Studying Stellar Nurseries in the Near Part of the Milky Way

University Of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh WI

Investigators

Abstract

Half a century ago, scientists did not think that stars were continually forming in the Universe. We now know that the Universe consists of billions of galaxies, and many of them harbor regions of star formation. In the Milky Way galaxy we can study this process in unprecedented detail. According to the current theories, stars form in both turbulent and quiescent clouds of interstellar gas and dust. However, the details are still unknown. How exactly one generation of stars leads to the next remains to be determined through a combination of observation and theory. This project is focused on a detailed mapping of the structure of relatively nearby regions where stars form. This will allow us to spatially correlate the coherent groups of stars to the complex net of interstellar medium features and, therefore, further study their interactions. The project has been chosen specifically to introduce students to the nature of scientific investigation. Mapping the Milky Way and investigating how stars are born are ideas that students find interesting and accessible. Small parts of this project can be isolated as independent research tasks, which creates an inclusive learning environment for undergraduate students with different skills, aptitudes, and preferences. This first encounter with research opens the door to richer research experiences and could lead toward careers in science- and engineering-related fields. The objective of this proposal is to reassess the structure and star-formation history of the major Galactic star-forming fields. Precise photometric parallaxes will be employed to correlate the spatial distribution of young massive stars to the surrounding structures of interstellar matter. The subsequent star-formation history analysis seeks to reach specific conclusions on still controversial issues, such as star formation hierarchy (clustered or triggered star formation) and multiple stellar generations across star-forming complexes. Interpreting the star-formation scenario within the Galactic disk is always problematic because of the many choices of tracer objects, varied observational approaches, and issues regarding the quantity, quality, and completeness of the observational data. To overcome this, new and existing data will be combined to produce a catalog of Galactic young clusters, OB-associations, and early-type field stars for which photometric parallaxes can be calculated. The catalog will be an excellent source of homogeneous distances and color excesses, and thus a reliable starting point in the study of the Galactic spiral structure to 5-6 kpc. The project is chosen not only for its contribution to the field of astronomy, but also because of its feasibility for faculty and students in a primarily undergraduate institution.