Studies of White Dwarf Stars and Related Objects

中等质量(小于太阳诞生时质量的6倍)恒星演化的最后阶段是白矮星。它们是质量与太阳相当，但大小与地球相似的恒星。质量大致等于或略小于太阳的1/100的类星物体演化的最后阶段是棕矮星。它们是从未在其核心形成足够严重的条件来点燃其核燃料的物体。首席研究员建议对这两种恒星进行观测研究，以便更好地了解它们的结构、组成、演化、质量得失以及在银河系中的分布。

The end stage in the evolution of stars of moderate mass (less than ca. 6 time the mass of the sun when they are born) are white dwarfs. They are stars with masses comparable to that of the sun, but sizes like that of the earth. The end stage in the evolution of starlike objects with masses roughly equal to or somewhat less than 1/100 that of the sun are brown dwarfs. They are objects that never developed sufficiently severe conditions in their cores to ignite their nuclear fuel. The Principal Investigator proposes to study observationally both kinds of stars in order to get a better understanding of their structure, composition, evolution, mass gains and losses, and distribution in our Galaxy.