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，会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关键一步。虽然像我们的太阳这样的长寿命、低质量的恒星会产生一些轻元素，直到碳元素，但产生所有重元素的是发光的、短寿命的大质量恒星。因此，宇宙中重元素的富集率取决于低质量恒星和大质量恒星的丰度。恒星是由星际云的引力坍塌和碎裂而形成的。恒星的形成是自我调节的，受到新星注入能量的限制。这样的反馈可以终止吸积，并有助于设定最终的恒星质量。衡量反馈影响是本提案的目标之一。在恒星生命的末期，大质量恒星以超新星的形式爆炸，它们新合成的元素混合成星际云。低质量恒星和大质量恒星的相对丰度由恒星形成决定。恒星几乎从来不是独自诞生的。大多数恒星是以星团和星团的形式形成的，在这些星团和星团中，引力可以导致恒星之间的相互作用。当恒星在云层内移动时，气体阻力会导致轨道衰变。近距离相遇可以触发从它们的周恒星圆盘向恒星的吸积，从而产生发光耀斑。这位调查员有几个目标。他们将分析猎户座爆炸及其对环境的影响。然后，他们将确定类似猎户座的原恒星爆炸有多常见，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搜索年轻恒星的吸积动力爆炸，并对原恒星相遇进行数字模拟，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，并推动未来的经济前景。研究人员促进关于纯研究对建立新技术的基础作用的公开讨论。这项研究将提供多波长天体物理学方面的培训，以及新观测工具、数据挖掘和数值建模的使用。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.