The Eye of the Storm: A Detailed Study of Star Formation in our Extreme Galactic Center

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Cara Battersby is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Battersby will undertake radio astronomical observations of dense molecular gas within the innermost regions of the Milky Way, known as the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). Studying the CMZ is important, because it provides a rare glimpse of how gas is converted into stars under the hot, dense, and turbulent conditions present near the center of the Galaxy. Because most stars in the early universe are thought to have formed under extreme conditions similar to those found in the CMZ, the proposed studies would enable a better understanding of star formation in the early universe. Battersby will also develop a mentorship and science communication program centered around undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds, to enhance the retention of these students in scientific and technological fields.Because stars form from cool, collapsing molecular clouds which radiate most of their energy at long wavelengths, the proposed observations with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) are ideally suited to the study of deeply embedded star formation in the Galaxy's CMZ. With the SMA, Battersby is leading the first wide-field subparsec survey of the CMZ, which will: (1) yield a comprehensive census of dense cores in the CMZ; (2) compare their basic properties with star-forming clouds in the Galactic disk; and (3) determine if star formation in the CMZ is consistent with a hypothesized critical density or universal relationship for star formation. For the educational component of her program, Battersby will recruit undergraduate students from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM to develop them into effective science communicators. The recruits will then participate in educational events to bring concepts from modern scientific research to underserved high schools in the Boston area.