Characterizing Cold Brown Dwarf Atmospheres and Developing Precision Radial Velocity Technologies

艾米丽马丁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，在圣克鲁斯的加州大学进行研究和教育计划。 利用高分辨率近红外光谱，马丁将测量褐矮星大气中分子的丰度-介于低质量恒星和巨行星之间的天体。 她还将设计一个新的精密径向速度摄谱仪，这将有助于寻找附近恒星周围的类地行星。 除了这项研究，马丁将进行夏季研讨会，以帮助新生在物理课上取得成功，并鼓励他们追求物理学位。拟议中的科学计划采取双管齐下的方法来促进对褐矮星大气层的理解。 首先，马丁将对褐矮星大气进行光谱观测，并将这些观测与先进的成像观测和大气模型联系起来。 其次，她将领导为Lick天文台开发新的高分辨率近红外光谱仪的概念设计。 新的摄谱仪在H和K波段（1.5-2.4微米）的分辨率将接近100，000，并且能够与任何具有自适应光学系统的望远镜一起工作。 对于她工作的教育部分，马丁将为即将入学的学生开发一个夏季研讨会，在研讨会上，她将使用基于探究的活动来吸引学生，向他们介绍在各种职业中工作的当地物理学家，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Emily Martin is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Using high resolution near-infrared spectra, Martin will measure the abundances of molecules in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs --- objects that are intermediate between low-mass stars and giant planets. She will also design a new precision radial velocity spectrograph that will be useful in the search for Earth-like planets around nearby stars. Alongside this research, Martin will conduct a summer workshop to help incoming freshmen succeed in physics classes and encourage them to pursue physics degrees. The proposed scientific program takes a two-pronged approach to advance the understanding of brown dwarf atmospheres. First, Martin will conduct spectroscopic observations of brown dwarf atmospheres and connect these observations to advanced imaging observations and atmospheric models. Second, she will lead the development of a conceptual design for a new, high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph for Lick Observatory. The new spectrograph will have a resolving power of nearly 100,000 at H and K bands (1.5-2.4 microns) and will be capable of working with any telescope with an adaptive optics system. For the education component of her work, Martin will develop a summer workshop for incoming students, in which she will use inquiry-based activities to engage the students, introduce them to local physicists working in a variety of careers, and connect them to peer mentors within the physics department.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.