DrChristina Schoettler
Academic Visitor
Department of Physics - Faculty of Natural Sciences
Orcid identifier0000-0002-2187-4570 (opens in a new tab)
- Academic VisitorDepartment of Physics - Faculty of Natural Sciences
- Blackett Laboratory, South Kensington Campus, United Kingdom
RESEARCH
Overview
Most stars form in grouped or clustered environments with other stars. These star-forming regions can survive for millions of years but can change dramatically over just a short period of time - either collapsing under their own gravity or expanding. So what we see today might not be what they looked like initially during their formation. While a cluster is contracting or expanding, stars can pass very close to each other. This can lead to them being flung out of their birth region to become unbound runaway stars. Planets that might already exist in an exoplanet system may have their orbits altered compared to their formation, collide with each other, be ejected from their systems or be stolen by passing stars.
In my research, I use simulations and observations to investigate these interactions. The number and distribution of runaway stars can tell us something about the initial conditions of star-forming regions. In addition to simulations, I also use observations from telescopes like Gaia, which orbits in space with the Earth around the Sun. This data can be used to search for ejected stars in the night sky. I am also interested in the impact the birth environment can have on young exoplanet systems. Using simulations, I look at how they are affected and possibly altered by interactions in these environments. This can have implications for our understanding of their formation mechanisms.
Most stars form in grouped or clustered environments with other stars. These star-forming regions can survive for millions of years but can change dramatically over just a short period of time - either collapsing under their own gravity or expanding. So what we see today might not be what they looked like initially during their formation. While a cluster is contracting or expanding, stars can pass very close to each other. This can lead to them being flung out of their birth region to become unbound runaway stars. Planets that might already exist in an exoplanet system may have their orbits altered compared to their formation, collide with each other, be ejected from their systems or be stolen by passing stars.
In my research, I use simulations and observations to investigate these interactions. The number and distribution of runaway stars can tell us something about the initial conditions of star-forming regions. In addition to simulations, I also use observations from telescopes like Gaia, which orbits in space with the Earth around the Sun. This data can be used to search for ejected stars in the night sky. I am also interested in the impact the birth environment can have on young exoplanet systems. Using simulations, I look at how they are affected and possibly altered by interactions in these environments. This can have implications for our understanding of their formation mechanisms.