In the nighttime sky of the southern hemisphere, the Magellanic Clouds are striking in their beauty. Yet, more than just pretty, bright nebulae, these “dwarf satellites” are some of the closest known galaxies to our own, and therefore serve as good laboratories for studying essential astrophysics. I am currently working on a project to understand the detailed chemical composition of the neutral and ionized gas in the Magellanic Clouds. This project could have a huge impact on our understanding of the chemical composition of galaxies in general by revealing just how much massive stars “self-enrich” their own surroundings. Your role in this work could potentially take many forms, from analyzing optical and ultraviolet spectra of the most massive stars within the Clouds, to researching their rich history in the astrophysical literature, to starting to understand how they have contributed to the chemical composition of our own galaxy’s halo gas. We would work together on analyzing optical data taken with a variety of ground-based telescopes, and ultraviolet data taken with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Mentor: Jessica Werk, Postdoctoral Scholar