Postdoctoral Fellowship: AAPF: From Dense Clusters to OB Associations: Tracing the Impact of Dynamics on Multiplicity beyond 10 AU in the Orion Complex

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Matthew De Furio is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Texas at Austin. De Furio will observe hundreds of stars within four different star-forming regions (from low-density unbound to high-density bound regions) to identify binary and higher order multiple systems. Results from this work will inform our understanding of the star formation process and explore effects from the stellar birth environment. De Furio will also design and implement an educational program devoted to children and adults with intellectual disabilities using common university resources like telescopes and planetariums.This work will characterize the multiplicity within two low-density OB associations, one high-density bound cluster, and one very young embedded region for primary stars with masses 0.3 M⊙ using ground and space based imaging informed by the Gaia observatory. With the ability to detect companions beyond 10 au, this project will: 1) probe the impact of dynamics on the formation and retention of multiple systems, 2) explore which types of star-forming regions contribute significantly to the Galactic field population, and 3) place fundamental constraints on our understanding of multiple star formation theory as a function of primary mass and orbital separation.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.