona and the rural University of Wyoming through hands-on observational astronomy and data analysis. The Cal Poly Pomona proposal in this collaboration is a Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) project, which will offer numerous opportunities to train new scientists with a strong emphasis on recruiting students from underrepresented groups into STEM fields. This project will also initiate a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at WIRO that will pair secondary science teachers with University of Wyoming faculty and summer Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program students.