The Research Council of Norway granted Maryam Saberi with 7.995.000 for her project idea and with that Saberi can start the new year as a researcher at RoCS - Rosseland Centre for Solar Physics. A postdoc will come onboard next year to work together with Saberi.
Maryam's way to RoCS
Maryam, from Iran, started working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at RoCS two months before the Covid-19 close-down of Norway in 2020. With a bachelor and master of science in Physics from Alzahra University in Tehran, Iran, she went to Gothenburg in Sweden where she did her Ph.D. in Radio Astronomy and Space Science. After five and a half years at Chalmers University of Technology and Onsala Space Observatory she looked to RoCS and Oslo.
Working at RoCS provides a great opportunity to expand my knowledge on solar and stellar chromospheric activity.
Realizing an idea
- How did you come up with the idea to your project?
- During my PhD studies, I was granted observing time through a highly competitive process to use the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) for observing UV-bright asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The goal was to detect atomic carbon in the outflow around the stars and use it to constrain their carbon budget. As I analyzed the observational data, I discovered additional lines, which we call "bonus lines". Upon closer examination, I identified a few aluminum fluoride (AlF) lines, along with several titanium and aluminum-bearing species, towards several objects.
To my surprise, I realized that I had achieved the first detection of a fluorine-bearing species (AlF) towards oxygen-rich AGB stars.
This was thrilling because understanding the origin of fluorine has been one of the most intriguing and long-lasting questions in astrophysics, due to its very low abundance compared to other elements in the periodic table. It is difficult to observe and requires very sensitive instruments for detection.
Located 5000 metres above sea level, the Chajnantor Plateau serves as an ideal hunting ground for ALMA. The array uses observations at the millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths to explore the coldest parts of the Universe. The superb aridness of the plateau means that far less submillimetre radiation is absorbed and attenuated by water vapour than would be the case closer to sea level. Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi
My exciting observations led me to consider using the state-of-the-art ALMA facility to trace the origin of fluorine by searching for weak F-bearing species towards other sources that have a high potential to efficiently produce fluorine in our galaxy. With the high-resolution and high-sensitivity capabilities of ALMA, I believe it is possible to detect weak emission lines from F-bearing species at the mm wavelength.
This will shed light on the formation path of fluorine, the essential element for the maintenance of solidity of our bones and teeth.
The significance of her project
- What did the Norwegian Research Council think of your project?
- They found it to have the potential to significantly advance our knowledge of chemical element and dust formation in the environment of evolved solar-type stars.
The project puts a special emphasis on the formation of fluorine and the only very recently detected internal chromospheric UV radiation.
They further emphasized "The excellent combination of state-of-the-art ALMA observations, chemical models, and NLTE radiative transfer calculations which makes this project particularly attractive and goes beyond the current state of the art."
Dust formation in our and other galaxies is an important process, shaping the thermal and chemical structure of the interstellar medium.
They acknowledged the project to have potential to considerably advance our knowledge on dust formation and to clarify the role of internal UV light. The formation pathway of fluorine is both of scientific and public interest as an important element for biological systems. The fluorine production is of great interest to stellar modelers and will constrain our general understanding of nucleosynthesis.
