Dynamical evolution of young stellar clusters with traceback analyses

• Grant number: 25/04917-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Positional Astronomy and Celestial Mechanics
• Principal Investigator: Phillip Andreas Brenner Galli
• Grantee: Adriane Sena Galeote
• Host Institution: Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas (IAG). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/12518-8 - Dynamics and evolution of Young Stellar Clusters (DYSC), AP.JP

Abstract

The study of the dynamical evolution of young stellar clusters in time offers one unique possibility to reconstruct the local history of star formation. This project aims to implement a tool to perform traceback analyses of stellar groups by integrating the orbits of the stars back in time using the state-of-the-art astrometry delivered by the Gaia satellite, radial velocity data from spectroscopic surveys and observations collected by our team. The student will apply this tool to the young stellar clusters of the DYSC project (PI: Phillip Galli; FAPESP grant 2020/12518-8) aiming to (i) determine the birthplace and dynamical age of the stellar association, (ii) search for potential runaway stars that formed in the core of the stellar group and dispersed into the field, and (iii) investigate the existence of substructures in the cluster at birth time. The ultimate goal of the proposed activities is to unravel the history of star formation of the stellar groups of the Solar neighbourhood investigated in this project. (AU)