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Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons

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Astrophysics

Western Kentucky University

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Full-Text Articles in Astrophysics and Astronomy

A Multi-Wavelength Analysis Of Cold Evolving Interstellar Clouds, Mary Spraggs Sep 2016

A Multi-Wavelength Analysis Of Cold Evolving Interstellar Clouds, Mary Spraggs

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The interstellar medium (ISM) is the dynamic system of gas and dust that fills the space between the stars within galaxies. Due to its integral role in star formation and ga-lactic structure, it is important to understand how the ISM itself evolves over time, in-cluding the process of cooling and condensing required to form new stars. This work aims to constrain and better understand the physical properties of the cold ISM with sev-eral different types of data, including large surveys of neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) 21cm spectral line emission and absorption, carbon monoxide (CO) 2.6mm line emission, and multi-band infrared …


The Ages And Metallicities Of Type Ia Supernova Host Galaxies From The Nearby Galaxies Supernova Search Program, Suzanna Sadler May 2012

The Ages And Metallicities Of Type Ia Supernova Host Galaxies From The Nearby Galaxies Supernova Search Program, Suzanna Sadler

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

We seek to better understand the physical constraints under which White Dwarf stars ultimately become Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), an important test of the robustness of these tools in precisely measuring Dark Energy, as the definite progenitor system still remains elusive. The host galaxy environments of Type Ia supernovae provide our best opportunity for constraining the mechanism(s) of SN Ia production, i.e., the stars involved and the incubation times (tied to stellar ages), and the sensitivity of SNe Ia to changes in the local metallicity. We have measured the ages and metallicities of approximately 60 galaxies from a sample …