Undergraduate Undergraduate Research Research

Experiences at BGSUExperiences at BGSU

Presented by Katie Guldenschuh & Andy Layden

BRAVO BG! Orlando Florida

February 2005

BGSU Office of Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research in Astronomy

Katie’s Research…

OverviewOverview

Office of Undergraduate Office of Undergraduate ResearchResearch

Helps students: Select topic & faculty mentor

Proposal writing & financial support

Communicate results

http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/our

Astronomy ResearchAstronomy Research

20-inch telescope & electronic camera Monitor brightness of pulsating variable stars

how bright is the star? how fast does it pulsate? calculate distance … measure the universe!

Undergraduate InvolvementUndergraduate Involvement

Since 1999:

9 students 15 summer jobs 2 papers 7 conference posters & talks

Myself

Student Stargazes

My Undergraduate Research

OverviewOverview

MyselfMyself

Senior Graduating in May 2005

Math Major with Astronomy Minor

AFROTC student going into the Air Force after graduation as an Analytical Scientist

Student StargazesStudent Stargazes

For students in BG’s Astronomy courses Give students experience w/ telescopes View:

constellations

planets, nebulas, galaxies, …

see BGSU telescopes at work

Searching for Variable Stars Searching for Variable Stars in the Globular Cluster NGC in the Globular Cluster NGC

64966496 Took 48 pictures of the globular cluster over a period of two months Measured the brightness of each star on every image

Looked for stars that varied in brightness over time

Motivation Behind ResearchMotivation Behind Research

Variable stars are very useful in astronomy Determine distances Clues to how stars work and change Overall give us insight into our universe

QuickTime™ and aGIF decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Observations and Observations and ReductionsReductions

Images taken with direct CCD camera on 0.9-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.

We used several computer programs to process images and measure star brightness.

http://www.ctio.noao.edu/

Variable Star DetectionVariable Star Detection

To determine which stars

were variable, we

plotted brightness

versus time.

Variable Star Detection Variable Star Detection (cont.)(cont.)

Some stars showed much more rapid

variation, completing a full cycle in less than

one day.

Contact Binary Star System

ConclusionsConclusions

We discovered at least six variable stars near NGC 6496

none previously known.

This study helped improve our understanding of variable stars in globular clusters.

How all this influenced my How all this influenced my BGSU experience BGSU experience

Stargaze: Share passion for Astronomy with peers Great learning experience Involvement

Research: Apply classroom knowledge to real life problem Present findings to professional astronomers in

GA Developed skills to take with me into Air Force.

If you have any questions, If you have any questions, please chat with Andy or me please chat with Andy or me

after the presentationsafter the presentations

ReferencesReferences

Clement et al. 2001, AJ, 82, 2587Fourcade & Laborde 1963, BAAA, 6, 111Harris 1996, AJ, 112, 148Layden, Ritter, Welch & Webb, 1999, AJ, 117, 1313Pritzl et al. 2003, AJ, 126, 1381Stetson 1987, 1994, PASP, 99, 191, 106, 250