Stellar Evolution and Asteroseismology
Stellar sounds: probing the inner structure and evolution of stars
In the research group "Stellar Evolution and Asteroseismology" we investigate stellar oscillations which help us to describe the inner structure and evolution of stars. We especially focus on the early evolutionary phases of stars, the so-called pre-main sequence stars, which do not fuse hydrogen to helium in their cores yet. Applying asteroseismology – the study of stellar oscillations – to young stars allows to investigate the impact of their early evolutionary history onto the complete stellar evolution up until the final phases.
Unsere Forschungsschwerpunkte umfassen:
- Different types of pulsating stars, in particular in their early stages of evolution (“Pre-main sequence asteroseismology”).
- Young stars, the variability of their light caused by other reasons (e.g., due to spots or dust disks) and the connection to the formation of planets and smaller bodies (e.g., comets).
- Analysis of data from space telescopes (e.g., Kepler, TESS) and from ground-based observatories and calculations of theoretical models; Preparation of the ESA-Mission PLATO (Planned launch: Dec. 2026).
Konstanze Zwintz
Professor for Stellar Astrophysics with focus on asteroseismology
PhD 2005, University of Vienna, Austria
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Affiliations
Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics, University of Innsbruck
Konstanze Zwintz started to work in the field of pre-main sequence asteroseismology during her PhD thesis. Since then, she became the pioneer and co-founder of this new research area. Some of the open research questions she is working on include the determination of the ages, speed of evolution and chemical composition of young stars. She was involved in the preparation of several space telescopes in the past years and is currently contributing to the preparation of the ESA-Mission PLATO.