Origin of a Cosmic Ring in NGC 7538
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Ballroom B/C/D
Start Date
21-5-2015
End Date
21-5-2015
Keywords
Physics, Star-forming Region, Astronomy
Abstract
NGC 7538 is a high mass star forming region about 8,800 light years away. In this region, stars are being born, beginning from a large collapsing dust cloud. After the formation of the star, the burning of hydrogen in the core through nuclear fusion produces photons that outflow and exert pressure, called radiation pressure, on the gas and dust surrounding the star, forming a bubble of empty space. The research investigated an elliptical gas ring in NGC 7538, similar to these bubbles, whose source is unknown as it doesn’t have a star in the center. This research investigated whether a runaway star could have formed in or passed through the center of the ring region previously, initialized the expansion of the ring, then moved out of the region. A program was written to plot stars around the ring in three dimensions, and from the stars plotted so far, there have not been any stars that intersected the ring in the past. We will continue to consider more stars from more databases to determine if a runaway star did intersect the ring in the past.
Recommended Citation
Arakawa, Jason, "Origin of a Cosmic Ring in NGC 7538" (2015). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 48.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2015/posters/48
Poster Number
58
Department/Program
Physics
Additional Mentoring Department
Physics
Additional Mentoring Department
Physics
Origin of a Cosmic Ring in NGC 7538
SURC Ballroom B/C/D
NGC 7538 is a high mass star forming region about 8,800 light years away. In this region, stars are being born, beginning from a large collapsing dust cloud. After the formation of the star, the burning of hydrogen in the core through nuclear fusion produces photons that outflow and exert pressure, called radiation pressure, on the gas and dust surrounding the star, forming a bubble of empty space. The research investigated an elliptical gas ring in NGC 7538, similar to these bubbles, whose source is unknown as it doesn’t have a star in the center. This research investigated whether a runaway star could have formed in or passed through the center of the ring region previously, initialized the expansion of the ring, then moved out of the region. A program was written to plot stars around the ring in three dimensions, and from the stars plotted so far, there have not been any stars that intersected the ring in the past. We will continue to consider more stars from more databases to determine if a runaway star did intersect the ring in the past.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Darci Snowden, Cassandra Fallscheer