Symbiotic Stars and Citizen Science in the Age of Time-Domain Astrophysics

时域天体物理学时代的共生恒星和公民科学

• 批准号: 1616646
• 负责人: Jennifer Sokoloski
• 金额: $ 35.34万
• 依托单位: Columbia 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: 2016-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1616646&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Symbiotic; Stars; Citizen; Science; Age

1. Most stars occur in systems containing two or more objects. Some pairs include a very dense star called a ?white dwarf? ? a star with the mass of our Sun crammed into a volume about the size of the Earth ? plus a red giant star hundreds of times larger than the Sun. In some cases, called ?symbiotic binaries,? the red giant can transfer matter onto the white dwarf. Such systems provide clues about the way the evolution of one star affects the other. They also provide clues about the types of stars that can explode as supernovae, completely disrupting the entire star. This project will use a robotic telescope called ?SkyMapper? in Australia to search the southern skies for large numbers of symbiotic binaries that previous surveys may have missed. It will also involve large numbers of amateur astronomers around the world who are members of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. Their observations will help professional astronomers to determine the true numbers of these systems in the Milky Way Galaxy.2. Symbiotic stars are binary systems in which a white dwarf accretes matter from a red-giant companion. Understanding these systems may have far-reaching implications for binary stellar evolution and may help to constrain the fraction of SNIa that originate as symbiotics. Arguing that an important, and possibly dominant, sub-population of such systems may have been missed in previous surveys, the Principal Investigator will mine the data provided by the SkyMapper Southern Sky Survey based at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia to determine the true population of symbiotic binaries in the Galaxy. The Intellectual Merit of the proposed research stems from the potential for discovering large numbers of previously unknown symbiotics, from determining the true population of such systems in the Galaxy, and from the potential impact of these discoveries on our understanding of binary evolution and the origins of Type Ia supernovae. The project will also help to prepare the astronomical community to deal with the flood of data expected from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) when it comes into operation early in the next decade. The project also has unique Broader Impacts: It will foster a close collaboration between the large number of amateur astronomers around the world who are members of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and professional astronomers to support current and future wide-field time-domain surveys, including those involving the LSST.

1.大多数恒星都存在于包含两个或更多物体的系统中。 有些双星包括一个非常致密的星星，叫做a？白色侏儒？?一颗与太阳质量相当的星星被塞进一个与地球大小相当的体积里？再加上一颗比太阳大几百倍的红巨星星星。 在某些情况下，称为？共生双星？红巨星可以将物质转移到白色矮星上。 这样的系统提供了一个星星的演化如何影响另一个恒星的线索。 它们还提供了关于恒星类型的线索，这些恒星可以爆炸为超新星，完全破坏整个星星。 这个项目将使用一个机器人望远镜称为？SkyMapper？在澳大利亚南部的天空中寻找大量的共生双星，以前的调查可能错过了。 它还将涉及世界各地的大量业余天文学家，他们是美国变星星星观测者协会的成员。 他们的观测将帮助专业天文学家确定银河系中这些系统的真实数量。共生星是一个双星系统，其中一个白色矮星从一个红巨星伴星吸积物质。 了解这些系统可能对双星演化产生深远的影响，并可能有助于限制SNIa起源于共生体的部分。 认为在以前的调查中可能错过了这种系统的一个重要且可能占主导地位的子种群，首席研究员将挖掘位于澳大利亚赛丁泉天文台的SkyMapper南方天空调查提供的数据，以确定银河系中共生双星的真实种群。 拟议研究的智力价值源于发现大量以前未知的共生体的潜力，确定银河系中此类系统的真实人口，以及这些发现对我们理解双星演化和Ia型超新星起源的潜在影响。 该项目还将帮助天文学界做好准备，以应对大型综合巡天望远镜（LSST）在下一个十年初投入运行时预计将产生的大量数据。 该项目还具有独特的更广泛的影响：它将促进世界各地的美国变星星星观测者协会（AAVSO）成员和专业天文学家之间的密切合作，以支持当前和未来的宽场时域调查，包括涉及LSST的调查。