Madeline Hall

Student NameMadeline Hall
Faculty Mentor NameAdam Ginsburg, PhD
CollegeCollege of Liberal Arts and Sciences
MajorAstrophysics
MinorEntomology
Research InterestsStar formation, protoplanetary disks, interstellar medium, galaxy structure, galaxy formation, galaxy evolution , cosmology
Academic AwardsUniversity Scholars Program 2020
OrganizationsN/A
Hobbies and Interestsreading, hiking, painting, talking about space

Research Project

Influences of Interstellar Medium Kinematics on Star Formation?

Observations of various molecular clouds within our galaxy suggest that there are discrepancies in the star formation thresholds for different cloud regions. This observation does not align itself with the theory that the right conditions, no matter the relative location, should trigger a gravitational collapse that would induce star formation. To explain this, astronomers are looking at other properties of molecular clouds that could influence star formation thresholds. In this project, I will be looking at the kinematic nature, also referred to as turbulence, of the Sagittarius B2 Complex, the largest molecular cloud in the Milky Way. I will be processing data in order to assign velocities to differential areas within Sagittarius B2. Once this information is cataloged, it can then be applied to future theories of star formation thresholds.