Sally Oey

Sally Oey studies massive stars and their effects on their host galaxies. One of her research programs investigates runaway stars ejected from star clusters, many of which are in tight binary systems. Her group is characterizing different types of massive binary populations, which are progenitors of gravitational wave events and gamma-ray bursters. Another program focuses on how massive stars affect their environments, especially the youngest and densest super star clusters. Oey is especially interested in how ultraviolet ionizing radiation escapes from such systems in starburst galaxies. This is believed to be analogous to processes that illuminated cosmic dawm.

Notable Results

Oey's team has determined that almost all massive stars outside of star clusters are runaways that were ejected from their birth clusters through unstable orbital motions and supernova explosions in binary systems. At the same time, they found that about 5% of these field stars do appear to form in relative isolation. The runaway stars are often in tight binary pairs, leading to interesting populations of evolved massive stars, some of which are progenitors of neutron star and black hole binary systems. Oey's team has also found direct observational evidence that extremely young, super star clusters lack strong superwinds. Therefore, their environmental feedback effects are dominated by radiation instead of mechanical energy.

Background

AB, Bryn Mawr College; PhD, University of Arizona. Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Astronomy/Cambridge, UK; Institute Fellow, Space Telescope Science Institute/Baltimore, MD; Staff Astronomer, Lowell Observatory/Flagstaff, AZ.

Publications

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