Volume 5, No. 1, 2021
Permanent URI for this collection
Acta Spartae is the undergraduate journal of sciences and mathematics at The University of Tampa, and is designed to recognize and promote the vibrant undergraduate research community at UT by providing a forum for the dissemination of research and ideas produced at the University.
Browse
Browsing Volume 5, No. 1, 2021 by Author "Simon Schuler"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Searching for Stellar Associations in Gaia DR2(Department of Physics, University of Tampa; CIERA/Northwestern University; Columbia University; Pontificia Universidad Católica Católica de Chile, 2021) Jennings, Brolan; Andrews, Jeff; Agüeros, Marcel; Chanamé, Julio; Simon SchulerWe present preliminary results of a search for previously unidentified stellar associations in the second data release (DR2) from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite. Gaia DR2 contains precise astrometric data on more than 1.2 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. We have modified a Python code originally intended to identify wide stellar binaries through a Bayesian formulation, which includes correlated uncertainties in the proper motions and parallaxes, to expand it to larger stellar groups of 10 or more stars. The search volume includes the whole sky within 500 parsecs of the sun, where stellar parallaxes are more discernible. The code has been optimized to filter out background stars by testing over several well known stellar associations, including the Pleiades open cluster and the Scorpius-Centaurus Association. We have been able to successfully identify the Pleiades, Upper Scorpius Centaurus, and Messier 39 stellar associations with our code and are now searching the sky for previously unidentified associations. Identifying new stellar associations will help constrain models of the dynamical evolution of the Galaxy.Item Theia 456 and Its Stellar Components(Department of Physics, University of Tampa, 2021) Kattenberg, Trevor; Simon SchulerThe release of Gaia astrometric data has allowed for machine learning to locate hundreds of potentially new Galactic star clusters and moving groups. Our research is focused on one such association of stars, Theia 456. Theia 456 is a stellar filament of an estimated 468 stars that is within 1 kpc of the Sun, and our group’s preliminary analysis suggests stars in Theia 456 share similar compositions. Due to these properties, Theia 456 is considered primordial, resulting from the Galactic stellar formation process rather than the result of dynamical processes such as tidal stripping. Our research is focused on utilizing a python code we have developed to analyze positions, proper motions, and parallaxes of stars in the second data release (DR2) of the Gaia catalog to confirm or reject the stellar members of Theia 456. We endeavor to verify the validity of Theia 456 as a primordial stellar filament and possibly identify additional members of the association. This research will contribute to our understanding of the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy.