The atmospheres of red giant stars: theory and observation.

当恒星接近生命的尽头时，它们的体积会膨胀数百倍（或体积增加数百万倍），进入一个短暂但神秘的阶段，天文学家称之为红巨星。虽然这是恒星生命周期中至关重要的一幕，但剧烈的尺度变化沉淀了大量在正常恒星中看不到的复杂现象，如脉动和质量损失。通过这项研究，我们的目标是通过将领先的理论/数值模型与最先进的观测技术相结合，了解这些巨星的详细大气结构，从而能够首次对这些恒星的表面进行成像。

When stars near the end of their lives, they swell many hundred-fold in size (or million-fold in volume), entering a brief but enigmatic phase which astronomers call a Red Giant. Although this is a crucial episode in the life cycle of stars, the dramatic scale change precipitates a wealth of complex phenomena not seen in normal stars such as pulsation and mass loss. With this study we aim at understanding the detailed atmospheric structure of these giant stars by marrying leading theoretical/numerical modelling with state-of-the-art observational technology, capable of imaging the surfaces of these stars for the first time.