The Space Race Piktograph, 2017 West Virginia University
The Space Race Piktograph, Katelyn Flanagan
West Virginia Connection
For this portion of the materials, I included two “Piktographs” for students to use as a resource for their research for the final assignment. The first is one on the contributions specifically from West Virginia to the space race. It includes specific people from West Virginia and their contributions to this portion of our nation’s history. This way students are able to make home connections to West Virginia. The second Piktograph is one specifically on The Green Bank Observatory located in Green Bank, WV. It is home to the first radio telescope, as well as being the first national astronomy …
The Green Bank Observatory Piktograph, 2017 West Virginia University
The Green Bank Observatory Piktograph, Katelyn Flanagan
West Virginia Connection
For this portion of the materials, I included two “Piktographs” for students to use as a resource for their research for the final assignment. The first is one on the contributions specifically from West Virginia to the space race. It includes specific people from West Virginia and their contributions to this portion of our nation’s history. This way students are able to make home connections to West Virginia. The second Piktograph is one specifically on The Green Bank Observatory located in Green Bank, WV. It is home to the first radio telescope, as well as being the first national astronomy …
The Remote Observatories Of The Southeastern Association For Research In Astronomy (Sara), 2017 University of Alabama
The Remote Observatories Of The Southeastern Association For Research In Astronomy (Sara), William C. Keel, Terry D. Oswalt, Peter Mack, Gary Henson, Todd Hillwig, Et Al.
Publications
We describe the remote facilities operated by the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) , a consortium of colleges and universities in the US partnered with Lowell Observatory, the Chilean National Telescope Allocation Committee, and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. SARA observatories comprise a 0.96 m telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona; one of 0.6 m aperture on Cerro Tololo, Chile; and the 1 m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Spain. All are operated using standard VNC or Radmin protocols communicating with on-site PCs. Remote operation offers considerable flexibility in scheduling, allowing long-term …
Quantum Foundations With Astronomical Photons, 2017 Claremont Colleges
Quantum Foundations With Astronomical Photons, Calvin Leung
HMC Senior Theses
Bell's inequalities impose an upper limit on correlations between measurements of two-photon states under the assumption that the photons play by a set of local rules rather than by quantum mechanics. Quantum theory and decades of experiments both violate this limit.
Recent theoretical work in quantum foundations has demonstrated that a local realist model can explain the non-local correlations observed in experimental tests of Bell's inequality if the underlying probability distribution of the local hidden variable depends on the choice of measurement basis, or ``setting choice''. By using setting choices determined by astrophysical events in the distant past, it is …
Two Topics In Astrophysics: Exoplanetary Gravitational Microlensing And Radio Interferometry, 2017 Bard College
Two Topics In Astrophysics: Exoplanetary Gravitational Microlensing And Radio Interferometry, Eleanor Sara Turrell
Senior Projects Spring 2017
Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing of Bard College.
Improving Cavity Enhanced Spectroscopy Of Molecular Ions In The Mid-Infrared With Up-Conversion Detection And Brewster-Plate Spoilers, 2017 Old Dominion University
Improving Cavity Enhanced Spectroscopy Of Molecular Ions In The Mid-Infrared With Up-Conversion Detection And Brewster-Plate Spoilers, Charles R. Markus, Adam J. Perry, James N. Hodges, Benjamin J. Mccall
Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications
The performance of sensitive spectroscopic methods in the mid-IR is often limited by fringing due to parasitic etalons and the background noise in mid-infrared detectors. In particular, the technique Noise Immune Cavity Enhanced Optical Heterodyne Velocity Modulation Spectroscopy (NICE-OHVMS), which is capable of determining the frequencies of strong rovibrational transitions of molecular ions with sub-MHz uncertainty, needs improved sensitivity in order to probe weaker transitions. In this work, we have implemented up-conversion detection with NICE-OHVMS in the 3.2 - 3.9 μm region to enable the use of faster and more sensitive detectors which cover visible wavelengths. The higher bandwidth enabled …
High Power Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers For Sodium Guidestar Applications, 2016 University of New Mexico
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 …
Designing An Anti-Coincidence Shielding System For The Alfred Project, 2016 University of Alabama in Huntsville
Designing An Anti-Coincidence Shielding System For The Alfred Project, Active Luminescence For X-Ray Emission Detection (Alfred) Team, Francis Wessling
Von Braun Symposium Student Posters
No abstract provided.
Earthkam: A Classroom With The Ultimate View!, 2016 University of Alabama in Huntsville
Earthkam: A Classroom With The Ultimate View!, Jeremy Frost, Tyler Finley, Tim Klug, Angela Burke, Robert Griffin
Von Braun Symposium Student Posters
No abstract provided.
Improving The Efficiency Of Gravitational Wave Detection, 2016 University of Alabama in Huntsville
Improving The Efficiency Of Gravitational Wave Detection, Jessica Page, Tyson Littenberg
Von Braun Symposium Student Posters
No abstract provided.
Examination Of Resonant Modes In Microwave Cavities, 2016 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
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, 2016 Trevecca Nazarene University
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 …
Studying Solar Limb Darkening In H-Alpha With A Coronado Pst, 2016 Morehead State University
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.
An Apparatus For Studying Electrical Breakdown In Liquid Helium At 0.4 K And Testing Electrode Materials For The Neutron Electric Dipole Moment Experiment At The Spallation Neutron Source, 2016 Los Alamos National Laboratory
An Apparatus For Studying Electrical Breakdown In Liquid Helium At 0.4 K And Testing Electrode Materials For The Neutron Electric Dipole Moment Experiment At The Spallation Neutron Source, T. M. Ito, J. C. Ramsey, W. Yao, D. H. Beck, V. Cianciolo, S. M. Clayton, Christopher B. Crawford, S. A. Currie, B. W. Filippone, W. C. Griffith, M. Makela, R. Schmid, G. M. Seidel, Z. Tang, D. Wagner, W. Wei, S. E. Williamson
Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications
We have constructed an apparatus to study DC electrical breakdown in liquid helium at temperatures as low as 0.4 K and at pressures between the saturated vapor pressure and ∼600 Torr. The apparatus can house a set of electrodes that are 12 cm in diameter with a gap of 1–2 cm between them, and a potential up to ±50 kV can be applied to each electrode. Initial results demonstrated that it is possible to apply fields exceeding 100 kV/cm in a 1 cm gap between two electropolished stainless steel electrodes 12 cm in diameter for a wide range of pressures …
Probing The Fitting Accuracy Of Active Galaxy Spectra, 2016 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
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 …
A Search For Brief Optical Flashes Associated With The Seti Target Kic 8462852, 2016 Department of Physical Sciences, Cork Institute of Technology, Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland
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.
Validation Of Argon From Underground Sources For Use In The Darkside-50 Detector, 2015 University of Massachusetts Amherst
Validation Of Argon From Underground Sources For Use In The Darkside-50 Detector, Thomas R. Alexander
Masters Theses
Liquid argon is an attractive target for dark matter searches due to its low cost and exemplary event discrimination. However, atmospherically derived argon contains the beta-emitter 39Ar which confounds the growth of dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC) style detectors to the ton-scale. The DarkSide Collaboration seeks to bypass this limitation by extracting argon from deep underground, from a location known to contain significantly less 39Ar than atmospherically derived argon. This thesis will summarize the e orts taken to produce the first batch of underground argon, focusing on the first operation of the underground argon in a dual-phase TPC to validate …
Gravitational Wave Astrophysics: Instrumentation, Detector Characterization, And A Search For Gravitational Signals From Gamma-Ray Bursts, 2015 University of Massachusetts Amherst
Gravitational Wave Astrophysics: Instrumentation, Detector Characterization, And A Search For Gravitational Signals From Gamma-Ray Bursts, Daniel Hoak
Doctoral Dissertations
In the coming years, the second generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors are widely expected to observe the gravitational radiation emitted by compact, energetic events in the nearby universe. The field of gravitational wave astrophysics has grown into a large international endeavor with a global network of kilometer-scale observatories. The work presented in this thesis spans the field, from optical metrology, to instrument commissioning, to detector characterization and data analysis. The principal results are a method for the precise characterization of optical cavities, the commissioning of the advanced LIGO Output Mode Cleaner at the Hanford observatory, and a search for …
Searching For Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes Via Lightning And The Fermi Space Telescope, 2015 University of Alabama in Huntsville
Searching For Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes Via Lightning And The Fermi Space Telescope, Kareem Omar
Von Braun Symposium Student Posters
No abstract provided.
Verifying The Associations Of Fermi Source3fgl 2015.6+3709, 2015 University of Alabama in Huntsville
Verifying The Associations Of Fermi Source3fgl 2015.6+3709, Qiana Hunt
Von Braun Symposium Student Posters
No abstract provided.