. | . |
Simulating the Death of Stars by Staff Writers Heidelberg, Germany (SPX) Nov 27, 2015
Humboldt Fellow Samuel Jones (University of Victoria, Canada) is exploring the evolution and the explosion of stars by means of highly sophisticated computer simulations in order to gain new insights into the birth of neutron stars and the origin of the chemical elements. His research stay at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) is supported by the Alexander von Humboldt foundation. Since May 2015, Dr. Samuel Jones (University of Victoria, Canada) has been working at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) as a visiting scientist. The Alexander von Humboldt foundation awarded Dr. Jones a Humboldt Research Fellowship for two years. This allows him to carry out a research project with an academic host in Germany. Samuel Jones was invited by Prof. Friedrich Ropke, head of the Physics of Stellar Objects (PSO) research group. He will stay at HITS until April 2017, investigating the evolution and explosion of stars whose chemical imprint is postulated to be stamped on some of the oldest stars in the Universe. Born near Birmingham, Samuel Jones studied astrophysics and music technology at Keele University, UK. After his Ph.D. in 2014, he assumed a Postdoc position at the University of Victoria, Canada, in the group of Dr. Falk Herwig. Samuel Jones is one of the Principal Investigators of "NuGrid", a group of more than 50 astrophysicists from 21 institutions in 8 countries working on stellar evolution, supernovae, and nucleosynthesis. At HITS, he is a visiting scientist in the Physics of Stellar Objects (PSO) group led by Friedrich Ropke. "The collective expertise of Fritz and the group provides the optimal setting in which to take on some of the unsolved problems in stellar physics", he says. Jones investigates the so-called "light massive stars". These are stars that are 8 to 12 times more massive than our Sun. "It is not clear if they turn into neutron stars or into white dwarfs ... or neither", Jones explains. Having modeled their lives from the cradle to their dying moments, he is now turning his attention to their final few seconds. In his project, Jones is using the LEAFS (Level-set based Astrophysical Flame Simulations) code co-authored by Friedrich Ropke. "It's multi-scale multi-physics", he explains. "The time scales of interest in stellar evolution range from millions of years to the order of seconds, and the spatial scales from a few hundreds of millions of kilometers to the sub-centimeter." This research aims to help stellar physicists to understand better the origin of neutron stars and the abundances of the chemical elements in the oldest stars that we know of.
Related Links Physics of Stellar Objects (PSO) group Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |