SEMINÁRIO DO DEPARTAMENTO DE ASTRONOMIA
Metal-poor stellar populations in the Milky Way: r-process and spectroscopic follow-ups
a talk by André Rodrigo da Silva
(Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences)
Abstract:
Metal-poor stars serve as critical components in deciphering the formation history of the Milky Way. These stars preserve, in their atmospheres, a "fossilized" record of the chemical composition of the primordial gas clouds from which they formed, thereby providing insights into early galactic environments.
Galaxies like our own were assembled through the accretion of smaller satellite galaxies. Thanks to the Gaia mission and large-scale spectroscopic and photometric surveys, we are now able to probe the building blocks of our Galaxy. In particular, we can better constrain the astrophysical sites responsible for enriching the progenitor dwarf galaxies—later accreted by the Milky Way—with rapid neutron-capture (r-process) elements, which constitute the heavier half of the periodic table.
The ongoing debate regarding the astrophysical origin of these elements remains unresolved, with two leading candidates: neutron star mergers and Type II supernovae. In this work, we present the findings of da Silva & Smiljanic (2023) and da Silva & Smiljanic (2025), as well as preliminary results from follow-up spectroscopic observations of metal-poor stars.
Short-Bio:
I have a master degree in Environmental Radiometry by IPEN-USP, and a teaching degree on Sciences - Physics by UNIFESP. I also started a degree in Astronomy at IAG-USP but dropped out in 2019 to pursue a PhD in Astronomy.
Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/pcw-gmem-jyi
Link da transmissão: https://www.youtube.com/c/AstronomiaIAGUSP/live