Project Description: Prestellar cores are dense regions in giant molecular clouds within the interstellar medium that the birth sites of future stars and planets. We must understand their structure and evolution since the conditions within them set the initial conditions for star and planet formation. Since prestellar cores are dusty and opaque at optical wavelengths, we probe their structure with emission from molecules glowing inside the cores at radio wavelengths where they are transparent. We are using the ARO 12m telescope on Kitt Peak to survey the molecular inventory of prestellar cores in the nearby Taurus Molecular Cloud to characterize their evolution. A recent Space Grant project discovered that the rate at which prestellar cores are evolving depends on the rate of evolution of their surrounding filaments. In this project, we shall test this hypothesis with new observations using the Arizona Radio Observatory 12m and SMT telescopes.
https://www.herschel.caltech.edu/image/nhsc2017-002c
NASA Relevance: This astrophysics project studies the earliest phase of star and planet formation using astrochemistry with direct relevance to astrobiology (formation of chemical complexity in space) which is one of the key science research areas within NASA.
Work Description: The intern will conduct observations using the Arizona Radio Observatory telescopes. The data will be reduced, calibrated, and analyzed by the intern. The ultimate goal of the project is to publish the observations in a referred scientific journal. Interns have written Honors Theses and first-authored papers from prior Space Grant projects.
Open or Reserved Project: Open, 2 positions