David Weinberg
Ohio State University, OH·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Nearly every element heavier than hydrogen and helium was forged in stars and spread through galaxies when those stars died. The mix of elements in a star's atmosphere therefore records the history of the galaxy where it formed.
- Fields
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Physics
- Topics
galactic chemical evolution
nucleosynthesis
origin of the elements
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Measure how much core-collapse supernovae, Type Ia supernovae and asymptotic giant branch stars contribute to element abundance patterns, by modeling data from large spectroscopic surveys of Milky Way stars.
- Test Milky Way chemical evolution models that make different assumptions about gas accretion, star formation history, galactic winds, radial gas flows and incomplete mixing, against observed stellar abundances.
- Explain chemical differences among the Milky Way's thin disk, thick disk, bulge and halo, and between the Milky Way and its dwarf satellite galaxies, using abundance modeling.
More about the research
This project reads that record to understand how galaxies like the Milky Way formed and evolved.
Why it matters
This is basic science. It aims to build a consistent picture of how stars and galactic processes produce and spread the elements, including those that make up planets and living things. Its measurements of supernova and giant-star contributions could guide future models of galaxy formation and the interpretation of large stellar surveys.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Kareem El-Badry
California Institute of Technology, CA·Astronomy & Astrophysics·Early-career
Measure how common post-interaction binary stars are across the Milky Way and estimate the mass distribution of black holes and neutron stars, using gaiamock software to correct for which binaries Gaia can detect.
Keith Hawkins
University of Texas at Austin, TX·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Measure phosphorus abundances in stars across two distinct cosmic environments, the Milky Way and the accreted Gaia Enceladus dwarf galaxy, using astronomical spectroscopic observations, to constrain how much bulk phosphorus planets can inherit.
Christopher Kochanek
Ohio State University, OH·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Measure what fraction of massive-star core collapses fail and form a black hole without a supernova, by monitoring evolved stars in 27 nearby galaxies with the Large Binocular Telescope.
The school
Ohio State University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 882 research doctorates a year.
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