Observations of Jets from Accreting White Dwarfs

ast - 0302055 sokoloski JenniferDr。Sokoloski获得了美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在哈佛-史密森天体物理学中心开展研究和教育项目。她将讲述天体物理喷流的产生，这是在宇宙中许多不同大小尺度上发现的。这些高度集中的流出物的原因被认为是中心物体周围的吸积盘，但尚未得到很好的理解。索科洛斯基博士将对共生恒星周围的吸积盘进行详细研究，在吸积盘中，一颗白矮星从一颗红巨星的恒星风中吸积气体。该研究项目的三个方面将是：(1)对共生恒星中的射流进行档案光谱调查，加上互补的无线电、光学和x射线成像观测；(2)探索共生恒星中的盘-喷流连接，包括可能产生第一张潮汐扭曲恒星图像的干涉观测；(3)对选定的白矮星吸积体中产生喷流的盘内区域进行了详细的研究。目标是使用共生恒星来区分这些系统和一般天体物理喷流的竞争射流模型。Sokoloski博士还将致力于提高妇女和女孩对科学的参与。她将继续参加面向女中学生的“面向未来”科学指导项目，并致力于招募同事参与。此外，她还将致力于向波士顿地区的不同团体传播国际物理学女性会议的结果，既要发表演讲，也要收集反馈。她还将主持筹备暂定于2006年举行的后续会议的讨论。＊＊＊

AST-0302055Sokoloski, JenniferDr. Sokoloski is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She will address the creation of astrophysical jets, which are found on many different size scales in the universe. The cause of these highly focused outflows are thought to be accretion disks around central objects, but are not well understood. Dr. Sokoloski will conduct a detailed study of accretion disks around symbiotic stars, in which a white dwarf star accretes gas from the stellar wind of a red giant. The three facets of the research project will be (1) an archival spectroscopic survey for jets in symbiotic stars, plus complementary radio, optical, and X-ray imaging observations; (2) an exploration of the disk-jet connection in symbiotic stars, including interferometric observations that could possibly produce the first image of a tidally distorted star; and (3) a detailed examination of the jet-producing inner-disk region in selected white-dwarf accretors. The goal is to use the symbiotic stars to distinguish between competing jet models, both for these systems and for astrophysical jets generally. Dr. Sokoloski will also work towards increasing the participation of women and girls in science. She will continue to participate in the "Eyes to the Future" science mentorship program for middle-school girls, and focus on recruiting colleagues to participate as well. In addition, she will work on disseminating the results of the International Conference on Women in Physics to different groups in the Boston area, both giving talks and collecting feedback. She will also lead discussions in preparation for a follow-up meeting, tentatively scheduled for 2006. ***