Assistant Research Scientist of Astronomy
About
Stellar abundances and nucleosynthesis
Ian Roederer uses ancient stars in the Milky Way to study the origins of the heaviest elements found on Earth. Every star retains a chemical memory of the time and place where it was born. By studying the abundance patterns of common elements (like carbon, magnesium, or iron) and obscure elements (like arsenic, tellurium, europium, platinum, or lead), Roederer can probe the physics that produced these elements in ancient supernovae. He frequently uses the high-resolution spectrographs at Magellan and on board the Hubble Space Telescope to make these observations. An understanding of which stars were responsible for producing the elements enabling life and surrounding us on Earth can in turn be used to learn about the earliest epochs in the history of our Galaxy.
Related Research Interests
Galactic chemical evolution, globular cluster formation, formation of the Milky Way stellar halo.
Background
BS, Indiana University; PhD, University of Texas at Austin; Carnegie Fellow, Carnegie Observatories.
Publications
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