Understanding the Effect of Environment on Cluster Formation

了解环境对集群形成的影响

• 批准号: 1517724
• 负责人: Elizabeth Lada
• 金额: $ 41.12万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 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: 2015-08-15 至 2021-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1517724&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Understanding; Effect; Environment; Cluster; Formation

The investigators use telescopes to make infrared images of nearby molecular clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a companion galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy. Since these clouds are more transparent in infrared images, the investigators have discovered many stars are forming in these clouds. They believe most of the stars in our galaxy were formed in clouds very similar to these. How these stars form remains a mystery. The investigators will make an important step towards unraveling this mystery by measuring the properties of embedded star clusters in this companion dwarf galaxy orbiting our Milky Way galaxy.The broader impact of this proposal is the University of Florida (UF) Astronomy BRIDGES program and the continuation of our outreach program in local elementary schools. The BRIDGES program facilitates the transfer of underrepresented Hispanic students in the STEM fields from Miami-Dade College, the largest community college in Florida, to four-year institutions by providing academic activities, mentoring, and social connections with UF Hispanic faculty members, UF students in physics and astronomy, and UF senior transfer students. The program will include multilingual workshops about careers in physics and astronomy, opportunities to do research in astronomy and present results at scientific meetings, and visits to UF and the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures. This outreach program will be conducted throughout the county, targeting schools with low performance in math and science, most of which are in areas with high percentage of minority students. The investigators are conducting the first sensitive, systematic, infrared imaging survey for embedded clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using the VISTA Magellanic Cloud Survey Data. The data will be used to identify young embedded clusters within the LMC molecular clouds and thereby create the most comprehensive survey of very young embedded clusters in molecular clouds in a galaxy other than the Milky Way. In fact, it will represent the largest and most uniform survey for embedded clusters in star forming molecular clouds ever done in any galaxy including our own. In addition to determining the number of embedded clusters the proposed data will be used to characterize their properties, such as their sizes, total masses, total luminosities, mass distribution and birthrate.

研究人员使用望远镜对大麦哲伦星云附近的分子云进行红外成像，大麦哲伦星云是我们银河系的同伴星系。由于这些星云在红外图像中更加透明，研究人员发现这些星云中正在形成许多恒星。他们认为，我们银河系中的大多数恒星都是在与这些非常相似的云层中形成的。这些恒星是如何形成的仍然是一个谜。研究人员将通过测量围绕我们银河系运行的伴生矮星系中嵌入的星团的性质，朝着揭开这个谜团迈出重要的一步。这一提议的更广泛影响是佛罗里达大学(UF)天文学桥梁计划和我们在当地小学的推广计划的继续。布里奇斯项目通过与密歇根大学西语裔教员、密歇根大学物理和天文学专业学生以及密歇根大学高级转学学生提供学术活动、指导和社交联系，促进STEM领域中代表性不足的拉美裔学生从佛罗里达州最大的社区学院迈阿密-戴德学院转学到四年制院校。该计划将包括关于物理学和天文学职业的多语言研讨会，有机会进行天文学研究并在科学会议上展示成果，以及参观密歇根大学和拉美裔拉美文化研究所。这一推广计划将在全县范围内进行，目标是数学和科学成绩较差的学校，这些学校大多位于少数民族学生比例较高的地区。研究人员正在使用Vista麦哲伦星云调查数据，对大麦哲伦星云(LMC)中嵌入的星团进行第一次灵敏的、系统的红外成像调查。这些数据将被用来识别LMC分子云中的年轻嵌入星团，从而对银河系以外的星系分子云中非常年轻的嵌入星团进行最全面的调查。事实上，这将是包括我们银河系在内的任何星系中对形成分子云的恒星中嵌入的星团进行的最大规模和最均匀的调查。除了确定嵌入星系团的数量外，拟议的数据还将用于表征它们的属性，如它们的大小、总质量、总亮度、质量分布和出生率。