Characterizing astrospheres created by winds from low-mass binaries interacting with the ISM

描述由低质量双星与 ISM 相互作用产生的风所产生的天体特征

• 批准号: 1515957
• 负责人: Hans Mueller
• 金额: $ 29.21万
• 依托单位: Dartmouth College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-15 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1515957&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Characterizing; astrospheres; created; winds; low

The investigator will numerically model the environment around stars that are gravitationally bound to each other rather than in isolation. This question is important because most stars are found in pairs or multiple star groups, not isolated like our Sun. The investigator notes that our nearest stellar neighbors, Alpha, Beta and Proxima Centauri are in a group of stars. This proposal will explore the conditions that any planets around these stars may experience due to the interaction of the outflows of material from the stars. The investigator will model the environmental conditions in multiple-star systems; the models can be tested by appropriate observations of the Centauri group. The investigator will strongly connect undergraduate students with this research project. The investigator will also mentor first year undergraduate students, who will work on this project through the auspices of the "Women in Science Project" at Dartmouth College. This program encourages more women to pursue a career in STEM through early exposure to hands-on research experience, role modeling, and mentoring. The investigator will study the region of interaction of stellar winds with the surrounding interstellar medium; a region the investigator calls the 'astrosphere'. In particular, the research focuses on astrospheres of binary stars, which have the additional feature of wind-wind interactions between the two stellar winds. Both the wind-wind and the wind-ISM interactions produce shocks and associated radiation/particle interactions. The investigator?s central theme is the ramifications for any planets that might be associated with the system. Effects can include the planet's thermal and chemical atmosphere structure, and over the long-term erosion of the planet's atmosphere, as is thought to have happened with Mars. The interaction of magnetized solar winds with the planet's magnetic field also affects cosmic ray transport and exposure Such effects are important for shaping the expected properties of a planet's atmosphere, and studies of those atmospheres will become important during the coming years when current lists of recently discovered exoplanets will be observed in more detail.

研究人员将对相互引力束缚而不是孤立的恒星周围的环境进行数字建模。 这个问题很重要，因为大多数恒星都是成对或多个星星群，不像我们的太阳那样孤立。 研究人员指出，我们最近的恒星邻居，阿尔法，贝塔和比邻星是在一组恒星。 该提案将探索这些恒星周围的任何行星由于恒星流出物质的相互作用而可能经历的条件。研究人员将模拟多星系统中的环境条件;可以通过对半人马座星系群的适当观测来检验这些模型。 研究者将密切联系本科生与本研究项目。研究人员还将指导一年级的本科生，他们将通过达特茅斯学院的“妇女参与科学项目”的赞助从事这一项目。该计划鼓励更多的女性通过早期接触实践研究经验，角色建模和指导来追求STEM职业生涯。研究人员将研究恒星风与周围星际介质相互作用的区域;研究人员称之为“天体层”。特别是，研究重点是双星的天体层，它们具有两个恒星风之间的风-风相互作用的额外特征。风-风和风-ISM相互作用都产生激波和相关的辐射/粒子相互作用。那个调查员的中心主题是可能与该系统有关的任何行星的分支。影响可能包括行星的热和化学大气结构，以及行星大气的长期侵蚀，就像火星所发生的那样。磁化的太阳风与行星磁场的相互作用也会影响宇宙射线的传输和暴露，这些影响对于塑造行星大气的预期特性非常重要，在未来几年内，对这些大气的研究将变得非常重要，届时将更详细地观察最近发现的系外行星。