Radio Survey for Ammonia in the Mid-Plane of the Milky Way Galaxy

银河系中面的氨射电巡天

• 批准号: 1616635
• 负责人: James Jackson
• 金额: $ 39.28万
• 依托单位: Trustees of Boston University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-07-01 至 2021-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1616635&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Radio; Survey; Ammonia; Mid; Plane

Stars form in dark dusty clouds. These stellar nurseries are literally shrouded in mystery. Dark, cold star-forming clouds pervade our Milky Way Galaxy. The investigators seek to understand how these clouds transform into clumps of stars. Some clouds collapse into clusters of hundreds of stars. The investigators will map a large swath of the Milky Way Galaxy, which contains thousands of these giant clouds. This map will reveal the location of these clouds, and establish their distance, structure, temperature, and internal motions. All of these measurements will be compared with theories to learn which of our ideas about star formation should be supported. By comparing younger clouds with older clouds, the investigators will learn how the clouds change as they form stars. Since our sun formed in this way, this study will shed light on the origin of the sun and the earth. The PI and a graduate student also will volunteer two weeks each summer to participate in the K-12 educational outreach programs (one day workshops and extended overnight "science camps") for students and teachers in West Virginia. The investigators will use the Green Bank Telescope, a large radio telescope in West Virginia. They will measure radio emission with a wavelength near 1.3 centimeters (about half an inch) from ammonia molecules within the dense star-forming clouds. Ammonia emission is an excellent tracer of cold, dense gas. Unlike other molecular tracers, ammonia emission can be used to simultaneously measure distance, structure, temperature, and gas motions. They will capitalize on a novel radio "camera?, which makes the Green Bank Telescope the best telescope in the world for ammonia mapping over large swaths of sky. The investigators will detect thousands of star forming clouds. With such a large number of clouds, the investigators will how star clusters change over time, and which theories about star-formation are best. The images will be available to the astronomical community and to the public via a dedicated web site. As noted above, the PI and a graduate student will volunteer two weeks each summer to participate in the K-12 educational outreach programs for students and teachers. Having a high-tech, state of the art telescope in West Virginia provides an important opportunity to promote STEM education where it is most sorely needed. By showing the results of the research done in West Virginia they hope to inspire students and teachers about the importance of STEM education.

恒星形成于灰蒙蒙的乌云中。这些恒星托儿所确实笼罩在神秘之中。黑暗、寒冷的恒星形成云遍布我们的银河系。研究人员试图了解这些星云是如何转变为星团的。一些星云坍塌成由数百颗恒星组成的星团。研究人员将绘制银河系的一大片地图，其中包含数千颗这样的巨型云层。这张地图将揭示这些云的位置，并确定它们的距离、结构、温度和内部运动。所有这些测量结果都将与理论进行比较，以了解我们关于恒星形成的哪些观点应该得到支持。通过比较较年轻的云和较老的云，研究人员将了解这些云在形成恒星时是如何变化的。由于我们的太阳是以这种方式形成的，这项研究将有助于揭示太阳和地球的起源。PI和一名研究生还将在每年夏天自愿参加西弗吉尼亚州学生和教师的K-12教育推广计划(一天的研讨会和延长的过夜“科学夏令营”)。调查人员将使用位于西弗吉尼亚州的大型射电望远镜--绿岸望远镜。他们将测量密集恒星形成星云中氨分子的波长接近1.3厘米(约半英寸)的射电发射。氨排放是寒冷、稠密气体的极好示踪剂。与其他分子示踪剂不同，氨发射可用于同时测量距离、结构、温度和气体运动。他们将利用一种新颖的无线电“相机”，这使绿岸望远镜成为世界上最好的在大片天空进行氨气测绘的望远镜。研究人员将探测到数以千计的恒星形成的星云。有了如此大量的云层，研究人员将了解星团如何随时间变化，以及哪些关于恒星形成的理论是最好的。这些图像将通过一个专门的网站向天文学社区和公众开放。如上所述，PI和一名研究生将在每年夏天自愿参加K-12教育推广方案。在西弗吉尼亚州拥有一台高科技、最先进的望远镜，为在最需要的地方推广STEM教育提供了一个重要机会。他们希望通过展示在西弗吉尼亚州进行的研究结果，启发学生和教师认识STEM教育的重要性。