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Full-Text Articles in Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy

Wiyn Open Cluster Study. Xi. Wiyn 3.5 Meter Deep Photometry Of M35 (Ngc 2168), Ted Von Hippel, Aaron Steinhauer, Ata Sarajedini, Constantine P. Deliyannis Sep 2002

Wiyn Open Cluster Study. Xi. Wiyn 3.5 Meter Deep Photometry Of M35 (Ngc 2168), Ted Von Hippel, Aaron Steinhauer, Ata Sarajedini, Constantine P. Deliyannis

Publications

We present deep BVI observations of the core of M35 and a nearby comparison field obtained at the WIYN 3.5 m telescope under excellent seeing conditions. These observations probe to V > 26 and display the lower main sequence in BV and VI CMDs down to V = 23.3 and 24.6, respectively. At these faint magnitudes the background Galactic field stars are far more numerous than the cluster stars, yet by using a smoothing technique and CMD density distribution subtraction we are able to recover the cluster fiducial main sequence and luminosity function to V = 24.6. We find the location …


Automated Stellar Spectral Classification And Parameterization For The Masses, Ted Von Hippel, Carlos Allende Prieto, Chris Sneden Aug 2002

Automated Stellar Spectral Classification And Parameterization For The Masses, Ted Von Hippel, Carlos Allende Prieto, Chris Sneden

Publications

Stellar spectroscopic classification has been successfully automated by a number of groups. Automated classification and parameterization work best when applied to a homogeneous data set, and thus these techniques primarily have been developed for and applied to large surveys. While most ongoing large spectroscopic surveys target extragalactic objects, many stellar spectra have been and will be obtained. We briefly summarize past work on automated classification and parameterization, with emphasis on the work done in our group. Accurate automated classification in the spectral type domain and parameterization in the temperature domain have been relatively easy. Automated parameterization in the metallicity domain, …


Metal Abundances And Kinematics Of Bright Metal-Poor Giants Selected From The Lse Survey: Implications For The Metal-Weak Thick Disk, Timothy C. Beers, John S. Drilling, Silvia Rossi, Masashi Chiba, Jaehyon Rhee, Birgit Fṻhrmeister, John E. Norris, Ted Von Hippel Aug 2002

Metal Abundances And Kinematics Of Bright Metal-Poor Giants Selected From The Lse Survey: Implications For The Metal-Weak Thick Disk, Timothy C. Beers, John S. Drilling, Silvia Rossi, Masashi Chiba, Jaehyon Rhee, Birgit Fṻhrmeister, John E. Norris, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

We report medium-resolution (1–2A ˚ ) spectroscopy and broadband (UBV) photometry for a sample of 39 bright stars (the majority of which are likely to be giants) selected as metal-deficient candidates from an objective-prism survey concentrating on Galactic latitudes below |b| = 30, the Luminous Stars Extension (LSE) survey of Drilling & Bergeron. Although the primary purpose of the LSE survey was to select OB stars (hence the concentration on low latitudes), the small number of bright metal-deficient giant candidates noted during this survey provide interesting information on the metal-weak thick disk (MWTD) population. Metal abundance estimates are obtained from …


Wiyn Open Cluster Study Xi: Wiyn1 3.5m Deep Photometry Of M35 (Ngc 2168), Ted Von Hippel, Aaron Steinhauer, Ata Sarajedini, Constantine P. Deliyannis Jan 2002

Wiyn Open Cluster Study Xi: Wiyn1 3.5m Deep Photometry Of M35 (Ngc 2168), Ted Von Hippel, Aaron Steinhauer, Ata Sarajedini, Constantine P. Deliyannis

Publications

We present deep BV I observations of the core of M35 and a nearby comparison field obtained at the WIYN 3.5m telescope under excellent seeing conditions. These observations probe to V > 26, and display the lower main sequence in BV and V I CMDs down to V = 23.3 and 24.6, respectively. At these faint magnitudes the background Galactic field stars are far more numerous than the cluster stars, yet by using a smoothing technique and CMD density distribution subtraction we are able to recover the cluster fiducial main sequence and luminosity function to V = 24.6. We find the …


Book Review: Flash!: The Hunt For The Biggest Explosions In The Universe, T. D. Oswalt Jan 2002

Book Review: Flash!: The Hunt For The Biggest Explosions In The Universe, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Flash! : the hunt for the biggest explosions in the universe by Govert Schilling. tr. by Naomi Greenberg-Slovin Cambridge, 2002 291p, 0-521-80053-6 $28.00


Three-Dimensional Spectral Classification Of Low-Metallicity Stars Using Artificial Neural Networks, Shawn Snider, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. Nov 2001

Three-Dimensional Spectral Classification Of Low-Metallicity Stars Using Artificial Neural Networks, Shawn Snider, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We explore the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the estimation of atmospheric parameters (Teff, log g, and [Fe/H]) for Galactic F- and G-type stars. The ANNs are fed with medium-resolution (Δλ ~ 1-2 Å) non-flux-calibrated spectroscopic observations. From a sample of 279 stars with previous high-resolution determinations of metallicity and a set of (external) estimates of temperature and surface gravity, our ANNs are able to predict Teff with an accuracy of σ(Teff) = 135-150 K over the range 4250 ≤ Teff ≤ 6500 K, log g with an accuracy …


Three-Dimensional Spectral Classification Of Low-Metallicity Stars Using Artificial Neural Networks, Shawn Snider, Ted Von Hippel, Carlos Allende Prieto, Timothy C. Beers, Christopher Sneden, Et Al. Jul 2001

Three-Dimensional Spectral Classification Of Low-Metallicity Stars Using Artificial Neural Networks, Shawn Snider, Ted Von Hippel, Carlos Allende Prieto, Timothy C. Beers, Christopher Sneden, Et Al.

Publications

We explore the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the estimation of atmospheric parameters (Teff, log g, and [Fe/H]) for Galactic F- and G-type stars. The ANNs are fed with medium-resolution (Δλ ~ 1-2 Å) non-flux-calibrated spectroscopic observations. From a sample of 279 stars with previous high-resolution determinations of metallicity and a set of (external) estimates of temperature and surface gravity, our ANNs are able to predict Teff with an accuracy of σ(Teff) = 135-150 K over the range 4250 ≤ Teff ≤ 6500 K, log g with an accuracy of σ(log …


A Determination Of The Local Density Of White Dwarf Stars, J. B. Holberg, Terry D. Oswalt, E. M. Sion Feb 2001

A Determination Of The Local Density Of White Dwarf Stars, J. B. Holberg, Terry D. Oswalt, E. M. Sion

Publications

The most recent version of the Catalog of Spectroscopically Identified White Dwarfs lists 2249 white dwarf stars. Among these stars are 109 white dwarfs that have either reliable trigonometric parallaxes or color-based distance moduli that place them at a distance within 20 pc of the Sun. Most of these nearby white dwarfs are isolated stars, but 28 (25% of the sample) are in binary systems, including such well-known systems as Sirius A/B and Procyon A/B. There are also three double degenerate systems in this sample of the local white dwarf population. The sample of local white dwarfs is largely complete …


Break Out Session: The Future Of White Dwarf Observing, Ted Von Hippel Jan 2001

Break Out Session: The Future Of White Dwarf Observing, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

On Thursday, June 15, 2000 the conference participants joined on of four afternoon break out sessions. Our break out session was charged with addressing the the following questions: Astronomy is changing. Eight to ten meter telescopes looking towards the edge of the Universe will dominate the astronomical landscape. Queue scheduling, large surveys, and the current emphasis towards the red end of the spectrum will also affect us. What consequences do these changes imply for our field? How can we convince telescope assignment committees to grand observing time to proposers from our community?


White Dwarfs In Common Proper Motion Binary Systems: Mass Distribution And Kinematics, Nicole M. Silvestri, Terry D. Oswalt, Matt A. Wood, J. Allyn Smith, I. Neill Reid, Edward M. Sion Jan 2001

White Dwarfs In Common Proper Motion Binary Systems: Mass Distribution And Kinematics, Nicole M. Silvestri, Terry D. Oswalt, Matt A. Wood, J. Allyn Smith, I. Neill Reid, Edward M. Sion

Publications

We present the mass distribution, gravitational redshifts, radial velocities, and space motions of white dwarf stars in common proper motion binary systems. The mass distribution we derive for the 41 DA white dwarfs in this study has a mean of 0.68 ± 0.04 MꙨ. This distribution has a slightly higher mean and larger dispersion than most previous white dwarf studies. We hypothesize that this is due to a higher fraction of cool (average Teff ̴ 10,000 K), hence old, white dwarfs in our sample. Our results indicate that samples made up of predominantly cool, old white dwarf stars …


White Dwarfs In Open Clusters: New Tests Of Stellar Evolution And The Age Of The Galaxy, Ted Von Hippel Jan 2001

White Dwarfs In Open Clusters: New Tests Of Stellar Evolution And The Age Of The Galaxy, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

White dwarf cooling theory and very deep observations in star clusters provide a new tool to test stellar evolution theory and time scales. In particular, white dwarf cooling theory is now testing the degree of enhanced core mixing in stars with turnoff ages of 1 to 2 Gyr. More generally, I show the good overall agreement between white dwarf and modern isochrone ages over the range 0.1 to 4 Gyr.


The White Dwarf Cooling Age Of The Open Cluster Ngc 2420, Ted Von Hippel, Gerard Gilmore Sep 2000

The White Dwarf Cooling Age Of The Open Cluster Ngc 2420, Ted Von Hippel, Gerard Gilmore

Publications

We have used deep HST WFPC2 observations of two fields in NGC 2420 to produce a cluster color-magnitude diagram down to V ≈ 27. After imposing morphological selection criteria we find eight candidate white dwarfs in NGC 2420. Our completeness estimates indicate that we have found the terminus of the WD cooling sequence. We argue that the cluster distance modulus is likely to be close to 12.10 with E(B-V) = 0.04. With these parameters we find a white dwarf cooling age for NGC 2420 of 2.0 ± 0.20 (1 σ) Gyr. The 0.20 Gyr uncertainty includes errors in the photometry, …


The Wiyn Open Cluster Study: A New Color-Magnitude Diagram For M35 - A Twin Of The Pleiades, Ted Von Hippel, Vera Kozhurina-Platais, Imants Platais, Pierre Demarque, Ata Sarajedini Jan 2000

The Wiyn Open Cluster Study: A New Color-Magnitude Diagram For M35 - A Twin Of The Pleiades, Ted Von Hippel, Vera Kozhurina-Platais, Imants Platais, Pierre Demarque, Ata Sarajedini

Publications

M35 (NGC 2168) is rich, young, and in some regards a bet­ter laboratory for stellar cluster research at 100 million years than the Pleiades. Yet, while M35 has been the subject of intriguing photometric, astrometric, and theoretical studies, to the best of our knowledge no pub­lished CCD-based photometry exists for this cluster. We have obtained relatively wide-field (23' x23') precise UBVRJ CCD photometry for M35 as part of the WIYN Open Cluster Study (WOCS) at the 0.9m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The photometry extends from the main sequence turn off to beyond V = 19. We find that …


Wiyn Open Cluster Study. Ii. Ubvri Ccd Photometry Of The Open Cluster Ngc 188, Ata Sarajedini, Ted Von Hippel, Vera Kozhurina-Platais, Pierre Demarque Dec 1999

Wiyn Open Cluster Study. Ii. Ubvri Ccd Photometry Of The Open Cluster Ngc 188, Ata Sarajedini, Ted Von Hippel, Vera Kozhurina-Platais, Pierre Demarque

Publications

We present high-precision UBVRI CCD photometry of the old open cluster NGC 188. Our color-magnitude diagram extends from near the red giant branch tip to as faint as ~5 mag below the main-sequence turnoff. From an analysis of these data along with published photometry for M67, we draw the following conclusions: (1) From the UBV two-color diagram, we find a reddening of E(B ̶ V) = 0.04 ± 0.02 for M67 and E(B ̶ V) = 0.09 ± 0.02 for NGC 188. (2) Based on main-sequence fitting to solar abundance isochrones, the distance moduli …


Wiyn Open Cluster Study. I. Deep Photometry Of Ngc188, Ted Von Hippel, Ata Sarajedini Oct 1998

Wiyn Open Cluster Study. I. Deep Photometry Of Ngc188, Ted Von Hippel, Ata Sarajedini

Publications

We have employed precise and carefully calibrated V - and I - band photometry of NGC 188 at WIYN Observatory to explore the cluster luminosity function (LF) and study the cluster white dwarfs. Our photometry is offset by V = 0.052 (fainter) from that of Sandage and Eggen & Sandage. All published photometry for the past three decades has been based on these two calibrations, which are in error by 0.05 ± 0.01. We employ the Pinsonneault et al. fiducial open cluster main sequence to derive a distance modulus of 11.43 ± 0.08 and E(B - V )=0.09, with …


Detection Of Intergalactic Red-Giant-Branch Stars In The Virgo Cluster, Henry C. Ferguson, Ted Von Hippel, Nial R. Tanvir Aug 1998

Detection Of Intergalactic Red-Giant-Branch Stars In The Virgo Cluster, Henry C. Ferguson, Ted Von Hippel, Nial R. Tanvir

Publications

It has been suspected for nearly 50 years that clusters of galaxies contain a population of intergalactic stars, ripped from galaxies during cluster formation or when the galaxies’ orbits take them through the cluster center. Support for the existence of such a population of free-floating stars comes from measurements of the diffuse light in clusters and from recent detections of planetary nebulae with positions and/or velocities far removed from any observed cluster galaxy. 10 , 11 But estimates for the mass of the diffuse population and its distribution relative to the galaxies are still highly uncertain. Here we report the …


Semi-Automated Extraction Of Digital Objective Prism Spectra, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ted Von Hippel, Mike Irwin Aug 1998

Semi-Automated Extraction Of Digital Objective Prism Spectra, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ted Von Hippel, Mike Irwin

Publications

We describe a method for the extraction of spectra from high dispersion objective prism plates. Our method is a catalogue driven plate solution approach, making use of the Right Ascension and Declination coordinates for the target objects. In contrast to existing methods of photographic plate reduction, we digitize the entire plate and extract spectra off-line. This approach has the advantages that it can be applied to CCD objective prism images, and spectra can be re-extracted (or additional spectra extracted) without having to re-scan the plate. After a brief initial interactive period, the subsequent reduction procedure is completely automatic, resulting in …


White Dwarf Cosmochronometry. I. Monte Carlo Simulations Of Proper-Motion ̶ And Magnitude-Limited Samples Using Schmidt’S 1/Vmax Estimator, Matt A. Wood, Terry D. Oswalt Apr 1998

White Dwarf Cosmochronometry. I. Monte Carlo Simulations Of Proper-Motion ̶ And Magnitude-Limited Samples Using Schmidt’S 1/Vmax Estimator, Matt A. Wood, Terry D. Oswalt

Publications

Observationally, white dwarf stars are a remarkably homogeneous class with a minimum observed Teff ~4000 K. Theoretically, the physics that determines their cooling timescales is relatively more straightforward than that which determines main-sequence evolutionary timescales. As a result, the white dwarf luminosity function has for the last decade been used as a probe of the age and star formation rate of the Galactic disk, providing an estimated local disk age of ~10 Gyr with estimated total uncertainties of roughly 20%. A long-standing criticism of the technique is that the reality of the reported downturn in the luminosity function (LF) …


Contribution Of White Dwarfs To Cluster Masses, Ted Von Hippel Apr 1998

Contribution Of White Dwarfs To Cluster Masses, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

I have undertaken a literature search through 1997 July 31 of white dwarfs (WDs) in open and globular clusters. I have tried to make a careful evaluation in each case of the likelihood that the object is a WD and that it is a cluster member. The results are presented for 13 open clusters and 11 globular clusters. Currently there are 36 single WDs and Ðve WDs in binaries known among the open clusters, and 340 single WDs and 11 WDs in binaries known among the globular clusters. From these data, I have calculated WD mass fractions for four open …


Contribution Of White Dwarfs To Cluster Masses, Ted Von Hippel Apr 1998

Contribution Of White Dwarfs To Cluster Masses, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

I have undertaken a literature search through 1997 July 31 of white dwarfs (WDs) in open and globular clusters. I have tried to make a careful evaluation in each case of the likelihood that the object is a WD and that it is a cluster member. The results are presented for 13 open clusters and 11 globular clusters. Currently there are 36 single WDs and Ðve WDs in binaries known among the open clusters, and 340 single WDs and 11 WDs in binaries known among the globular clusters. From these data, I have calculated WD mass fractions for four open …


A Search For Optical Afterglow From Grb 970828, P. J. Groot, T. J. Galama, J. Van Paradijs, C. Kouveliotou, R. A. M. J. Wijers, J. Bloom, N. Tanvir, R. Vanderspek, J. Greiner, A. J. Castro-Tirado, J. Gorosabel, T. Von Hippel, M. Lehnert, K. Kuijken, H. Hoekstra, N. Metcalfe, C. Howk, C. Conselice, J. Telting, R. G. M. Rutten, J. Rhoads, A. Cole, D. J. Pisano, R. Naber, R. Schwarz Jan 1998

A Search For Optical Afterglow From Grb 970828, P. J. Groot, T. J. Galama, J. Van Paradijs, C. Kouveliotou, R. A. M. J. Wijers, J. Bloom, N. Tanvir, R. Vanderspek, J. Greiner, A. J. Castro-Tirado, J. Gorosabel, T. Von Hippel, M. Lehnert, K. Kuijken, H. Hoekstra, N. Metcalfe, C. Howk, C. Conselice, J. Telting, R. G. M. Rutten, J. Rhoads, A. Cole, D. J. Pisano, R. Naber, R. Schwarz

Publications

We report on the results of R-band observations of the error box of the g-ray burst of 1997 August 28 made between 4 hr and 8 days after this burst occurred. No counterpart was found varying by more than 0.2 mag down to R 5 23.8. We discuss the consequences of this nondetection for relativistic blast wave models of g-ray bursts and the possible effect of redshift on the relation between optical absorption and the low-energy cutoff in the X-ray afterglow spectrum.


Automated Classification Of Stellar Spectra. Ii: Two-Dimensional Classification With Neural Networks And Principal Components Analysis, Ted Von Hippel, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Mike Irwin Oct 1997

Automated Classification Of Stellar Spectra. Ii: Two-Dimensional Classification With Neural Networks And Principal Components Analysis, Ted Von Hippel, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Mike Irwin

Publications

We investigate the application of neural networks to the automation of MK spec- tral classification. The data set for this project consists of a set of over 5000 optical (3800–5200°A) spectra obtained from objective prism plates from the Michigan Spec- tral Survey. These spectra, along with their two-dimensional MK classifications listed in the Michigan Henry Draper Catalogue, were used to develop supervised neural network classifiers. We show that neural networks can give accurate spectral type classifications (68 = 0.82 subtypes, rms= 1.09 subtypes) across the full range of spectral types present in the data set (B2–M7). We show also that …


Stellar Populations And The White Dwarf Mass Function: Connections To Supernova Ia Luminosities, Ted Von Hippel, G. D. Bothum, R. A. Schommer Sep 1997

Stellar Populations And The White Dwarf Mass Function: Connections To Supernova Ia Luminosities, Ted Von Hippel, G. D. Bothum, R. A. Schommer

Publications

We discuss the luminosity function of SNe Ia under the assumption that recent evidence for dispersion in this standard candle is related to variations in the white dwarf mass function (WDMF) in the host galaxies. We develop a simple parameterization of the WDMF as a function of age of a stellar population and apply this to galaxies of different morphological types. We show that this simplified model is consistent with the observed WDMF of Bergeron et al. (1992) for the solar neighborhood. Our simple models predict that WDMF variations can produce a range of more than 1.8 mag in MB(SN …


Physical Parameterization Of Stellar Spectra: The Neural Network Approach, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ted Von Hippel, Mike Irwin, Gerard Gilmore Jul 1997

Physical Parameterization Of Stellar Spectra: The Neural Network Approach, Coryn A.L. Bailer-Jones, Ted Von Hippel, Mike Irwin, Gerard Gilmore

Publications

We present a technique which employs artificial neural networks to produce physical parameters for stellar spectra. A neural network is trained on a set of synthetic optical stellar spectra to give physical parameters (e.g. Teff, log g, [M/H]). The network is then used to produce physical parameters for real, observed spectra. Our neural networks are trained on a set of 155 synthetic spectra, generated using the spectrum program written by Gray (Gray & Corbally 1994, Gray & Arlt 1996). Once trained, the neural network is used to yield Teff for over 5000 B–K spectra extracted from a set of photographic …


The Metallicity Dependence Of The Stellar Luminosity And Initial Mass Functions: Hst Observations Of Open And Globular Clusters, Ted Von Hippel, Gerard Gilmore, Nial R. Tanvir, David Robinson, Derek H.P. Jones Jul 1996

The Metallicity Dependence Of The Stellar Luminosity And Initial Mass Functions: Hst Observations Of Open And Globular Clusters, Ted Von Hippel, Gerard Gilmore, Nial R. Tanvir, David Robinson, Derek H.P. Jones

Publications

Using HST and the WFPC2 we have acquired very deep V- and I-band photometry of stars in NGC 2420 and NGC 2477 to study cluster luminosity functions at approximately solar metallicity. We have determined these cluster luminosity functions down to MI = 10.5 (0.2 M⊙) and find that the luminosity function of NGC 2420 turns over at MI ≈ 9.0, and possibly stops altogether by MI ≈ 9.5. The luminosity function of NGC 2477 may flatten at MI ≥ 9.5. We compare our open cluster luminosity functions to the solar neighborhood field star luminosity function of Kroupa, Tout \& Gilmore …


Main Sequence Masses And Radii From Gravitational Redshifts, Ted Von Hippel Feb 1996

Main Sequence Masses And Radii From Gravitational Redshifts, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

Modern instrumentation makes it possible to measure the mass to radius ratio for main sequence stars in open clusters from gravitational redshifts. For stars where independent information is available for either the mass or the radius, this application of general relativity directly determines the other quantity. Applicable examples are: 1) measuring the radii of solar metallicity main sequence stars for which the mass - luminosity relation is well known, 2) measuring the radii for stars where model atmospheres can be used to determine the surface gravity (the mass to radius squared ratio), 3) refining the mass - radius relation for …


Experiences Of Wfpc-2 Photometry And Psf Modelling, Nial Tanvir, David Robinson, Ted Von Hippel Mar 1995

Experiences Of Wfpc-2 Photometry And Psf Modelling, Nial Tanvir, David Robinson, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

The wide-field chips in WFPC-2 have ~0.0996 arcsec pixels, which is larger than the FWHM of the point spread function (PSF). This poor sampling of WFPC-2 images, means that simple stellar aperture photometry is competitive with profile fitting for moderately crowded fields. One of the problems which must be addressed with profile fitting photometry is that of allowing for variations of the PSF as a function of position on the image. The equivalent problem for aperture photometry is obtaining aperture corrections as a function of position. The aperture correction must be added to each aperture magnitude in order to account …


An Independent Calibration Of Stellar Ages: Hst Observations Of White Dwarfs At V=25, Ted Von Hippel, Gerard Gilmore, D.H.P. Jones Mar 1995

An Independent Calibration Of Stellar Ages: Hst Observations Of White Dwarfs At V=25, Ted Von Hippel, Gerard Gilmore, D.H.P. Jones

Publications

The white dwarf luminosity function of a stellar cluster will have a sharp trunca- tion at a luminosity which is determined by the time since formation of the first white dwarfs in that cluster. Calculation of the dependence of this limiting luminosity on age requires relatively well-understood physics and is independent of stellar evolutionary models. Thus, measurement of the termination of the white dwarf luminosity func- tion provides an independent method to determine the age of a cluster, and thereby to calibrate stellar evolutionary ages. We have obtained HST WFPC2 data in two open clusters, identified the white dwarf sequence, …


Automated Classification Of Stellar Spectra - I. Initial Results With Artificial Neural Networks, Ted Von Hippel, L.J. Storrie-Lombardi, M.C. Storrie-Lombardi, M.J. Irwin Jul 1994

Automated Classification Of Stellar Spectra - I. Initial Results With Artificial Neural Networks, Ted Von Hippel, L.J. Storrie-Lombardi, M.C. Storrie-Lombardi, M.J. Irwin

Publications

We have initiated a project to classify stellar spectra automatically from high-dispersion objective prism plates. The automated technique presented here is a simple back propagation neural network and is based on the visual classification work of Houk. The plate material (Houk’s) is currently being digitized, and contains « 105 stars down to K æ 11 at æ 2-Â resolution from « 3850 to 5150 Â. For this first paper in the series, we report on the results of 575 stars digitized from 6 plates. We find that even with the limited data set now in hand we can determine the …


Automated Classification Of Stellar Spectra: Where Are We Now?, Ted Von Hippel, L.J. Storrie-Lombardi, M.C. Storrie-Lombardi, M.J. Irwin Jan 1994

Automated Classification Of Stellar Spectra: Where Are We Now?, Ted Von Hippel, L.J. Storrie-Lombardi, M.C. Storrie-Lombardi, M.J. Irwin

Publications

We briefly review the work of the past decade on automated classification of stellar spectra and discuss techniques which show par­ticular promise. Emphasis is placed on Artificial Neural Network and Principle Component Analysis based techniques, due both to our greater familiarity with these and to their rising popularity. As an example of the abilities of current techniques we report on our automated classification work based on the visual classifications of N. Houk (Michigan Spectral Catalogue, Vol. 1 - 4, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1988).