Other Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons^™

Observations And Light Curve Analysis Of Transiting Extra-Solar Planets, Clark M. Holcomb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to perform the procedures to study transiting exoplanets in their entirety, from the data collection process to determining physical characteristics and orbital properties. The research was conducted with two telescopes of different sizes (16” and 12”) at multiple sites in order to refine the detection process. Both Maxim DL and Mira Pro x64 software were used to process the resulting images. The PHOEBE program was used to model the data to determine the properties of the exoplanets, which were then compared to the results obtained by other astronomers. The data collection process as well …

How Shape Of Simulated Graphene Sheets Affects Debye Scattering Patterns, Lindsay Lesh

Honors Projects

This research is about understanding the structure of a subset of graphitic stardust found in primitive meteorites (e.g. the Murchison meteorite). The carbon grains of interest exhibit a core-rim structure, where the core – with a density less than that of the graphitic rim – comprises the majority of the grain. Previous studies have shown that the cores are comprised primarily of unlayered graphene, and it has been hypothesized that the cores are the result of the rapid freezing (quenching) of a liquid carbon droplet. Electron diffraction is sensitive to small differences in crystal structure and simulated electron diffraction powder …

Commercial Space Situational Awareness (Ssa) Capabilities And Their Benefits For Civilian Space Traffic Management (Stm), Mark A. Skinner

Space Traffic Management Conference

Paralleling (but lagging) satellite development, SSA, long the sole domain of sophisticated militaries, now includes commercial providers. These commercial capabilities, identified as beneficial to the sustainable use of outer space[1], have demonstrated technical sophistication sufficient to positively contribute to the mitigation of satellite interference and provide actionable SSA information. Utilizing small optical telescopes, these entities are able to determine the orbits of objects in the geosynchronous orbit (GSO) to sizes as small as 1 m², with measured positional uncertainties of 10s of meters, on the order of the size of a modern communications satellite. These techniques …

High Power Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers For Sodium Guidestar Applications, Shawn W. Hackett

Optical Science and Engineering ETDs

Optically pumped semiconductor lasers (OPSLs) are shown to provide a much more compact and less expensive source for illumination of the sodium layer of the mesosphere for use as a sodium laser guidestar via single and two photon excitation schemes. This represents a revolution in laser guidestar technology as the cost, size, and power requirements for a laser guidestar system are shown to have been decreased by an order of magnitude with guidestar performance shown to be similar to previous sources. Sodium laser guidestar sources for broadband simultaneous illumination of multiple lines are developed and simulated. Simulations are then compared …

Enhancing The Science Return Of Lunar Surface Studies: Analysis Of Rediscovered Data From Apollo 17'S Lunar Seismic Profiling Experiment, Deanna Phillips, Richard Miller

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Exoplanet Research: Differential Photometry For Kepler 6b, Garrett T. Benson, Charlotte Alexandra Olsen

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.

Measurement And Modeling Of Cosmic Ray Exposure For Supercdms Dark Matter Detectors., Kameron Mccall, John Orrell, Jared Yamaoka

STAR Program Research Presentations

Dark matter is an unknown type of matter that composes roughly 27% of the observable universe and, as cosmological structure models suggest, the earth should be passing through a “dark halo” of this unknown matter present in the Milky Way galaxy. As we pass through this halo, the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment aims to directly detect dark -matter particles. Though many dark matter particle candidates exist, SuperCDMS focuses on the detection of particles called WIMPS (weakly interacting massive particles) as predicted by super-symmetric theories beyond the standard model. Due to the high-sensitivity of the germanium detectors employed, …

High Temperature Condensate Clouds In Super-Hot Jupiter Atmospheres, H. R. Wakeford, Channon Visscher, Nikole K. Lewis, Avi M. Mandell

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Deciphering the role of clouds is central to our understanding of exoplanet atmo- spheres, as they have a direct impact on the temperature and pressure structure, and observational properties of the planet. Super-hot Jupiters occupy a temperature regime similar to low mass M-dwarfs, where minimal cloud condensation is expected. However, observations of exoplanets such as WASP-12b (Teq∼2500 K) result in a transmission spectrum indicative of a cloudy atmosphere. We re-examine the temperature and pressure space occupied by these super-hot Jupiter atmospheres, to explore the role of the initial Al- and Ti-bearing condensates as the main source of cloud material. Due …

Fundamental Parameters Of The Lowest Mass Stars To The Highest Mass Planets, Joseph C. Filippazzo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The physical and atmospheric properties of ultracool dwarfs are deeply entangled due to the degenerate effects of mass, age, metallicity, clouds and dust, activity, rotation, and possibly formation mechanism on their observed properties. Accurate fundamental parameters for a wide range of substellar objects are crucial to testing stellar and planetary formation theories. To determine these quantities, we construct flux-calibrated spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for 234 M, L, T, and Y dwarfs and calculate bolometric luminosity (L_bol), effective temperature (T_eff), mass, surface gravity, radius, spectral indexes, synthetic photometry, and bolometric corrections (BCs) for each object. We use …

Examination Of Resonant Modes In Microwave Cavities, Sophia Schwalbe, Gianpaolo Carosi

Student Works

The Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) looks to detect dark matter axion particles by using microwave cavities in a high magnetic eld to convert the axion's mass energy to a detectable photon. The photon frequency corresponds to the axion mass. Tuning elements in the cavities allow the resonant frequency to be changed but only certain modes couple to the axion. Interactions with additional resonant modes that do not couple to the axion cause unobservable regions in the frequency range. This research investigated new methods to move the additional resonant modes in order to observe these regions.

High Altitude Cosmic Ray Detection, Jordan D. Van Nest

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

Cosmic rays are high energy atomic nuclei travelling near the speed of light that collide with atoms and molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere (primarily with nitrogen and oxygen), breaking down into a shower of particles of various energies in the stratosphere. As they travel earthward, these particles continue to break down and lose energy which results in relatively little ionizing radiation reaching the surface. Due to the scattering of cosmic rays, the angle at which the rays enter the atmosphere can affect the number and energies of ionizing particles detected at various altitudes. When using a standard Geiger counter on …

Characterizing Exoplanet Host Star Atmospheres Using Spectroscopy, Kristen Fahy

STAR Program Research Presentations

Exoplanet discovery is an exponentially growing field which is allowing scientists to discover new worlds beyond our own solar system. The aim for this research project was to specifically look at the stellar activity of host stars to determine if it is affecting the output data of target exoplanets. Previously, astronomers understood that stellar activity could influence the detection of new planets, but until now nobody has studied how it may specifically affect the planetary transit spectrum. By analyzing transit spectroscopy plots, I was able to match specific wavelengths corresponding to chemical signatures of the host star to determine if …

Experimental Simulations Of Recurring Slope Lineae And Other Flow Formation Features On Mars, Julia Ann Heydenreich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Various flow formation features from gullies to recurring slope lineae (RSL) have been identified across the martian surface. The formation of these geologic features are still being determined. Recently, several aspects of these flow features indicate that salt water flows in the subsurface during the warmer months when the ice melts. This paper explores the formation of these processes using laboratory experimental simulations. Experiments were conducted in a wooden flume under varying martian conditions of temperature, slope angle, regolith simulant and a liquid subsurface flow. By adjusting the flume at specific heights, several slopes were obtained to mimic the slopes …

Studying Solar Limb Darkening In H-Alpha With A Coronado Pst, Jessica N. Farrell, Jennifer Birriel

Celebration of Student Scholarship Poster Sessions Archive

No abstract provided.

The Parallelization And Optimization Of The N-Body Problem Using Openmp And Openmpi, Nicholas J. Carugati

Student Publications

The focus of this research is exploring the efficient ways we can implement the NBody problem. The N-Body problem, in the field of physics, is a problem in which predicts or simulates the movements of planets and how they interact with each other gravitationally. For this research, we are viewing if the simulation can execute efficiently by delegating the heavy computational work through different cores of a CPU. The approach that is being used to figure this out is by integrating the parallelization API OpenMP and the message-passing library OpenMPI into the code. Rather than all the code executing on …

Modeling The Construction And Evolution Of Distributed Volcanic Fields On Earth And Mars, Jacob Armstrong Richardson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magmatism is a dominant process on Earth and Mars that has significantly modified and evolved the lithospheres of each planet by delivering magma to shallow depths and to the surface. Two common modes of volcanism are present on both Earth and Mars: central-vent dominated volcanism that creates large edifices from concentrating magma in chambers before eruptions and distributed volcanism that creates many smaller edifices on the surface through the independent ascent of individual magmatic dikes. In regions of distributed volcanism, clusters of volcanoes develop over thousands to millions of years. This dissertation explores the geology of distributed volcanism on Earth …

Probing The Fitting Accuracy Of Active Galaxy Spectra, Aaron T. Line

Physics

Prior to this study, Dr. Vardha N. Bennert and collaborators selected a sample of ~100 local active galaxies to study the relationships between black hole mass and host galaxy properties. The broad Hβ width is necessary to determine black hole mass. This value is determined using a spectral decomposition code was scripted in IDL by Dr. Daeseong Park. The script fit spectral features and collected data for properties such as width of emission lines and continuum contribution percentages. The results were logged for further analysis.

To probe the accuracy of the fitting process, artificial spectra were created and fitted to …

Hubble's Law Implies Benford's Law For Distances To Galaxies, Theodore P. Hill, Ronald F. Fox

Research Scholars in Residence

A recent article by Alexopoulos and Leontsinis presented empirical evidence that the first digits of the distances from the Earth to galaxies are a reasonably good fit to the probabilities predicted by Benford’s law, the well known logarithmic statistical distribution of significant digits. The purpose of the present article is to give a theoretical explanation, based on Hubble’s law and mathematical properties of Benford’s law, why galaxy distances might be expected to follow Benford’s law. The new galaxy-distance law derived here, which is robust with respect to change of scale and base, to additive and multiplicative computational or observational errors, …

A Search For Brief Optical Flashes Associated With The Seti Target Kic 8462852, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

The F-type star KIC 8462852 has recently been identified as an exceptional target for search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) observations. We describe an analysis methodology for optical SETI, which we have used to analyze nine hours of serendipitous archival observations of KIC 8462852 made with the VERITAS gamma-ray observatory between 2009 and 2015. No evidence of pulsed optical beacons, above a pulse intensity at the Earth of approximately , is found. We also discuss the potential use of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays in searching for extremely short duration optical transients in general.

Exceptionally Bright Tev Flares From The Binary Ls I+61 Degrees 303, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

The TeV binary system LS I +61° 303 is known for its regular, non-thermal emission pattern that traces the orbital period of the compact object in its 26.5 day orbit around its B0 Ve star companion. The system typically presents elevated TeV emission around apastron passage with flux levels between 5% and 15% of the steady flux from the Crab Nebula (>300 GeV). In this article, VERITAS observations of LS I +61° 303 taken in late 2014 are presented, during which bright TeV flares around apastron at flux levels peaking above 30% of the Crab Nebula flux were detected. …

Atmospheric, Orbital, And Eclipse-Depth Analysis Of The Hot Jupiter Hat-P-30-Wasp-51ab, Andrew Sd Foster

Honors Undergraduate Theses

HAT-P-30-WASP-51b is a hot-Jupiter exoplanet that orbits an F star every 2.8106 days at a distance of 0.0419 AU. Using the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2012 (Spitzer Program Number 70084) we observed two secondary eclipses at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. We present eclipse-depth measurements of 0.177 ± 0.018 % and 0.247 ± 0.024 % and estimate the infrared brightness temperatures to be 1990 ± 110 K and 2080 ± 130 K for these two channels, respectively, from an analysis using our Photometry for Orbits, Eclipses, and Transits (POET) pipeline. These may be grazing eclipses. We also refine its orbit using …

Modeling Extrasolar Trojan Asteroids In Gravitational Potentials Of Migrating Jovian-Like Planets To Inform Future Observations, Austin Hinkel

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

In this paper, I construct a program to map the evolution of the potential in a planet-star system where a planet with a few Jupiter masses migrates inward. Given a trojan asteroid librating around the fourth or fifth Lagrange point, the asteroid follows the evolving equipotential lines of the slowly changing potential map. As the planet and its trojan asteroids migrate inward towards the host star, the trojan asteroid librations become tighter, providing a denser “cloud” of trojan asteroids. Such a change in the density of trojan asteroids is examined with the intent to deduce the likelihood of detection via …

Grange Stone Circle (B):New Thoughts On An Old Monument, Frank Prendergast

Book/Book Chapter

No abstract provided.

Mystery Of The Moon's Origin, Abubakr Hassan

UNF Undergraduate Capstone Projects and Honors Theses

The dominant theory of the moon’s origin is the Giant Impact Hypothesis, which states that the moon formed when a Mars-sized object - named Theia - impacted the proto-Earth early in the solar system’s formation, with the resulting material contributing to the formation of the Moon. Using models of planetary development and the solar system’s formation, we attempt to answer where the impactor - Theia - might have originated from. We conclude that the Asteroid belt is a likely location for Theia’s formation, and we find that the parameters associated with this point of origin may help advance other models …

Characterizing Crop Photomultiplier Tube Behavior At 1000 Volts, Zachary T. Smith

UCARE: Research Products

In an effort to prolong the lifetime of their Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), the Cosmic Ray Observatory Project (CROP) made the decision to begin operating the PMTs at an operating voltage of 1000 Volts. The aim of this project was to characterize the fundamental behavior of the PMTs at this operating voltage using several tests. These tests include determining the optimal threshold level of the PMTs, the PMT efficiency, and the time stability of the PMT's output.

The Encyclopedia Of Neutrosophic Researchers - Vol. 1, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This is the first volume of the Encyclopedia of Neutrosophic Researchers, edited from materials offered by the authors who responded to the editor’s invitation. The authors are listed alphabetically. The introduction contains a short history of neutrosophics, together with links to the main papers and books. Neutrosophic set, neutrosophic logic, neutrosophic probability, neutrosophic statistics, neutrosophic measure, neutrosophic precalculus, neutrosophic calculus and so on are gaining significant attention in solving many real life problems that involve uncertainty, impreciseness, vagueness, incompleteness, inconsistent, and indeterminacy. In the past years the fields of neutrosophics have been extended and applied in various fields, such as: …

Investigation Of Lunar Subsurface Cavities Using Thermal Inertia And Temperature Maximum To Minimum Ratios, Rachel Ann Slank

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies have revealed a small number of subsurface cavities, including lava tubes, as well as skylights, lava flow pits, and impact melt pits on the Moon. The interiors of subsurface cavities would have been protected from micrometeorite bombardment, solar radiation, space weathering, and extreme diurnal temperature swings over long periods of geologic time. As a result, subsurface cavities can provide access to pristine crustal samples and stratigraphy. These cavities may also harbor important volatiles, such as water ice, that would enable future exploration missions by relieving many operational constraints, including the supply of propellants and life support. In addition, …

Molecular Regulation Of Trophoblast Survival During Placentation And Pathologies Of Placental Insufficiency, Chandni V. Jain

Wayne State University Dissertations

HBEGF, is present in the uterus at the time of embryo implantation and protects first

trimester TB cells from apoptosis and promotes their invasion. The hypertensive disease, PE, in

which TB invasion of the uterine arteries is reduced and TB apoptosis is elevated, is

characterized by a reduction in HBEGF expression. In this study using a first trimester cell line

and villous explant culture key components involved in HBEGF survival signaling pathway were

identified. Specific MMP inhibitors established the requirement for MMP2 in HBEGF shedding

and upregulation. NGS identified a HIF regulated gene, HSPA6 (HSP70B’) and using specific

inhibitors it …