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

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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.