Understanding the Ionized Gas in the Milky Way Galaxy

这个天文学项目旨在提高我们对整个银河系中稀薄温暖气体的理解。 该团队希望了解这种被称为“温暖电离介质”或WIM的气体如何与已知恒星形成的星系中的大而密集的云有关。 WIM是出了名的难以观察，因为它是如此的薄和脆弱。 即便如此，WIM仍然很重要，因为它占了银河系气体的近20%。了解WIM如何影响恒星的诞生和银河系的演化是该项目的重要目标。研究人员将使用NSF资助的绿色银行望远镜（GBT）来观察WIM中氢原子的无线电发射。氢是WIM中最丰富的元素。 来自西弗吉尼亚大学（WVU）的团队将绘制银河系内部区域的地图，暂停对被称为“HII区域”的热气泡进行更深入的观察，以与WIM进行比较。GBT是观测WIM最灵敏的望远镜。近40%的地图数据已经获得。完成地图和分析这些重要数据将对天文学界有相当大的用处。研究生，本科生，甚至当地的高中生将参与这个项目。该团队将为西弗吉尼亚州的2015年愿景计划做出贡献，以改善该州在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）方面的劳动力培训。首席研究员多年来一直参与这项工作，并将利用这笔资金将该计划扩展到该地区更多的学校。该团队的NSF支持项目“绘制银河系”允许高中学生识别HII区域，然后在GBT进行后续观察。该计划将从一所学校扩大到三所学校，从大约15名学生扩大到50多名学生。西弗吉尼亚大学的学生也将参与这一推广活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This astronomy project aims at improving our understanding of the thin, warm gas spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. The team hope to understand how this gas, known as the "Warm Ionized Medium" or WIM, relates to the large, dense clouds in the galaxy where stars are known to form. The WIM is notoriously hard to observe because it is so thin and tenuous. Even so, the WIM is important because it makes up almost 20% of the gas in the galaxy. Understanding how the WIM affects the birth of stars and the evolution of the Milky Way are important goals of this project. The researchers will use the NSF-funded Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to observe radio emission from the hydrogen atoms in the WIM. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the WIM. The team from West Virginia University (WVU) will map the inner regions of the Milky Way, pausing to take deeper observations of hot bubbles of gas known as "HII regions" for comparison with the WIM. The GBT is the most sensitive telescope available for observing the WIM. Almost 40% of the map data have already been obtained. Completing the maps and analyzing these important data will be of considerable use to the astronomy community. Graduate, undergraduate, and even local high school students will be involved in this project. The team will contribute to West Virginia's Vision 2015 initiative to improve the state's workforce training in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The Principle Investigator has been involved in this effort for a number of years, and with this funding will extend the program to more schools in the area. The team's NSF-supported project "Mapping the Galaxy" allows high school students to identify HII regions and then conduct follow-up observations at the GBT. This program will be extended from one to three schools, and from roughly 15 to more than 50 students. WVU students will also be involved in this outreach activity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.