Star Cluster Oddities: Old but Rich Stellar Systems in the Galactic Disk
Wen-Ping Chen (National Central University)
Task Description and Goals
Stars form in groups out of dense molecular cloud cores. A stellar group continues to experience disruption by internal gravitational dynamics among members, and by external tidal disturbances. It is believed that only a small fraction of the embedded stellar groups survived to become the star clusters we witness today. Unlike globular clusters which are in isolation as self-gravitating systems, open clusters should suffer ever continuous disintegration, thereby dispersing with age. Aged open clusters yet still rich in members, particularly those located near the Galactic disk, are therefore oddities and deserve scrutiny. The summer student will join this ongoing project to diagnose the stellar members of old, populous open star clusters.
Required Background
1. Basic knowledge of astronomy/astrophysics
2. Basic coding skills (such as Python)
3. Interest in research