Michelle Ding

I am a motivated astrophysicist and PhD candidate within the School of Physics specialising in extragalactic stellar populations and chemical abundance mapping. My research focuses on developing novel spectral analysis methods to understand galaxy evolution and collaborating with world-leading experts in the field. Beyond research, I am committed to fostering scientific curiosity through undergraduate teaching, student mentoring, and public outreach, translating complex astrophysical concepts into accessible ideas for the wider community.

Project Title 

Is the Milky Way Unique? Detailed Chemical Abundance Mapping of Nearby Edge-on Disk Galaxies

Supervised by Dr Jesse van de Sande

The chemical compositions of stars hold crucial insights into the formation and evolutionary history of galaxies. Linked to various nucleosynthesis processes that occur within stars, different elements and isotopes can be used as diagnostics to construct a complete star formation history. For example, alpha elements such as oxygen and magnesium are primarily produced during the collapse of massive stars in Type II supernovae, while iron is mostly linked to the explosive deaths of older, lower-mass stars in Type Ia supernovae that occur at a much later time than Type II. Interestingly, studies of chemical abundances in regions near the Sun have revealed two distinct stellar populations: younger, metal-rich stars with low alpha-element abundances located near the galactic plane, and older, metal-poor stars with higher alpha-element abundances situated farther above the plane. Competing theories have been developed to explain the formation of these distinct chemical disks. However, these models have many variables, which cannot be constrained using the Milky Way alone. As such, extragalactic chemical studies of other disk galaxies are required. My PhD thesis focuses on developing methods to extract, map, and analyse chemical abundance variations across galaxies, contributing to the broader question of whether the Milky Way is unique.