Undergraduate Research Experiences at BGSU

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Undergraduate Research Experiences at BGSU

• Presented by Katie Guldenschuh Andy Layden
• BRAVO BG! Orlando Florida
• February 2005

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Overview

• BGSU Office of Undergraduate Research
• Undergraduate Research in Astronomy
• Katies Research

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Office of Undergraduate Research

• Helps students
• Select topic faculty mentor

• Proposal writing financial support

• Communicate results

http//www.bgsu.edu/offices/our
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Astronomy 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!

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Undergraduate Involvement

• Since 1999
• 9 students
• 15 summer jobs
• 2 papers
• 7 conference posters talks

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Overview

• Myself
• Student Stargazes
• My Undergraduate Research

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Myself

• Senior Graduating in May 2005
• Math Major with Astronomy Minor
• AFROTC student going into the Air Force after
  graduation as an Analytical Scientist

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Student Stargazes

• For students in BGs Astronomy courses

• Give students experience w/ telescopes

• View
• constellations
• planets, nebulas, galaxies,
• see BGSU telescopes at work

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Searching for Variable Stars in the Globular
Cluster NGC 6496

• 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

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Motivation 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

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Observations and Reductions

• 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/
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Variable Star Detection

• To determine which stars were variable, we
  plotted brightness versus time.

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Variable Star Detection (cont.)

• Some stars showed much more rapid variation,
  completing a full cycle in less than one day.

Contact Binary Star System
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Conclusions

• 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.

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How all this influenced my 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.

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If you have any questions, please chat with Andy
or me after the presentations
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References

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