Collaborative Research: Expanding the Dynamical Map of the Milky Way with Asteroseismic Distances

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The investigators will explore the structure of our Milky Way galaxy by measuring the distances to stars using a novel technique called Asteroseismology, which is the study of oscillations in stars. Oscillations are measured by rapid observations of the changes in the brightness and motions of the star’s surface. The investigators will use ground-based telescopes to measure brightness variations in hundreds of thousands of distant stars to infer their distances. These will then be used to create the largest 3D map ever constructed of the outer regions of the Milky Way, enabling insights into how our galaxy has formed and changed over time. The results will help place the Milky Way in the context of other galaxies, leading to a more complete understanding of the origin of our Universe. The investigators will also host a summer research experience for native Hawaiian college students, with the goal of increasing their representation in STEM at the graduate level.Galactic astronomy has entered a golden era, driven by the combination of large-scale multi-object spectroscopic surveys and the exquisite all-sky view provided by the European Space Agency’s Gaia Mission. However, the range of Gaia distances alone—and hence that of many of the major discoveries so far—is limited to a relatively nearby region (3 kpc from the Sun). A solution to this problem is the use of ground-based transient surveys, such as the NSF supported Zwicky Transient Factory (ZTF), which have expanded into all-sky networks hunting for rapid explosive phenomena such as supernovae and electromagnetic counterparts to compact binary mergers. The investigators will use asteroseismology to measure distances to a special type of star, M red giant stars, in the outer Galaxy using stellar light curves from these ongoing surveys. The investigators will exploit the synergy of Gaia with time-domain surveys and spectroscopic surveys to expand the dynamical map of our Galaxy by more than an order of magnitude over Gaia alone. By combining the star distance measurements with synthetic observations of their simulations, the investigators will use the new dynamical map to unveil the structure, dynamics, and formation history of the outer Galactic disk.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.