Directory
Javier Alonso
Contact Information
1029 Dennison 500 Church St. Ann Arbor, Mi 48109 Phone: 615-6138 Department Phone: (734) 764-3440 Fax: (734) 763-6317Email: jalonso (append "@umich.edu" to send email)
Research Statement:
The age, chemical and kinematic distributions of stellar populations provide powerful constraints on models of the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. The globular clusters constitute a specially useful case because the stars within individual clusters are coeval and spatially distinct. But a serious limitation in the study of many globular clusters - especially those near the Galactic Center - has been the existence of large absolute and differential extinction by foreground dust.My reseach aims to map the differential extinction and remove their effects in a sample of clusters in the direction of the inner Galaxy, so we will be able to produce high quality color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of these poorly-studied clusters. The analysis of these CMDs will allow us to determine these clusters' relative ages, distances and chemistry and to address important questions about the formation and evolution of the inner Galaxy.
