Descrizione del progetto
Una missione scientifica verso le stelle massicce
Le stelle massicce sono gli oggetti più luminosi dell’Universo: le più luminose superano in splendore il Sole di un milione di volte. Grazie a nuovi telescopi e osservatori, gli astronomi possono comprendere meglio la vita e il destino finale delle stelle massicce. Poiché la maggior parte delle stelle massicce scambierà massa con una compagna nel corso del loro ciclo vitale, anche le stelle binarie hanno attirato l’attenzione scientifica. Il progetto TEL-STARS, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di costruire il quadro teorico essenziale per aiutare a comprendere stelle massicce e binarie. Il lavoro chiarirà meglio se la fusione sia responsabile dei forti campi magnetici nel 10 % delle stelle massicce e delle magnetar. Inoltre, lo studio delle proprietà astrosismiche delle fusioni potrebbe rivelare maggiori dettagli su questa fase complessa. Infine, il progetto studierà come lo scambio di massa binario influenzi le strutture pre-supernova e le esplosioni di stelle massicce.
Obiettivo
Stars are the basic building blocks of the visible Universe. Understanding how they transformed the pristine Universe into the one we live in today is at the heart of astrophysical research and vital for many areas in astrophysics. Massive stars, in particular, are cosmic powerhouses because of their radiative, mechanical and chemical feedback from stellar winds and supernova explosions. Thanks to new telescopes and observatories, massive star research is entering a golden era, as exemplified by transient surveys and the dawn of gravitational-wave astronomy.
Yet, our understanding of the lives and final fates of massive stars is incomplete. Binary stars are of particular importance because the vast majority of all massive stars will exchange mass with a companion during their life, thereby completely changing their evolution and final fates. About 25% of massive stars are even thought to merge. The merger phase is largely unexplored and the consequences of binary mass exchange for supernovae are poorly understood.
To remedy this situation, I propose to build the essential theoretical framework to help understand massive stars. My group will conduct the first 3D magnetohydrodynamical simulations of stellar mergers, develop merger prescriptions for stellar evolution codes, compute grids of massive single and binary stars that cover all relevant phases, and build the required statistical methods to compare models with observations. We will unravel whether merging can explain the origin of strong magnetic fields in 10% of massive stars and thereby also that of the strongest magnetic fields in the Universe, namely those of magnetars. Moreover, we will study the asteroseismic properties of mergers and will understand how binary mass exchange affects pre-SN structures and hence the explosions of massive stars. In this way, we will push the frontiers of massive star research and help to approach a truly comprehensive picture of the lives and final fates of massive stars.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-STG - Starting GrantIstituzione ospitante
69118 Heidelberg
Germania
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.