Relating the Chemistry of Distant Galaxies to the Milky Way

天文学中一些最令人兴奋的研究集中在宇宙时间内星系的诞生。要做到这一点，我们必须了解其他星系中的恒星是如何形成的。恒星和行星聚集在分子云中密度最大的气体中。太空中的这种气体云通常含有足够的物质，可以形成1万多颗像太阳这样的恒星。天文学家使用射电望远镜来发现形成恒星的云中的分子类型。这些分子具有独特的特征，与实验室测量结果相匹配，使得在离地球很远的地方进行化学研究成为可能。无线电信号是在特定无线电频率上的高强度信号的模式。天文学家利用这些识别来推断恒星形成区域的化学成分、温度和密度。幸运的是，分子云中的特定分子可能与气体中普遍存在的特定条件有关。举个例子，人们发现一氧化碳（CO）分子存在于任何密度的气体中。与此相反，氰化氢（HCN）分子在高密度时与气体紧密相连。因为附近的分子云更亮，所以观测银河系比观测更远的星系更容易。研究者研究了银河系中的分子云，那里的化学被认为是更好的理解。研究人员将确认分子线观测的准确性，可以用来测量与恒星形成和星际化学有关的重要参数。研究人员将把新的观测结果与这些分子云的物理条件模型结合起来。研究人员将确定他们的观察结果与分子云的物理条件的联系程度。研究者将与社区大学的学生分享他们的研究经验。研究者让学生们使用一种叫做“Jupyter Notebooks”的计算工具轻松地访问他们的数据，这种工具可以在普通的网络浏览器中运行。这种方法教授计算机技能，同时不需要在学生身上安装过多的专用软件。电脑。这些数据和分析工具将被开发成本科课程的课堂材料。这项研究是与马萨诸塞州的社区大学合作完成的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Some of the most exciting research in astronomy focuses on the birth of galaxies over cosmic time. To do this well we must understand how stars form in other galaxies. Stars and their planets assemble out of the densest gas in molecular clouds. Such gas clouds in space typically contain enough material to form more than 10,000 stars like the Sun. Astronomers use radio telescopes to discover the types of molecules in clouds forming stars. The molecules have unique signatures, which are matched to laboratory measurements, enabling studies of chemistry at great distances from the Earth. The radio signatures are patterns of high intensity signals at specific radio frequencies. Astronomers use these identifications to deduce the chemistry, temperature and density of the regions forming stars. Fortunately, specific molecules in molecular clouds are likely tied to specific conditions prevailing in the gas. To give an example, the carbon monoxide (CO) molecule is found to reside in gas at any density. In contrast to this, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) molecule is rather tied to gas at the high densities. Because nearby molecular clouds are brighter, observations of our Milky Way are easier than observations of more distant galaxies. The investigator studies molecular clouds in the Milky Way, where the chemistry is thought to be better understood. The investigator will confirm the accuracy which molecular line observations can be used to measure important parameters relating to star formation and interstellar chemistry. The investigator will combine new observations with models for the physical conditions in these molecular clouds. The investigator will determine how sensitively their observations are tied to the physical conditions in the molecular clouds. The investigator will share their research experience with students in community colleges. The investigator enables easy student access to their data using a computing tool, called "Jupyter Notebooks", which work in common web browsers. This approach teaches computer skills, while not requiring excessive special purpose software to be installed on the students? computers. The data and analysis tools will be developed into classroom material for undergraduate courses. This is done in collaboration with community colleges in Massachusetts.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.