Chemical Signatures of the Milky Way Halo Building Blocks
Dr. Terese Hansen
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Physics & Astronomy, Texas A&M University
Recent years large photometric surveys, like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Dark Energy Survey, have resulted in the detection of numerous small substructures in and around the Milky Way, in the form of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies and stellar streams. Detailed chemical analysis of stars in these systems, combined with dynamical analysis using Gaia data, has provided exciting new insights into our Galaxy's chemical evolution and hierarchical build-up. I will present recent results from abundance analysis of stars in ultra-faint dwarf galaxies and stellar streams. The ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are excellent laboratories to investigate specific nucleosynthesis enrichment events, while the chemical signatures of stream stars can be used to characterize the nature of the stream progenitor. I will also talk about future photometric and spectroscopic surveys, which will produce a wealth of data allowing us to map structures in and around the Milky Way in unprecedented detail.
All interested persons are invited to attend remotely—email physics@nd.edu for information.