Project Details
Projekt Print View

The Magellanic Clouds in the “Middle Ages”

Subject Area Astrophysics and Astronomy
Term since 2024
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 550131653
 
Dynamical interactions between galaxies change their baryonic content and geometrical structure. The Large and Small Magellanic Cloud, the most massive and luminous nearby dwarf galaxies, have interacted with each other multiple times as well as with the Milky Way. Despite having formed stars since the beginning of the Universe, significant changes occurred in them a few Gyr ago, the “Middle Ages”. Through the determination of stellar motions and the abundance of different chemical elements this project aims to interpret the structural features resulting from dynamical interactions. The project targets evolved giant stars which populate in large numbers the Magellanic Clouds areas and were formed mostly a few Gyr ago. These asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars synthesise many elements and molecules, produce dust, change periodically their luminosity and develop strong stellar winds. AGB stars are important tracers of stellar evolution, stellar populations and distances, but have been notoriously complex to study. Previous investigations were limited to multi-band images and small spectroscopic samples. Here, we propose to perform a systematic analysis of a large number of AGB spectra to produce a chemical and a kinematical cartography of the Magellanic Clouds at the Middle Ages. First this project is about the analysis of about 4,000 near-infrared spectra from APOGEE to derive line-of-sight velocities, stellar parameters (e.g., temperature, gravity, metallicity, micro-turbulence velocity), and elemental abundances (e.g., C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Fe). Second is the development of a software code to process (simultaneously) optical and near-infrared spectra of AGB stars. The optical spectra are either existing in the literature, produced from synthetic models or observed with MOONS instrument. Third is the analysis of the first year of spectroscopic observations with 4MOST facility, that as part of a consortium survey is going to target over 35,000 AGB stars in the Magellanic Clouds in five years. This will be performed with the newly developed code that will also form part of the 4MOST pipeline. Spatial maps of the distribution of line-of-sight velocities and elemental abundances will be created from the APOGEE data and refined at the subsequent steps. Their comparison with maps obtained from stars of different ages and with morphology maps will define the role of AGB stars in the formation and evolution of the Magellanic Clouds. This project combines the expertise of the applicant on the stellar population of the Magellanic Clouds with the expertise and skills of the Mercator Fellow on the determination of elemental abundances of AGB stars.
DFG Programme Research Grants
International Connection France, Italy
 
 

Additional Information

Textvergrößerung und Kontrastanpassung