Collaborative Research: Chemical History of the Milky Way as Seen Through Open Clusters using SDSS and Gaia

在整个宇宙历史中，星系不断变化和发展。天文学家正在努力了解星系中恒星的化学组成是如何随着时间的变化而变化的。通过测量特定元素的增加方式和时间，研究人员将创造出跟踪银河系生命过程中化学变化的“化学钟”。这个研究小组将测量银河盘中几乎所有合适的星团的化学组成。该项目将为国家利益服务，并通过提供一个可用于探索银河系历史的独特星表，促进天文学研究的进步。调查人员将在犹他大学和德克萨斯基督教大学的莫尼格陨石画廊进行指导和外展活动。他们还将培训研究生和本科生现代数据科学研究和分析技术。利用斯隆数字巡天五号(SDSS-V)的高分辨率光谱和盖亚卫星的天体测量学，这个研究小组将观察、编辑和分析一个开放星团的星表。这一目录将在其大小和一致性方面带来革命性的变化。更多的高分辨率光学光谱学将用中子俘获元素丰度来补充SDSS-V数据，以创建一个独特的星表，其中包括多达90%的经GAIA确认的开放星团的同质数据，包括持续测量的年龄、距离、变红、动力学和20多种元素的详细丰度。这一将公开发布的数据集将为化学标记能否在银河盘中发挥作用、疏散星团参与径向迁移以及超新星元素产额提供关键约束。该星表将被用来更好地理解恒星随时间的反馈，并测试我们银河等星系的宇宙学模型。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。

Throughout the history of the Universe galaxies change and grow. Astronomers are working to understand how the chemical make-up of the stars within galaxies change with time. By measuring how, and when, specific elements increase, the investigators will create 'chemical clocks' that trace the chemical changes during the life of the Milky Way Galaxy. This research team will measure the chemical makeup of nearly all the suitable star clusters in the Milky Way disk. This project will serve the national interest and promote the progress of research in astronomy by providing a unique catalog that can be used to probe the history of the Milky Way. The investigators will carry out mentoring and outreach activities at the University of Utah and at Texas Christian University's Monnig Meteorite Gallery. They will also train graduate and undergraduate students in modern data science research and analysis techniques. Using high-resolution spectroscopy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey V (SDSS-V) and astrometry from the Gaia satellite, this research team will observe, compile, and analyze a catalog of open star clusters. This catalog will be revolutionary in its size and uniformity. Additional high-resolution optical spectroscopy will supplement the SDSS-V data with neutron-capture elemental abundances to create a unique catalog comprising up to 90% of the Gaia-confirmed open star clusters with homogeneous data, including consistently measured ages, distances, reddening, dynamics, and detailed abundances for more than 20 elements. This data set, which will be publicly released, will provide key constraints on whether chemical tagging can work in the Milky Way disk, on the participation of open clusters in radial migration, and on supernovae element yields. The catalog will be used to better understand stellar feedback over time and test cosmological models of galaxies like our Milky Way.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.