This $244,369 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program supports research to identify and characterize populations of massive stellar binary systems, composed of a black hole or neutron star and a massive star, in nearby low-metallicity dwarf galaxies. The project will use multiwavelength archival data to study these "high mass X-ray binaries" as analogs to similar systems that may have formed in the early universe....
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) will provide $562,230 to the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech) to conduct research on red supergiant stars using optical interferometry. The key products and services to be delivered under this 5-year award include: 1) high-resolution imaging of red supergiant stellar surfaces to study changes in convection and mass-loss over their...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences program, with a total funding amount of $441,642, supports research to deepen the understanding of the final stages of stellar evolution, specifically focusing on red giants and their mass-shedding processes. The key objectives of this 2-year research project, which runs from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2026, are to: Employ very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations,...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) provides $483,886 to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to conduct research on binary star formation in the Orion Nebula Cluster. The research aims to use advanced techniques like laser frequency comb spectroscopy and adaptive optics to discover a larger population of close binary stars that were previously undetected in this stellar nursery. The findings...
The National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences awarded a $462,848 Project Grant under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (47.049) program to The SETI Institute. The grant will fund a comprehensive analysis of period changes in eclipsing binary stars from 2022-2025. Researchers will measure decades-long period changes in hundreds of eclipsing binaries to constrain the internal structure of individual stars and probe for additional bodies like planets or stars. They will use...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $475,345 Project Grant to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to conduct research on detecting dormant black holes and neutron stars in binary stellar systems. The key goals of the project are to: Obtain spectroscopic and multi-epoch radial velocity data for approximately 100 binary systems identified by the Gaia mission as likely containing black hole or neutron star...
This $525,731 National Science Foundation project grant will support the creation of precision models for a reference set of Mira variable stars. The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology will analyze archival data spanning several years from multiple space missions, along with recent observations, to provide fundamental parameters for each star. These parameters include variability periods, bolometric fluxes, radii, masses, luminosities, effective temperatures and distances. The work...
This $145,866 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Astronomical Sciences will fund a collaborative research initiative on "Polarimetric Asteroseismology of Massive Hot Stars." The project aims to determine the interior structures of these stars by observing seismic waves and applying a new polarimetric technique. The research team, comprising astronomers from Florida Gulf Coast University, Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy, SETI...
This Project Grant award of $561,949.00 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences Program (CFDA 47.049) supports research and development by Arizona State University (ASU) to advance the field of optical intensity interferometry. The key objectives are: (i) Developing a time calibration system to enable automated photon correlation measurements on small telescopes using commercial single photon detectors and time-to-digital converters. (ii) Implementing...
This Project Grant award of $118,673 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) supports a collaborative research project focused on "Polarimetric Asteroseismology of Massive Hot Stars." A team of astronomers from the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy, Florida Gulf Coast University, SETI Institute, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with international partners, will...