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

合作研究：用星震距离扩展银河系动态图

• 批准号: 2305425
• 负责人: Sukanya Chakrabarti
• 金额: $ 19.5万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama in Huntsville
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-12-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305425&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Expanding; Dynamical; Map

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.

研究人员将使用一种称为Asterosemology的新技术来测量恒星的距离，这是恒星中振荡的研究，从而探索了我们银河系的结构。通过快速观察到恒星表面的亮度和运动的变化来衡量振荡。研究人员将使用地面望远镜来测量成千上万的遥远恒星中的亮度变化，以推断其距离。然后，这些将用于创建有史以来最大的3D地图，该地图是由银河系的外部区域构建的，可以洞悉我们的银河系如何随着时间的推移形成和更改。结果将有助于在其他星系的背景下将银河系放置，从而使人们对宇宙的起源有了更完整的了解。调查人员还将为夏威夷本土大学生提供夏季研究经验，目的是增加他们在研究生级的STEM的代表性。《天文学》进入了黄金时代，这是由大型多尺度光谱镜调查和由欧洲航天机构Gaia的独家观点组合的组合所驱动的。但是，仅Gaia距离的范围（因此到目前为止的许多主要发现）仅限于相对附近的区域（距太阳3 kpc）。解决此问题的一种解决方案是使用基于地面的瞬态调查，例如NSF支持的Zwicky瞬态工厂（ZTF），它们已扩展到全天空网络中寻找快速爆炸现象，例如超新星和电磁对应物，以使紧凑的二进制合并。研究人员将使用这些正在进行的调查中的恒星光曲线在外星系中使用Asterosology测量特殊类型的恒星M红色巨星。研究人员将通过时间域调查和光谱调查来利用Gaia的协同作用，以将我们的银河系的动态图扩大到盖亚的动态图。通过将恒星距离测量与对模拟的合成观察相结合，研究人员将使用新的动态图来揭示外部银河系磁盘的结构，动力学和形成历史。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用该基金会的知识分子和广泛的影响来评估NSF的法定任务。