THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE EASY-TO-USE PUBLIC ON-LINE TOOLS THAT ENABLE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTERACTION OF THE LIGHT OF YOUNG LUMINOUS MASSIVE STARS WITH THE GAS AND DUST IN THE MILKY WAY AND IN OTHER GALAXIES. WITS: THE WEB INFRARED TOOLSHED (HTTP://DUSTEM.ASTRO.UMD.EDU) IS AN ON-LINE ANALYSIS SUITE FOR INFRARED AND SUBMILLIMETER LINE AND CONTINUUM OBSERVATIONS OBTAINED BY NASA ASTROPHYSICS SPACE MISSIONS. WITS HAS TWO MAJOR PARTS: PDRT FOR THE ANALYSIS OF PHOTODISSOCIATION REGION (PDR) LINE EMISSION AND DIRT FOR THE ANALYSIS OF DUST CONTINUUM EMISSION. THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO CARRY OUT MAJOR UPGRADES AND ENHANCEMENTS TO THE PDRT PORTION OF WITS SUCH AS ALLOWING IMAGE DATA AS INPUTS INCLUSION OF THE LATEST PDR AND DUST EMISSION MODELS ADDING ADDITIONAL SPECTRAL LINES AS OBSERVED IN RECENT MISSIONS EXPANDING THE DATABASE OF PRE-RUN PDR MODELS OVER A WIDER RANGE OF PARAMETER SPACE AND ADDING THE ABILITY FOR USERS TO RUN THE PDR CODES FROM THEIR WEB BROWSERS. THE TOOLS FIND THE BEST-FIT MODELS TO THE OBSERVATIONS AND PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE PHYSICAL CONDITIONS AND CHEMICAL MAKEUP OF THE GAS AND DUST. THE UPGRADED WITS WILL ENABLE THE ANALYSIS OF A HOST OF PAST CURRENT AND FUTURE NASA MISSIONS INCLUDING ISO SPITZER HERSHEL STO SOFIA SWAS AND JWST.
$428,917FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD