2024.02.29 - Ronan Kerr
Channel: Coloquio IRyA
Date: 02/03/2024

Speaker info: Ronan Kerr, University of Texas at Austin
https://www.rkerrastro.com/

Title: The SPYGLASS Program: Mapping the Dynamics and Evolution of  Star Formation up to Galactic Scales
Abstract:
Young associations record star formation histories spanning tens of millions 
of years, revealing the initiation, progression, and termination of star formation long after the dispersal of the natal cloud. Through the SPYGLASS program, I am expanding this record by mapping the extensive and often poorly characterized network of clusters and associations in 
the solar neighborhood. Our most recent survey update reveals 116 young  associations within 1 kpc in Gaia DR3, providing a powerful resource for studies of large-scale population statistics as well as star formation patterns on both local and spiral arm scales. I have already spectroscopically observed members of over a dozen young associations in this sample, providing radial velocities and youth indicators which can reconstruct entire star formation histories through age measurements and kinematic traceback. Results in two young associations have already revealed distinct nodes in which co-spatial star formation takes place, which may represent the clearest discrete unit of star formation. I am currently reconstructing star formation patterns in the much larger 
associations of Cep-Her and Sco-Cen, which are beginning to bridge the gap between local star formation and the patterns that drive star formation on galactic scales. Combining large-scale surveys with 
regional reconstructions of star formation, I am revealing processes guiding star formation ranging from local scales to the scale of galactic structure.