I offer various research projects to students at different levels in their studies. Below are some examples of the types of projects that I am currently offering. Depending on your own interests we can tailor a project together. I am interested in working with students including but not limited to TFG, TFM, PhD. I have previous supervised CSIC projects such as the JAE-INTRO.
If you are interested in a PhD position there exists various options that we can discuss with deadlines throughout the year.
The projects I offer are generally are conducted within the Massive star Group at the CAB and during term time you can expect to attend regular face-to-face events such weekly meetings, a journal club focused on astrophysics and multi-disciplinary seminars focused on astrobiology.
Contact: lrpatrick @ cab inta-csic es
Massive stars shape their surrounding environments via intense stellar winds throughout their lives and as they explode as supernovae at the end of their lives, which provides chemical and energetic feedback for future generations of stars. Blue and yellow supergiants are some of the brightest and most luminous stars in any given star-forming galaxy. However, their evolutionary histories are highly uncertain. Central to the confusion over their histories is that in Local Group galaxies, the observed number of these stars far exceeds the predicted number by theory. We now know that the majority of massive stars are born within binary or higher-order multiple systems and how these stars interact with their companions is key to determining how they end their lives. Therefore, the multiplicity properties hold vital clues to better understand their origin and evolution. As part of The Binarity at LOw Metallicity (BLOeM) campaign in the Small Magellanic Cloud, this project will use the latest data release to study 128 B5--F5 supergiant stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The BLOeM observing campaign on the Very Large Telescope, Chile is near completion. This project will build upon earlier results, using a much smaller observing time, to assess the variability and multiplicity properties of this vitally important population.
Massive stars shape their surrounding environments via intense stellar winds throughout their lives and as they explode as supernovae at the end of their lives, which provides chemical and energetic feedback for future generations of stars. Luminous blue variable (LBV) stars represent a transitional phase in the life cycle of massive stars, which experience large eruptions from their atmospheres expelling large amounts of material in short bursts, and are thought to be progenitors to some of the most energetic supernova explosions known. LBVs are so rare that only a handful are known in the Milky Way and despite their importance, much remains unknown about their evolution. Using observational data from the K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph on Very Large Telescope (KMOS/VLT), Chile, the student will study the three LBVs in massive star clusters and assess how the spectroscopic appearance of LBVs vary over time. The binary nature of the LBVs will be investigated and the consequences of the variability of lack thereof will be put into context in the overall evolutionary cycle of massive stars.
Massive stars are those which end their lives in violent supernova explosions. We now know that the majority of massive stars are born within binary systems and how these stars interact with their companions is key to determining how they end their lives. Runaway stars are those that have been kicked out from binary systems after a supernova explosion or interaction with another star. Many runaway stars are expected and observed, but at the final evolutionary stage in the life of a massive star - the red supergiant phase - no confirmed runaway has been identified outside of the Milky Way. With Gaia DR3 it is now possible to study the dynamics of these stars in greater detail outside our own galaxy. In this project the student would make use of the most recent Gaia data release to study the dynamics of the Large Magellanic Cloud - one of our nearest neighbour galaxies - using red supergiant stars and identify the first red supergiant runaway stars outside of our Galaxy. In this sense this study bridges the gap between studying stars and studying galaxies. The student will use a dynamical model to identify runaway stars. Using simulations, the student will estimate the total number of red supergiant runaways in this galaxy.
Red supergiant stars (RSGs) are the final evolutionary stage of the majority of massive stars before a supernova explosion. When a massive star stops burning hydrogen into helium in its core, the star drastically expands its outer envelope and appears as an RSG. Despite their importance for understanding the diversity of observed supernovae, the physics of the atmospheres of RSGs is incomplete, which has implications for our understanding of how much mass massive stars lose throughout their lives and ultimately what the final supernova explosion looks like. Studies of the physics of RSGs have previously focused on individual systems and a complete picture of how variable the atmospheres of RSGs is lacking.
New results from the Gaia mission (DR3; June 2022) allows the study of stellar variability in different evolutionary phases for entire populations of stars in the Magellanic Clouds: two of our nearest neighbour galaxies. In this project the student will study the variability of RSGs in the Magellanic Clouds using a new catalogue of variability based on Gaia DR3. Global trends will be studied and a relationship between evolutionary phase and variability will be developed. The student will analyse this large dataset and use this to place in context the recently observed Great Dimming of Betelgeuse.