Planning US Partnership in Galactic Structure with the Chinese LAMOST Telescope

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

Investigators

Abstract

Because the Milky Way is the only galaxy for which we can measure the three-dimensional spatial positions, three dimensional velocities, and the individual metallicities of its component stars, it is a cornerstone to understanding the history of star formation and galaxy assembly, the distribution of dark matter in galaxies, and the creation of galactic disks. Only now, with the availability of large aperture telescopes with thousands of fibers, is it becoming possible to view a large enough part of our own galaxy in sufficient detail to piece together its global structure and merger history star by star. The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) is the most promising facility for obtaining, in the near term, the millions of spectra of Galactic stars that are needed for this project. Under this award, Dr. Heidi Newberg (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) will seek to establish a partnership between a dozen Galactic astronomers in the United States and a similarly sized group of astronomers in China. These scientists will work together to develop a science case for doing a Galactic structure stellar survey using the LAMOST facility, currently under construction at the Xinglong Observing Station in China. Significant assessment of the LAMOST project will be carried out to determine what is necessary to create a formal relationship between United States astronomers in general, the Participants in LAMOST US (PLUS) team, and the LAMOST project itself.