Objective
Galactic stellar nuclei are very common in all types of galaxies and are marked by the presence of nuclear star clusters, the densest and most massive star clusters in the present-day Universe. Their formation is still an unresolved puzzle. The centre of the Milky Way contains a massive black hole and a stellar nucleus and is orders of magnitude closer than any comparable target. It is the only galactic nucleus and the most extreme astrophysical environment that we can examine on scales of milli-parsecs. It is therefore a crucial laboratory for studying galactic nuclei and their role in the context of galaxy evolution. Yet, suitable data that would allow us to examine the stellar component of the Galactic Centre exist for less than 1% of its projected area. Moreover, the well-explored regions are extraordinary, like the central parsec around the massive black hole, and therefore probably not representative for the overall environment. Fundamental questions on the stellar population, structure and assembly history of the Galactic Centre remain therefore unanswered. This project aims at addressing the open questions by obtaining accurate, high-angular resolution, multi-wavelength near-infrared photometry for an area of several 100 pc^2, a more than ten-fold increase compared to the current state of affairs. The Galactic Centre presents unique observational challenges because of a combination of high extinction and extreme stellar crowding. It is therefore not adequately covered by existing or upcoming imaging surveys. I present a project that is specifically tailored to overcome these observational challenges. In particular, I have developed a key technique to obtain the necessary sensitive, high-angular resolution images with a stable point spread function over large, crowded fields. It works with a range of existing ground-based instruments and will serve to complement existing data to provide a global and detailed picture of the stellar nucleus of the Milky Way.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy astrophysics black holes
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy physical cosmology galaxy evolution
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy stellar astronomy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2013-CoG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
28006 MADRID
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.