Star Formation in the Extreme Environments of Milky Way Massive Star Clusters

Jessica Lu博士被授予美国国家科学基金会天文学和天体物理学博士后奖学金，在夏威夷大学天文研究所（IfA）开展研究和教育项目。卢博士将研究年轻的银河系星团，这些星团比附近大多数研究得很好的恒星形成区域（如猎户座和金牛座）都要大，以了解在这些更极端的环境中，恒星形成是否会有所不同。对这些区域的研究将推进我们对恒星形成的理解，不仅在我们自己的星系中，而且在其他星系和更高的红移中，这种极端环境更常见。高空间分辨率近红外观测将用于穿透尘埃和气体，这些尘埃和气体掩盖了这些遥远和嵌入的星团，并解析密集星团核心中的单个恒星。在1-2年的时间基线上对恒星进行精确的天文测量，将使单个星团成员与污染的星海区分开来。此外，延长W51分子云中一个星团的现有天文测量观测的时间基线，将使我能够测量该星团的内部运动学。这将提供一个对星团总质量的估计，约束星团的耗散时间尺度，使寻找运动子结构作为解散子星团的证据成为可能，并揭示恒星在穿过母分子云时竞争性吸积的重要性。卢还将从两个方面讨论教育、外联和多样性问题。首先，PI将通过开发和提供几个探究式入门天文学实验室的教师培训，扩大当前和未来天文学教师对IfA探究性教学方法的接触。PI计划与有意愿的教师合作，审查他们的课程，以便找到可以纳入探究性活动的合适点。其次，PI将在IfA的本科生研究经验暑期项目中，为来自少数民族或代表性不足部门的学生提供科学研究项目的建议。通过这些项目，PI旨在弥合专注于天文学教育研究和多样性问题的小型社区与教授但不深入研究教育的大型天文学家社区之间的差距。

Dr. Jessica Lu is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA). Dr. Lu will study young Milky Way star clusters that are more massive than most well-studied nearby star forming regions, like Orion and Taurus, in an effort to understand whether star formation differs in these more extreme environments. Study of such regions will advance our understanding of star formation not only in our own Galaxy, but in other galaxies and to higher redshift where such extreme environments are much more common. High spatial resolution near-infrared observations will be used to penetrate the dust and gas that obscures these distant and embedded clusters and resolve individual stars in the dense cluster cores. Precision astrometric measurements of the stars over a 1-2 year time baseline will enable individual cluster members to be distinguished from the sea of contaminating field stars. Furthermore, extending the time-baseline for existing astrometric observations of one cluster in the W51 molecular cloud will allow me to measure the internal kinematics of the cluster. This will provide an estimate of the total cluster mass, constrain the dissipation timescale of the cluster, enable a search for kinematic sub-structure as evidence for dissolving sub-clusters, and reveal the importance of competitive accretion between stars as they move through their parent molecular cloud.Dr. Lu will also address education, outreach, and diversity on two fronts. First, the PI will broaden current and future astronomy teachers' exposure to inquiry-based teaching methods at IfA by developing and offering teacher training for several inquiry-based introductory astronomy labs. The PI plans to work with willing faculty to review their curriculum in order to find suitable points at which an inquiry-based activity could be incorporated. Second, the PI will advise individual students from minority or under-represented sectors in scientific research projects during the IfA's Research Experience for Undergraduates summer program. With these projects, the PI aims to bridge the gap between the smaller community focused on astronomy education research and diversity issues and the larger community of astronomers who teach, but do not follow education research in depth.