Chemical Abundances of Relic Red Giant Stars for Galactic Archeology

用于银河考古学的红巨星遗迹的化学丰度

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-03979
• 负责人: Short, Christopher
• 金额: $ 1.38万
• 依托单位: Saint Mary's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=633408
• 关键词: Chemical; Abundances; Relic; Red; Giant

How did galaxies such as our own Milky Way Galaxy form? What is the origin of all the chemical elements in the periodic table heavier than Helium? My students and I will carry out research in Galactic archeology to pursue these two important problems in fundamental origins. We will create computer models of the outer visible layers (the atmospheres) of very old red giant stars that are relics from the era in which our Milky Way Galaxy formed. This will allow us to computationally model the spectrum of the light emitted by these stars, including the ultraviolet (UV), visible, and the infrared (IR) bands of the spectrum. Our modelling treats the way that gas particles absorb light and give rise to star’s emitted spectrum more realistically than does rival modelling, and it has been shown that this allows us to simulate red giant stars’ spectra with significantly greater accuracy. Comparison of our simulated spectra to the observed spectra from international ground- and space-based observatories, in many of which Canada is a partner, will allow us to determine the chemical composition and other properties of old red giant stars, and this information is crucial to determining how the Galaxy formed and evolved. Our proposal is timely, because many on-going or soon-to-begin large scale observational surveys of unprecedented scope will obtain spectra of hundreds of thousands of stars over the next few years, and the potential of the data can only be realized if they are interpreted with realistic computational modelling. Within Canada, we are uniquely capable of providing state-of-the-art modelling to interpret data for the stellar component of the surveys being proposed as part of the feasibility study for the Next Generation Canada-France-Hawaii (ngCFHT) telescope. We will apply a related method to the collective light emitted by more remote groups of stars, such as the dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way, and large star clusters that are found within other nearby larger galaxies such the Andromeda galaxy, to determine the properties and composition of those objects, too. My research students will acquire critical experience related to cognate areas such as terrestrial atmospheric and solar physics, and training in methods and skills of high performance technical computing in a modern data centre environment.

我们自己的银河系形式之类的星系如何？元素周期表中所有化学元素的起源是什么比氦气重？我和我的学生将在银河考古学上进行研究，以在基本起源中追求这两个重要问题。我们将创建非常古老的红色巨星外部可见层（气氛）的计算机模型，这些恒星是我们银河系形成的时代的遗物。这将使我们能够计算这些恒星发出的光的光谱，包括紫外线（UV），可见和光谱的红外（IR）频段。我们的建模与色带建模更现实地对待气体吸收光并引起恒星发射光谱的方式，并且已经表明，这使我们能够以更高的精度模拟红色巨型恒星的光谱。将我们的模拟光谱与来自国际地面和太空观测的观察到的光谱进行比较（其中许多加拿大是合作伙伴）将使我们能够确定旧红色巨星的化学成分和其他特性，并且这些信息对于确定银河系的形成和进化至关重要。我们的建议是及时的，因为许多持续或即将到来的大规模观察范围的大规模观察范围的调查将在未来几年内获得数十万颗恒星的光谱，并且只有在使用现实的计算模型来解释数据的情况下，数据的潜力才能实现。在加拿大内部，我们具有独特的能力提供最先进的建模，以解释为下一代加拿大加拿大 - 弗朗西 - 弗朗西 - 弗朗西·霍瓦伊（NGCFHT）望远镜的可行性研究的一部分的杰出调查组成部分的数据。我们将应用一种相关的方法，以偏远的恒星群发出的集体光，例如以银河系绕的矮星系，以及在其他近更大的星系中发现的大型恒星簇，例如仙女座星系，以确定这些物体的性质和组成。我的研究专业的学生将获得与陆地大气和太阳物理等同源领域有关的重要经验，以及在现代数据中心环境中高性能技术计算方法和技能的培训。