CAREER: Massive Stellar Explosions and their Host Galaxy Environments

该奖项将使纽约大学的Maryam Modjaz教授能够通过测量其宿主星系内局部环境的特性来推断剥离超新星（SNe）祖先的特性。她将使用来自帕洛玛瞬变工厂调查的89颗剥离超新星样本，以减少先前样本中对高金属丰度星系的已知偏差。她将获得宿主星系的光谱和包含超新星的宿主部分。宿主星系和SNe环境中的平均金属丰度将从这些光谱测量的氧丰度推断出来。PI和她的合作者还将获得更遥远星系的高分辨率图像，以便绘制宿主星系中的蓝光分布。这些将被用来描述活跃恒星形成的区域，并确定整个星系的质量。SNe周围的空间分辨区域的颜色和金属丰度也将用于得出关于祖星系质量和金属丰度的结论。长时间的伽马射线爆发和被剥离的超新星是宇宙中最强大的爆炸。两者都是大质量恒星灾难性死亡的信号，但它们对重元素产生的贡献不同。该奖项资助的研究将通过提供工具来确定恒星的哪些特性决定了它们的最终命运，从而更好地理解宇宙的化学演化。这项研究将通过与美国自然历史博物馆合作的两个项目与PI的教育计划相结合。莫德贾兹教授将在课后教授一门名为“宇宙爆炸”的课程。该课程将围绕可能改变学生对科学过程的看法的教学方法进行结构设计，使用能够加强年轻妇女和代表性不足群体学习的策略和指导。此外，PI将协调纽约地区天文学部门的天文学家通过AMNH参与科学研究指导计划。通过这个项目，高中生们将参与最前沿的研究，并在研讨会上展示他们的成果。

This award will enable Professor Maryam Modjaz of New York University to infer the properties of stripped supernovae (SNe) progenitors by measuring the properties of the local environment within their host galaxies. She will use the sample of 89 stripped supernovae from the Palomar Transient Factory survey, in order to reduce the known biases in previous samples toward high-metallicity galaxies. She will obtain spectra of the host galaxies and the portion of the host containing the supernovae. The mean metallicity in the host galaxy and in the SNe environments will be inferred from the Oxygen abundances measured from these spectra. The PI and her collaborators will also obtain high-resolution images of the more distant galaxies in order to map the blue-light distribution in the host galaxies. These will be used to characterize regions of active star formation and to determine the overall galaxy mass. The color and metallicity of the spatially-resolved region around the SNe will also be used to draw conclusions about the mass and metallicity of the progenitors. Long-duration gamma-ray bursts and stripped supernovae are among the most powerful explosions in the universe. Both are signals of the cataclysmic death of massive stars, but they contribute differently to the creation of heavy elements. The research funded with this award will lead to a better understanding of the chemical evolution of the universe by providing tools to determine which properties of stars determine their ultimate fate. This research will be integrated with the PI's education plans through two projects in cooperation with the American Museum of Natural History. Professor Modjaz will teach an after-school course entitled "Explosions in the Universe". The curriculum will be structured around teaching pedagogy that is likely to change student perceptions of the scientific process, using strategies and mentoring that enhance the learning of young women and underrepresented groups. In addition, the PI will coordinate astronomers at New York City area astronomy departments to participate in the Science Research Mentoring Program through AMNH. Through this program, high school students will participate in cutting-edge research and present their results at a workshop.