NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013A-0186
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013A-0186 |
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PI: Kevin Schlaufman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, kschlauf@mit.edu
Address: MKI, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 37-685, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
CoI: Andrew Casey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Title: The Brightest (and Therefore Best) Extremely Metal-Poor Stars
Abstract: Extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars are local relics of high redshift star formation. The chemical abundances of large samples of EMP stars can be used to investigate Population III stellar populations, supernovae, and nucleosynthesis as well as the galactic chemical evolution of the Milky Way and its progenitor halos. Objective prism surveys and the SDSS have discovered about 100 EMP stars with [Fe/H] \lesssim -3, though most of these have apparent magnitudes fainter than V ~ 13. The faint apparent magnitudes of EMP candidates from these surveys require long integrations with 6-10 m class telescopes to confirm their EMP nature and to derive the detailed chemical abundances that enable the most interesting EMP science. We have developed an EMP star candidate selection that utilizes all-sky near and mid-infrared photometry as well as proper motions. Our selection is as efficient as existing techniques, but identifies candidates that are ~\!\!3 magnitudes brighter, thereby greatly easing follow-up observations. We propose to observe 250 of our candidates and expect to find ~\!\!40 EMP stars.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2013A-0186 |
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