Natalie R. Myers

The abundance of different elements can help us understand the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. In this work, I set off to derive abundances from every major nucleosynthetic pathway, from the light elements (like magnesium, which is formed in core collapse supernovae) to the heaviest elements (like europium, which is produced in stellar mergers involving at least one neutron star). I also specifically targeted stars in open clusters, which are groups of stars all born in the same gas cloud, ensuring the stars are all chemically, kinematically, and chronologically homogeneous.

In this project, we found that different abundances had different distributions in the Milky Way, that is, the heavier elements have shallower slopes and are therefore more homogeneously dispersed throughout the Milky Way than the lighter elements (e.g., magnesium and iron) are. If you want to take a deep dive, click on the figure!

[To be added soon!]

[To be added soon!]