Resolving the Role of Neutral Gas in Galaxy Evolution

解决中性气体在星系演化中的作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2022-03499
• 负责人: Rosolowsky, Erik
• 金额: $ 3.64万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=762569
• 关键词: Resolving; Role; Neutral; Gas; Galaxy

One of the major goals for Canadian astrophysics over the next decade is to understand the origins of galaxies. Unravelling this mystery is a vital step in understanding the scientific story of our origins, explaining the conditions where the Sun formed but also all the stars around us. We understand broadly that stars form out of cold clouds of molecular gas, and we also understand that short-lived stars so formed will evolve and die relatively quickly, returning their material to be incorporated into the next generation of stars. This baryon cycle can explain how the heavy elements that make up our planet and our bodies came from a previous generation of stars. However, the actual physics that drives the baryon cycle is poorly understood. To understand this essential cycle, this research will use a suite of new telescope observations to make the best available census of these internal processes that control galaxy evolution. Specifically, this research will measure how the process of star formation changes in response to the local environments within galaxies, answering questions like: how quickly does star formation take place in molecular gas? What physical effects control that rate? What physical processes affect the efficiency of turning its gas into stars? How do dying stars stir up or destroy their local environments? What causes a cloud of gas to cool and start forming stars? We can now address these questions by making high resolution observations of nearby galaxies using some of the best telescopes on Earth and in space. The essential feature across all our new observations is that they must be able to measure the small details of star formation (high-resolution). We have collected new data sets with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter array to map out the properties of star forming clouds of gas and the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope to study the properties of the recently formed stars. Our group will use these data to measure the efficiency of star formation. We will also collect new data using the James Webb Space Telescope, which should launch at the end of 2021, to see the stars that are right in the middle of formation, which will provide new insights on how quickly star formation proceeds. Finally, we are using the Very Large Array to study the warm gas, which acts as an intermediary: receiving material from dying stars and cooling down to form the next generation of star-forming clouds. These observations will measure how dying stars disrupt their local environment as well as giving new insights into how gas clouds start forming stars. These are central questions to understanding galaxy evolution, but our progress has been limited because we could only make detailed studies of star formation in our own Milky Way galaxy. By observing other galaxies, we can finally see star formation from the "top down," which allows us to see how star formation connects back to the broader galaxy.