Galactic Dust-Busting: Mapping Dust Clouds in the Central Milky Way with Star Clusters

POSTER

Abstract

Astronomical observations of galaxies are complicated by the presence of interstellar dust and gas. Large clouds of gas and dust often accumulate in the centers and disks of galaxies like the Milky Way, obscuring and altering the starlight that passes through them. We present a small-scale, high spatial resolution map of the cloud complex between us and the globular star cluster NGC 5927. We infer the presence of interstellar matter by matching stellar temperatures derived from broad-band photometry of cluster stars to stellar temperatures calculated from the spectra of those same stars. Our map makes it possible to combat the obscuration effects and extend our studies to stars that are intrinsically faint.

Authors

  • Jennifer Simmerer

    University of Utah

  • Sofia Feltzing

    Lund Observatory, Sweden

  • Francesca Primas

    European Southern Observatory

  • Andrew Polemi

    Utah State University, Brigham Young University, University of Pennsylvania, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, High Altitude Observatory, University of Colorado at Boulder, Massachutes Institute of Technology, Utah Valley University, University of New Hampshire, Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, University of Montana, Southwest Research Institute, University of Southern California, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SciPrint.org, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Colorado State University, V. Alecsandri College, Bacau, Romania, Colorado School of Mines, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Utah State University, Department of Physics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Brigham Young University - Idaho, University of Arizona, Florida State University, Weber State University, Brigham Young University - Provo, New Mexico State University, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523