The Nature of the Dark, Diffuse Interstellar Medium in the Local Group

本地群中黑暗、弥漫的星际介质的性质

• 批准号: 2202373
• 负责人: Michael Busch
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: Busch, Michael Peter
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2202373&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Nature; Dark; Diffuse; Interstellar; Medium

Michael Busch is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of California, San Diego. Busch will perform radio astronomical observations of the hydroxyl radical (OH) to study the properties and molecular hydrogen (H2) content of the interstellar medium (ISM) of nearby galaxies. The observations will complement observations of carbon monoxide (CO) – a widely used probe of H2 – to shed light on “dark H2” gas that cannot be studied using CO, as well as those of atomic hydrogen (HI). Results from the study will allow astronomers to understand how atomic gas undergoes the transition to molecular gas. For the education component of this project, Busch will develop a workshop on using a portable planetarium to increase astronomy engagement with grade school students.This research project will generate large maps of OH allowing reliable inference of the distribution of diffuse dark H2 in two representative local group galaxies. Combined with CO and HI observations, this will enable a thorough characterization of the environment, mass, and kinematics of the ISM. The observations and analyses will help elucidate the nature of dark H2 in unprecedented detail, yielding unique insight into the transition between the atomic and molecular gas in the ISM. Data from this project will also be useful for studies of astrochemistry, star formation, and galactic structure.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.

迈克尔·布希（Michael Busch）被授予NSF天文学和天体物理学奖学金，以在加利福尼亚大学圣地亚哥分校进行研究和教育计划。 Busch将对羟基自由基（OH）进行射电天文观测，以研究附近星系星际培养基（ISM）的特性和分子氢（H2）含量。这些观察结果将完成对一氧化碳（CO）的观察结果，即H2的广泛探针，以阐明无法使用CO以及原子氢（HI）研究的“深H2”气体。该研究的结果将使天文学家能够了解原子气体如何经历过渡到分子气体。对于该项目的教育部分，Busch将开展一个关于使用便携式天文馆来增加与小学生的天文学互动的研讨会。该研究项目将生成大量的OH地图，从而可以可靠地推断出两个代表性的局部组星系中弥漫性暗H2的分布。结合CO和HI观察结果，这将使ISM的环境，质量和运动学的彻底表征。观察结果和分析将有助于以前所未有的细节阐明深色H2的性质，从而对ISM中原子和分子气之间的过渡产生独特的见解。该项目的数据也将用于研究天体化学，恒星形成和银河系结构的研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，通过评估来诚实地获得支持。