Periodic Reporting for period 4 - Asterochronometry (Galactic archeology with high temporal resolution)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-08-01 al 2024-09-30
The Milky Way is a vast and complex system shaped by different processes, such as mergers with smaller galaxies, the slow evolution of its internal structure, and the movement and flow of gas.
To truly understand how our Galaxy formed and evolved, we need to reconstruct its history with as much detail and accuracy as possible. The Asterochronometry project set out to map the history of the Milky Way by determining the ages of its stars using a technique called asteroseismology. This technique is similar to how geologists study the Earth’s interior using seismic waves, but in this case, we study stars by observing the sound waves that travel through them. By carefully analysing these waves, we can figure out a star's internal structure and, importantly, its age.
Why is this important? Stars of different ages give us clues about different periods in the Milky Way’s history. They are like "cosmic tree rings," recording information about how the Galaxy has changed over billions of years. For example, by comparing the movements and chemical composition of older and younger stars, we can learn how the Milky Way grew and evolved over time.
The project aimed to provide precise ages for tens of thousands of stars across the Milky Way. To achieve this, we developed new ways to estimate stellar ages that take full advantage of the latest data from space missions like Kepler, TESS, and Gaia. By combining this data, we created detailed maps that show how the Galaxy’s stars are distributed, how they move, and how they’ve changed chemically over time.
In addition to studying the Milky Way's history, the project also tackled long-standing questions about how stars themselves work, such as how they lose mass as they age and how different processes inside stars affect their evolution. These improvements will help not only in understanding our Galaxy but also in studying other galaxies, stars, and even exoplanet systems.
In conclusion, Asterochronometry has significantly advanced our knowledge of the Milky Way's history and provided new insights into how stars age and evolve. These findings will serve as a foundation for future research with upcoming space missions and telescopes.
To truly understand how our Galaxy formed and evolved, we need to reconstruct its history with as much detail and accuracy as possible. The Asterochronometry project set out to map the history of the Milky Way by determining the ages of its stars using a technique called asteroseismology. This technique is similar to how geologists study the Earth’s interior using seismic waves, but in this case, we study stars by observing the sound waves that travel through them. By carefully analysing these waves, we can figure out a star's internal structure and, importantly, its age.
Why is this important? Stars of different ages give us clues about different periods in the Milky Way’s history. They are like "cosmic tree rings," recording information about how the Galaxy has changed over billions of years. For example, by comparing the movements and chemical composition of older and younger stars, we can learn how the Milky Way grew and evolved over time.
The project aimed to provide precise ages for tens of thousands of stars across the Milky Way. To achieve this, we developed new ways to estimate stellar ages that take full advantage of the latest data from space missions like Kepler, TESS, and Gaia. By combining this data, we created detailed maps that show how the Galaxy’s stars are distributed, how they move, and how they’ve changed chemically over time.
In addition to studying the Milky Way's history, the project also tackled long-standing questions about how stars themselves work, such as how they lose mass as they age and how different processes inside stars affect their evolution. These improvements will help not only in understanding our Galaxy but also in studying other galaxies, stars, and even exoplanet systems.
In conclusion, Asterochronometry has significantly advanced our knowledge of the Milky Way's history and provided new insights into how stars age and evolve. These findings will serve as a foundation for future research with upcoming space missions and telescopes.
In the first part of the project, our focus was on developing accurate methods to determine the properties of evolved stars, especially red giants, which are crucial for understanding the Milky Way’s past. This involved improving the models we use to understand how stars behave and testing these models against real observations.
As the project progressed, we applied these methods to thousands of stars observed by the space telescopes Kepler, K2, and TESS. Some of the key results include:
- Developing new tools to measure the ages of stars more precisely than ever before.
- Creating publicly available catalogues of star properties, which have been used by other researchers worldwide.
- Finding new evidence about how red giant stars lose mass as they age, which helps refine models of how stars evolve.
- Building detailed timelines of how different regions of the Milky Way formed and evolved over billions of years.
We shared our findings through scientific papers, presentations at international conferences, and collaborations with other large research projects like Gaia and upcoming surveys such as WEAVE and 4MOST. Our results are now being used by the broader scientific community to further investigate the Milky Way and other galaxies.
Examples of our activities and recent results are available on https://www.asterochronometry.eu/science_summaries.html(si apre in una nuova finestra).
As the project progressed, we applied these methods to thousands of stars observed by the space telescopes Kepler, K2, and TESS. Some of the key results include:
- Developing new tools to measure the ages of stars more precisely than ever before.
- Creating publicly available catalogues of star properties, which have been used by other researchers worldwide.
- Finding new evidence about how red giant stars lose mass as they age, which helps refine models of how stars evolve.
- Building detailed timelines of how different regions of the Milky Way formed and evolved over billions of years.
We shared our findings through scientific papers, presentations at international conferences, and collaborations with other large research projects like Gaia and upcoming surveys such as WEAVE and 4MOST. Our results are now being used by the broader scientific community to further investigate the Milky Way and other galaxies.
Examples of our activities and recent results are available on https://www.asterochronometry.eu/science_summaries.html(si apre in una nuova finestra).
One of the biggest achievements of Asterochronometry is that it significantly improved how accurately we can determine the ages of stars. Before this project, age estimates were often quite uncertain, but we have now reached a level of precision of about 10%, which is a major step forward.
Some key advancements include:
- Better Age Estimates: We developed new methods that allow us to estimate the ages of stars much more accurately than before, helping us build a clearer picture of the Milky Way's history.
- New Insights into Star Interiors: Our work provided new ways to study the deeper layers of stars, which were previously difficult to observe.
- Integration with Machine Learning: We used our precise star data to train machine-learning models, improving their accuracy in analyzing large datasets from missions like Gaia.
Looking ahead, the techniques and findings from this project will continue to be used in future research, including upcoming space missions and telescopes that will study stars and galaxies in even greater detail. The project has laid the groundwork for even more precise measurements of the Milky Way’s history, promising exciting new discoveries in the years to come.
Some key advancements include:
- Better Age Estimates: We developed new methods that allow us to estimate the ages of stars much more accurately than before, helping us build a clearer picture of the Milky Way's history.
- New Insights into Star Interiors: Our work provided new ways to study the deeper layers of stars, which were previously difficult to observe.
- Integration with Machine Learning: We used our precise star data to train machine-learning models, improving their accuracy in analyzing large datasets from missions like Gaia.
Looking ahead, the techniques and findings from this project will continue to be used in future research, including upcoming space missions and telescopes that will study stars and galaxies in even greater detail. The project has laid the groundwork for even more precise measurements of the Milky Way’s history, promising exciting new discoveries in the years to come.