Collaborative Research: Kinematics and Chemistry of M33 - Determining the Past, Present and Future of the M31/M33 System

这个项目将使用凯克望远镜来研究M33中的单个恒星，M33是仙女座星系（M31）的伴星。利用光谱学，他们将获得有关M33盘和潜在晕的运动和恒星形成历史的信息。他们将利用这些信息来了解它与M31的相互作用是否影响了它的进化。该科学项目与一个高中研究项目相结合，该项目将向学生介绍M33形成历史的前沿研究。M33的质量比M31低10倍，恒星形成率比M31高10倍，是高z星系的最佳本地模拟。对M31中已分解恒星的光谱观测将提供恒星速度和色散的视距测量，以及恒星和气体盘组成部分动力学的定量比较。它还将产生M33中恒星的第一个铁和α元素丰度分布。最后，它将确定M33是否有恒星光环。这种化学动力学分析将为影响低质量恒星盘的内部和外部加热机制提供关键的观测约束。它还将约束M33围绕M31运行的轨道模型，从而深入了解M33是第一次坠落还是在过去与M31有过实质性的相互作用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will use the Keck telescope to study individual stars in M33, a companion galaxy to the Andromeda galaxy (M31). Using spectroscopy, they will obtain information about the motion and star formation history of the disk and potential halo of M33. They will use this information to learn if its interactions with M31 have influenced its evolution. The science program is integrated with a high school research program that will introduce students to cutting-edge research on M33's formation history.With a mass ten times lower than M31's and a star formation rate 10 times higher, M33 is the best local analog for high z galaxies. Spectroscopic observations of resolved stars in M31 will provide measurements of the line-of-sight stellar velocities and dispersion and quantitative comparisons of the dynamics of the stellar and gas disk components. It will also produce the first iron and alpha-element abundance distributions for stars in M33. Finally, it will definitively determine of M33 has a stellar halo. This chemo-dynamical analysis will provide critical observational constraints on internal and external heating mechanisms affecting low-mass stellar disks. It will also constrain models of M33's orbit around M31, yielding insights into whether M33 is on first infall or has interacted substantially with M31 in the past.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.