A Multiscale View of the Effects of Stellar Feedback in the Local Universe

Levy, Rebecca, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Rebecca Levy is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at the University of Arizona. Levy will undertake radio and optical observations of nearby galaxies to understand the distribution of ionized regions and molecular gas within star-forming regions at scales ranging from individual protostars to galactic winds. Results from this study will allow astronomers to understand how processes controlling star formation influence the spatial and temporal evolution of galaxies. For the education component of her project, Levy will conduct a weekly program to develop the scientific identities and confidence of tribal middle school students. This project will elucidate how the processes of star formation and stellar feedback shape galaxies in the local Universe. Measurements of the sizes and structures of HII regions around massive young forming clusters in NGC 253, in concert with a previous molecular gas analysis, will probe the impact of the clusters on shaping their environment and powering the nuclear starburst. In M82, the observations will trace the bulk of the neutral material and reveal the cooling and fate of the wind, answering fundamental questions about the state of the largest mass reservoir in the wind. 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.