N-body Interactions, Protostellar Explosions, & Feedback in Star Formation

研究人员研究大质量恒星是如何形成的。 大质量恒星的寿命相对较短，它们迅速将氢和氦燃烧成更重的元素，如碳、氧和硅。 恒星中重元素的产生是行星形成和生命出现的重要步骤。 虽然像我们的太阳这样长寿命的低质量恒星会产生一些轻元素，直到碳，但发光和短寿命的大质量恒星会产生所有较重的元素。 因此，宇宙重元素富集的速率是由低质量和高质量恒星的丰度决定的。恒星是由星际云的引力坍缩和碎裂形成的。 星星的形成是自我调节的，受到新恒星注入能量的限制。 这种反馈可以终止吸积，并帮助设定最终的恒星质量。 衡量反馈的影响是本提案的目标之一。 在恒星生命的尽头，大质量恒星爆炸成为超新星，它们新合成的元素混合成星际云。 低质量和高质量恒星的相对丰度取决于星星的形成。 恒星几乎从不单独诞生。 大多数恒星形成于星团和星团中，引力可以导致恒星之间的相互作用。 当恒星在云内移动时，气体阻力会导致轨道衰减。 近距离相遇会引发星周盘对恒星的吸积，产生明亮的耀斑。调查员有几个目标。 他们将分析猎户座爆炸及其对环境的影响。然后，他们将确定猎户座类原恒星爆炸的常见程度，并测量它们的反馈影响。为了实现他们的目标，他们将使用射电天文学方法来寻找年轻恒星的吸积动力爆炸，并对原恒星相遇进行数值模拟，以估计它们在设定恒星质量方面的作用 科学是技术的驱动力，推动着未来的经济格局。 研究者促进关于纯研究对建立新技术的基础作用的公共讨论。 这项研究将提供多波长天体物理学和使用新的观测工具，数据挖掘和数值模拟的培训。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。

The investigator studies how massive stars are formed. Massive stars have relatively short lives, quickly burning their hydrogen and helium into heavier elements, like carbon, oxygen and silicon. The production of heavy elements in stars is an essential step in the formation of planets and the emergence of life. While long-lived, low-mass stars like our Sun produce some light elements up to carbon, it is the luminous and short-lived massive stars that produce all the heavier elements. Thus, the rate of cosmic heavy-element enrichment is determined by the abundances of low- and high-mass stars. Stars form from the gravitational collapse and fragmentation of interstellar clouds. Star formation is self-regulated, limited by the injection of energy by new stars. Such feedback can terminate accretion and help to set the final stellar masses. Measuring feedback impacts is one of the goals of this proposal. At the end of stellar life, massive stars explode as supernovae and their freshly synthesized elements are mixed into interstellar clouds. The relative abundance of low- and high-mass stars is determined by star formation. Stars are almost never born alone. Most stars form in clusters and groups where gravity can lead to interactions among stars. As stars move about inside a cloud, gas drag can lead to orbit decay. Close encounters can trigger accretion from their circumstellar disks onto the stars to produce luminous flares. The investigator has several goals. They will analyze the Orion explosion and its impact on the environment. Then they will determine how common Orion-like protostellar explosions are and measure their feedback impacts. To achieve their goals, they will use radio astronomy methods to search for accretion-powered explosions from young stars and numerically model protostellar encounters to estimate their roles in setting stellar masses Science is the driver of technology with drives future economic landscapes. The investigator promotes public discourse on the foundational role of pure research for establishing new technologies. This research will provide training in multi-wavelength astrophysics and the use of new observational tools, data-mining and numerical modeling.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.