Asteroseismology of Stellar Populations in the Milky Way


Book Description

The detection of radial and non-radial solar-like oscillations in thousands of G-K giants with CoRoT and Kepler is paving the road for detailed studies of stellar populations in the Galaxy. The available average seismic constraints allow largely model-independent determination of stellar radii and masses, and can be used to determine the position and age of thousands of stars in different regions of the Milky Way, and of giants belonging to open clusters. Such a close connection between stellar evolution, Galactic evolution, and asteroseismology opens a new very promising gate in our understanding of stars and galaxies. This book represents a natural progression from the collection of review papers presented in the book 'Red Giants as Probes of the Structure and Evolution of the Milky Way', which appeared in the Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings series in 2012. This sequel volume contains review papers on spectroscopy, seismology of red giants, open questions in Galactic astrophysics, and discusses first results achieved by combining photometric/spectroscopic and seismic constraints on populations of stars observed by CoRoT and Kepler. The book also reports on discussions between expert researchers in Galactic evolution, specialists in stellar structure and asteroseismology, and key representatives of extensive ground-based spectroscopic surveys such as APOGEE and the ESO-GAIA Spectroscopic Survey, which would serve as a roadmap for future endeavours in this field of research.




Asteroseismology


Book Description

Understanding the stars is the bedrock of modern astrophysics. Stars are the source of life. The chemical enrichment of our Milky Way and of the Universe withallelementsheavierthanlithiumoriginatesintheinteriorsofstars.Stars arethe tracersofthe dynamics ofthe Universe,gravitationallyimplying much more than meets the eye. Stars ionize the interstellar medium and re-ionized the early intergalactic medium. Understanding stellar structure and evolution is fundamental. While stellar structure and evolution are understood in general terms, we lack important physical ingredients, despite extensive research during recent decades.Classicalspectroscopy,photometry,astrometryandinterferometryof stars have traditionally been used as observational constraints to deduce the internal stellar physics. Unfortunately, these types of observations only allow the tuning of the basic common physics laws under stellar conditions with relatively poor precision. The situation is even more worrisome for unknown aspects of the physics and dynamics in stars. These are usually dealt with by using parameterised descriptions of, e.g., the treatments of convection, rotation,angularmomentumtransport,theequationofstate,atomicdi?usion andsettlingofelements,magneto-hydrodynamicalprocesses,andmore.There is a dearth of observational constraints on these processes, thus solar values areoftenassignedtothem.Yetitishardtoimaginethatonesetofparameters is appropriate for the vast range of stars.




The Evolution of The Milky Way


Book Description

This review of the most up-to-date observational and theoretical information concerning the chemical evolution of the Milky Way compares the abundances derived from field stars and clusters, giving information on the abundances and dynamics of gas.




The Future of Asteroseismology


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Asteroseismology in the Kepler Era


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Precision Asteroseismology (IAU S301)


Book Description

IAU Symposium 301 highlights the recent advances in the field of asteroseismology and was the twenty-first in a series of pulsation meetings started in Los Alamos in 1971 and held every two years. Topics discussed centred around seismic studies of all types of pulsating stars, which - in the era of space observations made by MOST, CoRoT and Kepler - use data of unprecedented precision. The Symposium was also the opportunity to honour Wojtek Dziembowski, one of the world's leaders in the study of solar and stellar pulsations. Highlights include contributions on observing from space and the ground, techniques of analysis and mode identification, astrophysical applications of pulsations, pulsation-convection interaction, mass loss, microphysics, pulsations in main-sequence stars, compact stars and supergiants, and solar-like oscillations. Containing many excellent reviews, this volume is an important reference source for researchers on solar and stellar pulsations.




Exoplanets: Compositions, Mineralogy, Evolution


Book Description

The focus for RiMG volume 90 is on rocky exoplanets because the search for truly Earth-like planets is of special interest. The goal is to motivate communication between the disciplines so as to make the best use possible of existing data and data yet to be collected by the James Webb and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescopes, since the astronomy community is gathering data on stars and exoplanets at an accelerating rate. Such data now include exoplanet size and mass (i.e., density) as well as their atmospheric compositions, which are collectively telltale of mineralogy and evolution. Much of what is published may still fall in the realm of educated speculation, but our conjectures are metamorphosing into testable hypotheses. There is now a remarkably large amount of astronomical data (with even more on the way) that geochemists and petrologists can make much use of. But just as astronomers may benefit from geologic insights, geologists need our colleagues in astronomy to help interpret their data and their underlying implications to better understand its astronomical context. Our hopes for this volume will be fulfilled if readers initiate their own analyses of what at present may seem like novel or unusual data, and if new collaborations between academic departments and subfields are forged.




New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics


Book Description

Driven by discoveries, and enabled by leaps in technology and imagination, our understanding of the universe has changed dramatically during the course of the last few decades. The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are making new connections to physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Based on a broad and comprehensive survey of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics outlines a plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade of the 2010's. Realizing these scientific opportunities is contingent upon maintaining and strengthening the foundations of the research enterprise including technological development, theory, computation and data handling, laboratory experiments, and human resources. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics proposes enhancing innovative but moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground that will enable the community to respond rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. The book recommends beginning construction on survey telescopes in space and on the ground to investigate the nature of dark energy, as well as the next generation of large ground-based giant optical telescopes and a new class of space-based gravitational observatory to observe the merging of distant black holes and precisely test theories of gravity. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics recommends a balanced and executable program that will support research surrounding the most profound questions about the cosmos. The discoveries ahead will facilitate the search for habitable planets, shed light on dark energy and dark matter, and aid our understanding of the history of the universe and how the earliest stars and galaxies formed. The book is a useful resource for agencies supporting the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.




Asteroseismology and Exoplanets: Listening to the Stars and Searching for New Worlds


Book Description

This book presents the proceedings of the IVth Azores International Advanced School in Space Sciences entitled "Asteroseismology and Exoplanets: Listening to the Stars and Searching for New Worlds". The school addressed the topics at the forefront of scientific research being conducted in the fields of asteroseismology and exoplanetary science, two fields of modern astrophysics that share many synergies and resources. These proceedings comprise the contributions from 18 invited lecturers, including both monographic presentations and a number of hands-on tutorials.




Asteroseismic Data Analysis


Book Description

Studies of stars and stellar populations, and the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, are being revolutionized by new satellite and telescope observations of unprecedented quality and scope. Some of the most significant advances have been in the field of asteroseismology, the study of stars by observation of their oscillations. Asteroseismic Data Analysis gives a comprehensive technical introduction to this discipline. This book not only helps students and researchers learn about asteroseismology; it also serves as an essential instruction manual for those entering the field. The book presents readers with the foundational techniques used in the analysis and interpretation of asteroseismic data on cool stars that show solar-like oscillations. The techniques have been refined, and in some cases developed, to analyze asteroseismic data collected by the NASA Kepler mission. Topics range from the analysis of time-series observations to extract seismic data for stars to the use of those data to determine global and internal properties of the stars. Reading lists and problem sets are provided, and data necessary for the problem sets are available online. The first book to describe in detail the different techniques used to analyze the data on stellar oscillations, Asteroseismic Data Analysis offers an invaluable window into the hearts of stars. Introduces the asteroseismic study of stars and the theory of stellar oscillations Describes the analysis of observational (time-domain) data Examines how seismic parameters are extracted from observations Explores how stellar properties are determined from seismic data Looks at the “inverse problem,” where frequencies are used to infer internal structures of stars