U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: Abundances of Metal- Rich K Giants

这个项目汇集了两组天文学家，他们正在积极研究银河系和麦哲伦星云恒星群的丰度模式。由俄亥俄州立大学的Donald Terndrup领导的美国团队与利克天文台的Ruth Peterson合作，将与澳大利亚国家天文台和斯特罗姆洛山天文台的Michael Bessell以及英澳天文台（AAO）的Elaine Sadler合作。该奖项为美国调查人员在澳大利亚参加观察活动提供资金。利用其他资源的支持，Terndrup和Peterson将在智利的Cerro Tololo天文台对K型巨行星进行进一步的观测，而Bessell和Sadler将使用澳大利亚的设备对球状星团恒星进行同样的观测。具体来说，该计划将对凸起和星团进行观测，以确定氧和其他α捕获元素的丰度。相对丰度将产生银河系凸起和富金属球状星团中化学富集的速率和方式的信息。对K巨星的温度和组成的进一步了解将用于生成温度、金属丰度和重力的诊断指标，用于富金属恒星的低分辨率光学和红外研究。该项目由美国国家科学基金会和澳大利亚工业、技术和商业部（DITAC）联合支持，提供了国际专业知识和独特的观测设施。

This project brings together two groups of astronomers who are actively working on the abundance patterns in the stellar populations of the Milky Way Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds. The U.S. team, headed by Donald Terndrup of The Ohio State University in cooperation with Ruth Peterson of the Lick Observatory, will collaborate with Michael Bessell of the Australian National Observatory and the Mount Stromlo Observatory and Elaine Sadler of the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO). This award provides funds for the U.S. investigators to attend observing runs in Australia. Using other sources of support, Terndrup and Peterson will conduct further observations of bulge K giants at the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile while Bessell and Sadler will do the same for globular cluster stars using Australian facilities. Specifically, the program will conduct observations of bulge and cluster stars to determine the abundance of oxygen and other alpha-capture elements. The relative abundances will generate information on the rate and manner of chemical enrichment in the bulge of the Galaxy and in metal-rich globular clusters. Increased understanding of the temperatures and compositions of K giants will be used to generate diagnostic indicators of temperature, metallicity and gravity for lower-resolution optical and infrared studies of metal-rich stars. The project, supported jointly by NSF and the Australian Department of Industry, Technology, and Commerce (DITAC) provides access to international expertise and unique observational facilities.