Developing Direct Observational Tests of the Formation of Multiple Stellar Populations in Globular Clusters

科学家们将研究密集的恒星群是如何形成的。这些密集的恒星群，被称为球状星团，是我们所知道的银河系中最古老的天体之一。传统上，这些密集的恒星群被认为是同时形成的，并且具有相同的化学元素组成。然而，最近的观测发现，在这些密集的恒星群中，个别恒星的化学元素存在惊人的变化。这颠覆了教科书对这些星团如何形成的理解。在该计划中，将对星团形成模型进行更精确的观测测试。他们将与本科生和研究生以及高中暑期学生一起工作。这项工作将传达给许多学校团体。这位科学家将把这项工作作为振兴密歇根州立大学校园内艾布拉姆斯天文馆的一部分向社区展示，该天文馆每年接待1万多名K-8学生。研究人员将开发并进行观测测试模型，以了解这些不同的恒星群是如何在同一个紧凑的星星群中形成的。这些研究的一个关键方面将是观察本地宇宙中已知的最年轻的球状星团，这是这些物体如何形成的关键试验场。将进行的观测试验包括对不同年龄的年轻星星团中的浓缩气体进行多波长研究，以及对年轻星星团中多代恒星的可能特征进行光学光谱观测。这些观测测试的结果将被反馈到球状星团形成的模型和对年轻星团系统观测的解释中。

The scientists will investigate how dense groups of stars form. The dense groups of stars, known as globular clusters, are some of the oldest objects we know of in our Milky Way galaxy. Traditionally, these dense groups of stars were thought to have formed together at the same time and with the same composition of chemical elements. However, recent observations have found striking variations of the chemical elements among individual stars in these dense groups. This overturns the textbook understanding of how these clusters of stars form. In this program, more precise observational tests of models for cluster formation will be carried out. They will work with undergraduate and graduate college students as well as high school summer students. The work will be communicated to many school groups. The scientist will present the work to the community as a part of revitalizing the Abrams Planetarium, on the Michigan State University campus, which reaches more than 10,000 K-8 students each year.The investigators will develop and carry out observational tests of models for how these different populations of stars formed in the same compact star cluster. A key aspect of these studies will be to observe the youngest known globular clusters in the local universe, which are critical testing grounds for how these objects form. The observational tests that will be carried out include multi-wavelength studies of enriched gas in young star clusters at different ages and optical spectroscopic observations of possible signatures of multiple generations of stars in young star clusters. The results from these observational tests will then be fed back in to models of globular cluster formation and the interpretation of observations of young cluster systems.