This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Dr Charlton and her collaborators will conduct a multi-wavelength survey of twelve nearby Hickson compact groups of galaxies. Space-based infrared, optical and ultraviolet images are in hand, and X-ray observations are in progress. The team will obtain ground-based optical broadband imaging and spectroscopy, to determine group membership and to measure the star formation and metal content in the galaxies. With collaborators at the University of Virginia, Dr Charlton will use the Very Large Array radio telescope to map the distribution of neutral hydrogen gas in and around the groups. This distribution will be compared to that of young star clusters, old globular star clusters, and tidal dwarf galaxies, all of which may reflect interactions between the galaxies.
A graduate student will be trained by participating in the research. Dr Charlton has an exceptionally strong record in mentoring undergraduate researchers, and in training graduate students and postdocs. She will also continue to direct AstroFest, an annual summer public outreach event at her institution.
