The discovery has implications for how we understand the role of these stars in the Universe.

An international team of astronomers, including FONDECYT postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of La Serena, Dr. Carolina Sabín San Julián, has studied the stellar content of 30 Doradus, a huge star-forming region Also known as the Tarantula Nebula, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (a galaxy located in the vicinity of the Milky Way and visible to the naked eye from the southern hemisphere), discovering a greater number of massive stars than expected.

In the study published in the journal Science, the physical properties of approximately 250 stars with masses greater than 15 times the mass of our Sun (massive stars) have been characterized through the use of stellar atmosphere models and evolutionary models, in order to determine the mass distribution of stars born in 30 Doradus.

Dr. Carolina Sabín, co-author of the article and researcher at the ULS Department of Physics and Astronomy, explained that the study was surprised by the number of stars with 200 to 300 solar masses in this region, being some of the most massive stars ever observed.

“This has enormous importance in the way we understand the role of massive stars in the Cosmos, since “a greater number of these objects implies a greater number of supernovae, neutron stars and black holes, increasing the probabilities of seeing events that allow detecting gravitational waves and influencing the evolution of the host galaxy. “This finding could change our view of what the early stages of the Universe were like, since the intense radiation emitted by massive stars played a crucial role in its evolution,” he noted.

The contribution of the Spanish professional in said paper has been the detailed analysis of a sample of approximately 100 massive stars through the use of stellar atmosphere models, the results of which were published in May 2017 (2017A&A...601A..79S) .

Dr. Sabín also indicated that Science is, along with Nature, one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world, presenting outstanding discoveries from all areas of science, and that “the publication of this article continues to confirm the development of science at the University of La Serena, providing great visibility and impetus to the research work being carried out in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.”

The paper, titled "An excess of massive stars in the local 30 Doradus starburst" (by FRN Schneider et al.), is available at: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6371/69.

Other articles

The participation of the ULS researcher in this study is added to that of the institution's Master's in Astronomy student and hourly professor of the Department. of Physics and Astronomy, Natalia Ulloa, who has been part of the publication of 3 other works in the journal Science, all related to the event of the detection of the optical counterpart of the gravitational wave (http://bit.ly/2iejV14).

These are “Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the optical counterpart to a gravitational wave source”, “Electromagnetic evidence that SSS17a is the result of a binary neutron star merger” and “Light curves of the neutron star merger GW170817/SSS17a: Implications for r-process nucleosynthesis”. The ULS Master's in Astronomy student, Abdo Campillay, also participates in the latter.

The team from the University of La Serena was the only Chilean, Latin American and Hispanic American representative in the prestigious world event.

A few months ago it was ranked among the 10 best teams in the solar car world championship, World Solar Challenge 2017, which took place in Australia, being the only national, Latin American and Hispanic American representative in the international competition. This is the Antakari (“Copper Man”) team from the University of La Serena and its Intikallpa IV (“Energy of the Sun”) solar car, a vehicle that was presented to the university and local community in an exhibition held on the premises of the University. ULS, in recognition of his outstanding performance.

In this global event, in which the most prestigious institutions and universities in the world participated, the representative of Chile and the state educational institution managed to successfully complete the 3.020 kilometer route throughout the entire Australian territory, beginning the journey in the city ​​of Darwin and culminating in the southern city of Adelaide.

The IK4 crossed the finish line within the top ten vehicles, thus becoming the world's top ten in solar vehicle technology, alongside powers such as Holland, the United States, Japan, among others.

This position positions the ULS team in the world's top ten in competitive solar vehicle technology. This was expressed by the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, who highlighted “the effort and dedication of the members of the Antakari team, who have demonstrated their ability, ingenuity and affection, which has led to achievements worldwide, always with the support of academics, graduates and private and public institutions. They are a source of pride for the University, the region and the country.”

Its design and manufacturing is carried out by students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, attached to the Faculty of Engineering of the ULS, who use the best sustainable technology available worldwide. The initiative involves the participation mainly of students and academics from this unit, as well as from other units of the University.

In addition, important national and regional companies collaborate, such as: Minera los Pelambres, Minera Teck Carmen de Andacollo, Invenio, Total Sunpower, Ecomac, HidroMFD, Banco Santander, Ameco, INVECC, etc. The collaboration of these companies is through donation, provision of infrastructure, equipment or supplies and direct support from the team of professionals, as is the case of Minera Los Pelambres.

For the academic of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering of the house of studies, Dr. Mauricio Godoy, the solar car and the Intikallpa team “continues to consolidate itself as a successful initiative to link with the environment of our University, this mainly due to a work model that links students and academics and important regional and national companies, as well as the entire community (...). This project, which was born in 2010, has become an initiative of excellence that is linked to sport, as it is a global competition, and is also associated with innovation, creation, sustainability and entrepreneurship."

Benjamín Pieper, Operations Support Service Manager at Minera Los Pelambres, highlighted the great pride that it has meant for the company to be able to carry out this work together with the team from the University of La Serena, as well as see what has been built and recognize the performance they had in an international competition, since “being tenth in the world is the result of a work of excellence and that is undoubtedly a challenge to continue generating ties between the university world and our mining company,” stated the executive.

Meanwhile, Jaime Muñoz, captain of the Antakari team and engineer at Minera Los Pelambres, pointed out that Intikallpa IV was built entirely at the University of La Serena and that the years have allowed the project to mature, migrating to the University and building this type of competencies in the house of higher education. Regarding the competition held in Australia, the professional indicated that "the Intikallpa IV managed to place itself within the first 10 vehicles of the Challenge category, making us a team that completed the 3.020 kilometers that the competition lasts and where not all teams manage finish the race".

Another important collaboration for the success of this project is the one obtained through the PMI Innergias institutional project for energy efficiency, from the Ministry of Education, thanks to which it was possible to import the cutting-edge technological inputs that exist today in the world, with which the IK4 was made.

It should be noted that during the day each member of the Antakari ULS team was also recognized.

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The activity takes place in the Pentagon Room of the university.

Continuing Education aims to link with the environment via training and training programs, aiming to educate those who wish or need to deepen and stay up to date in the knowledge, skills, attitudes and abilities that characterize their discipline.

In this context, the universities that formed the 'University Network of Continuing Education', and which aim to become a relevant actor in the discussion with public and private agents around the definition, relevance, promotion and organization of Continuing Education , meet on January 4 and 5 at the University of La Serena to coordinate a work plan, reflected in various activities.

In order to carry out the coordination, representatives of these universities participate in the “XI Meeting of the Continuing Education Network of State Universities”, in the Pentagon Room of the Andrés Bello Campus of the ULS.

For the University of La Serena, being able to be part of this work network and also being able to host the eleventh version of this meeting is very relevant since it contributes to the work carried out by the university today. This was highlighted by the Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, who indicated that “it is gratifying for the University to participate in this type of event because in this way we work together so that we are recognized as state universities for the contribution we make to development. academic of our country.”

For her part, the Director of Continuing Education at the University of Los Lagos, Paola Norambuena, thanked the University of La Serena for the reception and support, and noted that “we have been meeting systematically since the end of 2015 and we have managed to finalize This seal that we are giving to the universities through two master courses that have been given to basic and secondary education teachers, and we managed to hold our first seminar which was in Santiago, where we all collaborate economically and intellectually. This allows us to bring some results on which we are proposing a baseline for our work, establishing our vision of what the continuous training that Chile has at this moment should be and what it needs through public universities.”

In addition to taking stock of the activities already carried out, on this occasion, the group focused on continuing education will establish the venues for upcoming activities, in addition to the next jobs to be carried out.

The initiatives correspond to the areas of Astronomy, Psychology, Biology and Mining Engineering.

Last week Conicyt and the Higher Councils of Science and Technological Development of FONDECYT reported the proposal for the selection of the projects that applied to the FONDECYT Regular 2018 National Project Competition, which still must be ratified by the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development and, subsequently, the decision by the Comptroller General of the Republic, to finally create the Resolution awarding the tender. This is how there are five projects corresponding to the University of La Serena included in the selected proposal, of which two belong to the area of ​​Astronomy, one to Psychology, one to Biology and one to Mining Engineering; In addition, the Biology area awarded two Postdoctoral projects.

Two of the initiatives belong to researchers associated with the Multidisciplinary Institute of Sciences and Technology. The research proposed in both projects for the period of three years is from the area of ​​Astronomy and is in charge of Dr. Antonela Monachesi, whose proposal is “The stellar halos of nearby galaxies: A unique window into the accretion and merger history of galaxies ”, and Dr. Facundo Gómez, whose project is titled “The formation and evolution of Milky Way-like galaxies”. It should be noted that both researchers were hired during 2016 and are part of the faculty of the ULS Doctoral Program in Astronomy.

One of the winning proposals belongs to Dr. Pablo Castro, from the Department of Psychology, whose project is entitled "Subjective theories of teachers about school time: its variation according to years of experience and work contexts." The study basically focuses on the research question: What are the subjective theories about the time of teachers from three regions of Chile with different years of teaching experience and work contexts like?

Another of the winning projects is the initiative of Dr. Ricardo Oyarzun Lucero, belonging to the Department of Mining Engineering, with the project entitled "Environmental monitoring and assessment of heavy metal transport and fate in mining-affected mountain streams of NorthCentral Chile: a comprehensive approach integrating hydraulic, hydrologic, geochemical, and modeling issues”, whose general objective is “to better restrict the hydraulic, hydrological, geochemical and physicochemical processes that determine the transport and fate of heavy metal in fluvial systems of north-central Chile, taking as a case study the situation of the upper basin of the Elqui river”.

Finally, Dr. Ernesto Gianoli's project entitled “Eco evolutionary approaches to community assembly patterns”, has the main objective of “providing evidence of the links between ecoevolutionary processes and community assembly patterns, which are often assumed but rarely tested". It should be noted that Dr. Gianoli is the Director of the Doctoral Program in Biological Sciences with a Mention in Arid Zones, recently accredited by the CNA.

In addition, the two Postdoctoral proposals awarded by the ULS are led by Dr. Gianoli. These are the postdoctoral projects “Determinants of the ecological and evolutionary responses to increased aridity of plants in the isolated Lomas communities of northern Chile”, whose principal investigator is Dr. Gisela Stotz, and “Causes of the invasion by Ulex europaeus L. in the Chilean scrub: testing hypotheses with a biogeographical approach”, whose principal investigator is Dr. Silvia Medina.

Regular Fondecyt Contest

The National Contest of Regular Fondecyt Projects has the objective of financing research initiatives that lead to the creation of new knowledge or applications. It finances projects lasting two to four years. The projects are selected taking into account their intrinsic quality and the merit of the applicants, without distinction of areas, institutional origin or gender.

The ULS submitted 22 projects to the Regular Fondecyt Competition, of which five were selected for award. While for the 2018 Postdoctoral competition there were four projects nominated by the University, awarding the two previously mentioned.

Two free courses will bring together ULS students and graduates as well as external professionals in their classrooms.
 
This January 2, the 2018 summer activities began in the Department of Mathematics of the University of La Serena, with the first class of the course “Probabilities in Secondary Education”, intended for qualified Mathematics and Computing teachers from this house of studies and middle school mathematics teachers from different municipal schools and high schools.

The activity is free and will run until Friday, January 5, with classes in the mornings in blocks dedicated to theory and exercises (workshop). The units included in the course are: Normal and binomial distribution, Mathematical expectation, Bayes' Theorem and Total Probability, contemplating a formative evaluation during the last day.

The idea is that the participants can deepen probability contents in secondary education, to generate significant learning in their students, and value the interaction with other professors of the specialty, sharing their teaching experiences in the axis of "Data and Chance" (third and middle room).

The course, which is in charge of Dr. Ken Matsuda Oteiza and is developed in the premises of the Department of Mathematics of the University of La Serena (Cisternas 1200), is financed by the PMI 1501 Institutional Improvement Plan for Pedagogies.  

Fundamentals of Mathematics and Geometry

Meanwhile, from Monday, January 8 to Friday, January 12, the course "Fundamentals of Mathematics and Geometry" will be held, by the academics Dr. Héctor Moreno Barrera and Dr. Marco Corgini Videla.

Classes will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will end at 12:30 pm, made up of 2 theoretical blocks, which will have practical samples. The first block will be in charge of Dr. Moreno, who contemplates in his section "an introduction to the Galois Theory and an application to the constructions with ruler and compass, until reaching the insolubility by radicals of the quadratic equation. All this, in a theoretical and general way, but with demonstrations that exemplify the subject matter", that is, it will have an algebraic emphasis with application in geometry.

On the other hand, block 2 corresponds to the classes of Dr. Corgini, who will emphasize the evolution of geometry from Euclid to Riemann. It is, mainly, what at a mathematical and philosophical level marked this period of the development of knowledge.

The course has enrolled students and graduates from the Faculties of Science and Engineering of the University of La Serena, as well as professionals and external students, all of them from different communes of the Atacama and Coquimbo regions.

The participants come from five DAEMs in the Coquimbo Region, with which recent collaboration agreements were established between the University of La Serena and the respective municipalities.

The main purpose of the Learning Evaluation and Feedback Course was to update the academic knowledge of the various pedagogy careers taught by the ULS, according to the challenges posed by the Institutional Improvement Plan FIP ULS1501 regarding training courses. continuous, and which are executed through the Integrated Management Unit of Pedagogies (UGIP).

In this context, teachers from public schools associated with the Municipal Education Departments of the communes of Coquimbo, La Higuera, Río Hurtado, Salamanca and Vicuña were invited to participate in the two days of the course.

In this way, in the sessions they worked on aspects related to evaluation strategies for learning in the context of the reform and reflected on the design of strategies for learning feedback based on evidence.

The professor at the State of Israel Institute of Administration and Commerce, Paola Mena, stated that the course allowed her to update how the evaluation is currently being redirected. “Nowadays we have to see evaluation for learning and I think it is fundamental because it becomes a tool that helps us improve the teaching process in the classroom. In that sense, this course is fundamental and very important, since it helps us strengthen and revitalize the knowledge we already had,” she said.

For her part, the professor at the Escuela República de Grecia, Erica Araya, stated that “the course has contributed to recovering information that perhaps we had forgotten regarding the evaluation and validity of the contents, and feedback. I learned new things about it and I think it is one of the points to follow ”.

Finally, the teacher from the Peñuelas School, María Carolina García, highlighted the contributions delivered during the sessions. “The course clarifies the tools that we have in school and in what we have as professional teaching tasks and it is a pretty good tool because we can resolve our doubts regarding pedagogical work, strengthening our role as a teacher,” she expressed.

Within the actions established by the UGIP, it is expected to continue carrying out the improvement courses, which are free for all teachers who belong to the DAEM with agreements.

Source: PMI FIP ULS1501 Press