Tidal Tales of Minor Mergers and Beyond Pretty Pictures

Karen Knierman博士被授予NSF天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在弗吉尼亚大学开展一项研究和教育计划。尼尔曼博士将研究小星系合并的潮汐碎片中的恒星形成及其影响，目标是：(1)确定潮汐碎片的来源；(2)描述恒星是如何在碎片中形成的。克尼尔曼博士建议，通过利用小型合并中的两个潮汐团的深层光谱以及母体螺旋星系和矮星系中的对比区域计算出的金属丰度，来发现小型合并中潮汐碎片的起源。氢的窄带红外图像将提供热分子气体成分的图片，以及碎片中的气体环境是如何被在其中形成的恒星塑造的。根据潮汐碎片的低金属丰度、低气体密度和较低环境压力中的气相信息，Knierman博士将讨论星团的形成和驱动初始坍塌的因素。这项研究将有助于理解星系晕和星际介质是如何组合在一起的，以及其中的恒星是在哪里以及如何形成的。Knierman还将为女童子军创建天文夏令营，并为教师和女童子军领袖举办周末教育工作者讲习班，利用现有和新的教学资源以及广泛应用的天文技术(如图像处理)的探究性活动。

Dr. Karen Knierman is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Virginia. Dr. Knierman will study star formation and its influences in the tidal debris of minor galaxy mergers with the goals of: (1) determining the origin of the tidal debris and (2) characterizing how star formation occurs in debris. By using the metallicity calculated from deep spectra of both tidal clumps in minor mergers and comparison regions in the parent spiral and dwarf galaxy, Dr. Knierman proposes to discover the origins of the tidal debris of minor mergers. Narrowband infrared images of H2 will provide a picture of the hot molecular gas component and how the gaseous environment within the debris has been molded by the stars that have formed within it. With this information about the gas phase in the low metallicity, low gas density, and lower ambient pressure of tidal debris, Dr. Knierman will address star cluster formation and the factors that drive the initial collapse. This research will enable understanding of how galaxy halos and the intergalactic medium are assembled and where and how the stars within them form.Dr. Knierman will also create Astronomy Camps for Girl Scouts and weekend educator workshops for teachers and Girl Scout Leaders that utilize existing and new instructional resources and inquiry-based activities in widely applicable astronomical techniques such as image processing.