I will give a brief overview of some of the unanswered questions in star formation, show results from the GLIMPSE survey, discuss a tool we've developed to analyze the data, and then determine if we've answered any of the questions yet (some, a little). GLIMPSE is the Galactic Legacy Infrared Midplane Survey Extraordinaire, a legacy project on the Spitzer Space Telescope. GLIMPSE is mapping the inner galactic plane, inside a longitude of l=65 on both sides, using the IRAC camera at 3.6-8 microns. GLIMPSE sees further into the galaxy and with higher spatial resolution than previous surveys at these wavelengths. We are seeing hundreds of previously unknown star formation regions.
To analyze these data we have constructed a large grid of radiative transfer models of forming stars (surrounded by disks and envelopes) at various evolutionary states. We use a linear regression fitter to find the best model from the grid to fit a given set of data (flux vs wavelength). The fitter is very fast, and can model the entire GLIMPSE point source catalog in a few days.
Tuesday, November 29nd
Seminar is to be held at 4:00 PM in the conference room
on the second floor of Dearborn Observatory
Refreshments will be served at 3:30
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