CAREER: Bridging the gaps- connecting theory and observations of planet-forming disks and addressing underrepresented populations in STEM

职业：弥合差距——连接行星形成盘的理论和观察，并解决 STEM 中代表性不足的人群

• 批准号: 1455042
• 负责人: Catherine Espaillat
• 金额: $ 82.22万
• 依托单位: Trustees of Boston University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-06-01 至 2023-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1455042&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Bridging; gaps; connecting; theory

This project will use the latest observational and theoretical techniques to determine the basic properties for disks of gas and dust around young stars and extend existing circumstellar disk models to include a more physically realistic disk structure. Planets form out of flattened disks of gas and dust that surround young stars. It is thought that the dust in these disks grows and eventually forms rocky planets, or cores which accrete gas to become gas giant planets. The PI and her team will test existing models by measuring important properties of the dust and gas in over 100 circumstellar disks around young stars. She will use new and archival data from several ground- and space-based telescopes and then use the data to improve the planet formation models. This project also has an educational component focused on the lack of women in permanent STEM positions, particularly minority women. The project will create a mentoring program for women postdoctoral research scientists to help increase the number of women that go on to attain permanent positions in STEM. The program will be based on mentoring circles that meet on a regular basis to help members set development goals and teach skills to meet the goals. The project has three main research goals, which are to 1) determine the basic properties (ie, dust sizes and settling, mass accretion rates) for disks around young stars, 2) extend the circumstellar disk model to include more physically realistic disk structure, and 3) create models of circumplanetary disks embedded within circumstellar disks. The work will be carried out by modeling Spitzer infrared and Herschel submillimeter spectra of 100 disks, obtaining new U-band photometry of 400 young stars, modifying a circumstellar disk model to incorporate spatially variable disk structure and using it to do detailed fits of seven disks with SMA/ALMA archival data. The group?s circumstellar disk model will be adapted for use with circumplanetary disks and then compared with observations obtained from the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) and ALMA.

该项目将使用最新的观测和理论技术来确定年轻恒星周围气体和尘埃盘的基本特性，并扩展现有的星周盘模型，以包括物理上更现实的盘结构。 行星是由年轻恒星周围的扁平气体和尘埃盘形成的。人们认为，这些圆盘中的尘埃不断增长，最终形成岩石行星，或者核心，吸积气体成为气体巨行星。PI和她的团队将通过测量年轻恒星周围100多个拱星盘中尘埃和气体的重要特性来测试现有模型。她将使用来自几个地面和太空望远镜的新数据和档案数据，然后使用这些数据来改进行星形成模型。 该项目还有一个教育部分，重点是缺乏妇女担任STEM永久职位，特别是少数民族妇女。该项目将为女性博士后研究科学家创建一个指导计划，以帮助增加继续获得STEM永久职位的女性人数。该计划将以定期聚会的指导圈为基础，帮助成员设定发展目标并教授实现目标的技能。 该项目有三个主要研究目标，即1）确定年轻恒星周围盘的基本性质（即尘埃大小和沉降，质量吸积率），2）扩展拱星盘模型，以包括物理上更真实的盘结构，3）创建嵌入拱星盘的环行盘模型。 这项工作将通过模拟100个星盘的斯皮策红外和赫歇尔亚毫米光谱、获得400颗年轻恒星的新的U波段光度测定、修改星周星盘模型以纳入空间可变的星盘结构并利用它对7个星盘与SMA/阿尔马档案数据进行详细拟合来进行。小组？的环星盘模型将适用于环星盘，然后与双子座行星成像仪（GPI）和阿尔马获得的观测结果进行比较。