Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy Commons^™

The Ages Of The Thin Disk, Thick Disk, And The Halo From Nearby White Dwarfs, Mukremin Kilic, Ted Von Hippel, Jeffrey A. Munn, Hugh C. Harris, James W. Liebert, Et Al.

Publications

We present a detailed analysis of the white dwarf luminosity functions derived from the local 40 pc sample and the deep proper motion catalog of Munn et al. (2014, 2017). Many of the previous studies ignored the contribution of thick disk white dwarfs to the Galactic disk luminosity function, which results in an erronous age measurement. We demonstrate that the ratio of thick/thin disk white dwarfs is roughly 20% in the local sample. Simultaneously fitting for both disk components, we derive ages of 6.8-7.0 Gyr for the thin disk and 8.7 ± 0.1 Gyr for the thick disk from the …

A Luminous And Isolated Gamma-Ray Flare From The Blazar B2 1215+30, A. U. Abeysekara, S. Archambault, A. Archer, W. Benbow, R. Bird, M. Buchovecky, J H. Buckley, V. Bugaev, K. Byrum, P. T. Reynolds, Et Al

Physical Sciences Publications

B2 1215+30 is a BL-Lac-type blazar that was first detected at TeV energies by the MAGIC atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and subsequently confirmed by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) observatory with data collected between 2009 and 2012. In 2014 February 08, VERITAS detected a large-amplitude flare from B2 1215+30 during routine monitoring observations of the blazar 1ES 1218+304, located in the same field of view. The TeV flux reached 2.4 times the Crab Nebula flux with a variability timescale of . Multiwavelength observations with Fermi-LAT, Swift, and the Tuorla Observatory revealed a correlated high GeV …

The Jcmt Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey – Xi. Environmental Variations In The Atomic And Molecular Gas Radial Profiles Of Nearby Galaxies, Angus Mok, C. D. Wilson, J. H. Knapen, José R. Sánchez-Gallego, E. Brinks, E. Rosolowsky

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present an analysis of the radial profiles of a sample of 43 H I-flux selected spiral galaxies from the Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey (NGLS) with resolved James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) CO J = 3 − 2 and/or Very Large Array (VLA) H I maps. Comparing the Virgo and non-Virgo populations, we confirm that the H i discs are truncated in the Virgo sample, even for these relatively H i-rich galaxies. On the other hand, the H₂ distribution is enhanced for the Virgo galaxies near their centres, resulting in higher H₂ to H I ratios and steeper …

The Dusty Tori Of Nearby Qsos As Constrained By High-Resolution Mid-Ir Observations, M. Martínez-Paredes, I. Aretxaga, A. Alonso-Herrero, O. González-Martín, E. Lopéz-Rodríguez, C. Ramos Almeida, A. Asensio Ramos, T. Diaz Santos, Moshe Elitzur, P. Esquej, A. Hernán-Caballero, K. Ichikawa, R. Nikutta, C. Packham, M. Pereira-Santaella, C. Telesco

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present mid-infrared (MIR; 7.5–13.5 μm) imaging and spectroscopy observations obtained with the CanariCam (CC) instrument on the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS for a sample of 20 nearby, MIR bright and X-ray luminous quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). We find that for the majority of QSOs the MIR emission is unresolved at angular scales ∼0.3 arcsec, corresponding to physical scales ≲ 600 pc. We find that the higher-spatial resolution CC spectra have similar shapes to those obtained with Spitzer/IRS, and hence we can assume that the spectra are not heavily contaminated by extended emission in the host galaxy. We thus take …

A Jvla Survey Of The High-Frequency Radio Emission Of The Massive Magnetic B- And O-Type Stars, Sushma Kurapati, Poonam Chandra, Gregg Wade, David H. Cohen, Alexandre David-Uraz, Marc Gagné, Jason Grunhut, Mary E. Oksala, Veronique Petit, Matt Shultz, Jon Sundqvist, Richard H. D. Townsend, Asif Ud-Doula

Earth & Space Sciences Faculty Publications

We conducted a survey of seven magnetic O-type stars and eleven B-type stars with masses above 8 M using the Very Large Array in the 1, 3 and 13 cm bands. The survey resulted in a detection of two O- and two B-type stars. While the detected O-type stars – HD 37742 and HD 47129 – are in binary systems, the detected B-type stars, HD 156424 and ALS 9522, are not known to be in binaries. All four stars were detected at 3 cm, whereas three were detected at 1 cm and only one star was detected at 13 cm. …

Diffuse Gamma-Ray Emission From Nearby Molecular Clouds As A Probe Of Cosmic Ray Density Variations, Ryan Abrahams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We analyze gamma-ray emission from nearby, interstellar molecular clouds in order to calibrate current tracers of the interstellar medium and to probe local cosmic ray gradients. Gamma-rays detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are created when cosmic rays collide with atomic nuclei in the interstellar medium, and thus provide a unique, unbiased view of the distribution of gas. The gamma-ray flux per proton in the interstellar medium, also known as the gamma-ray emissivity, contains information about the density of high energy cosmic rays. These cosmic rays are born in supernovae shock waves and diffuse throughout the Galaxy. The cosmic …

Characterization Of The Wolf 1061 Planetary System, Stephen R. Kane, Kaspar Von Braun, Gregory W. Henry, Miranda A. Waters, Tabetha S. Boyajian, Andrew W. Mann

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

A critical component of exoplanetary studies is an exhaustive characterization of the host star, from which the planetary properties are frequently derived. Of particular value are the radius, temperature, and luminosity, which are key stellar parameters for studies of transit and habitability science. Here we present the results of new observations of Wolf 1061, known to host three super-Earths. Our observations from the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy interferometric array provide a direct stellar radius measurement of 0.3207 ± 0.0088 R⊙, from which we calculate the effective temperature and luminosity using spectral energy distribution models. We obtained 7 yr …

Edgar Allan Poe’S Cosmology And Natural Theology: A Constructive Postmodern Appreciation, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Contrary to some literary classifications, Edgar Allan Poe’s book-length prose poem Eureka is not intended to be fiction. In Eureka Poe was seriously attempting to advance ‘truth’ about the universe. Poe was doing natural science and poetry in the tradition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and other natural philosophers. Poe’s prose poem is natural scientific astronomy and cosmology, plus natural theology, not science fiction.

Testing Metal-Poor Stellar Models And Isochrones With Hst Parallaxes Of Metal-Poor Stars, B. Chaboyer, E. O'Malley, G. F. Benedict, G. A. Feiden

Dartmouth Scholarship

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) fine guidance sensor observations were used to obtain parallaxes of eight metal-poor ([Fe/H] < −1.4) stars. The parallaxes of these stars determined by the new Hipparcos reduction average 17% accuracy, in contrast to our new HST parallaxes, which average 1% accuracy and have errors on the individual parallaxes ranging from 85 to 144 μas. These parallax data were combined with HST Advanced Camera for Surveys photometry in the F606W and F814W filters to obtain the absolute magnitudes of the stars with an accuracy of 0.02–0.03 mag. Six of these stars are on the main sequence (MS) (with −2.7 < [Fe/H] < −1.8) and are suitable for testing metal-poor stellar evolution models and determining the distances to metal-poor globular clusters (GCs). Using the abundances obtained by O'Malley et al., we find that standard stellar models using the VandenBerg & Clem color transformation do a reasonable job of matching five of the MS stars, with HD 54639 ([Fe/H] = −2.5) being anomalous in its location in the color–magnitude diagram. Stellar models and isochrones were generated using a Monte Carlo analysis to take into account uncertainties in the models. Isochrones that fit the parallax stars were used to determine the distances and ages of nine GCs (with −2.4 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ −1.9). Averaging together the age of all nine clusters led to an absolute age of the oldest, most metal-poor GCs of 12.7 ± 1.0 Gyr, where the quoted uncertainty takes into account the known uncertainties in the stellar models and isochrones, along with the uncertainty in the distance and reddening of the clusters.

Black Holes And Einstein: A Commentary Of The Types Of Black Holes That Produce Gravitational Waves, Sage A. Russell

A with Honors Projects

Perhaps the most the notorious player in the astronomical field, objects known as black holes captivate the imaginations of scientists and average folk the world over, but as much as we adore hypothesizing about what black holes are like, there is so much that we’re only just finding out about. From 1909 until 1918, famed physicist Albert Einstein predicted many characteristics of spacetime and the effect of massive objects on it, including the notion of an energy-carrying wave moving at the speed of light that causes ripples through the fabric of spacetime, otherwise known as gravitational waves. A relatively recent …

Disk Heating, Galactoseismology, And The Formation Of Stellar Halos, Kathryn V. Johnston, Adrian M. Price-Whelan, Maria Bergemann, Chervin F. P. Laporte, Ting S. Li, Allyson A. Sheffield, Steven R. Majewski, Rachael S. Beaton, Branimir Sesar, Sanjib Sharma

Publications and Research

Deep photometric surveys of the MilkyWay have revealed diffuse structures encircling our Galaxy far beyond the “classical” limits of the stellar disk. This paper reviews results from our own and other observational programs, which together suggest that, despite their extreme positions, the stars in these structures were formed in our Galactic disk. Mounting evidence from recent observations and simulations implies kinematic connections between several of these distinct structures. This suggests the existence of collective disk oscillations that can plausibly be traced all the way to asymmetries seen in the stellar velocity distribution around the Sun. There are multiple interesting implications …

Data Mining By Grid Computing In The Search For Extrasolar Planets, Oisin Creaner [Thesis]

Doctoral

A system is presented here to provide improved precision in ensemble differential photometry. This is achieved by using the power of grid computing to analyse astronomical catalogues. This produces new catalogues of optimised pointings for each star, which maximise the number and quality of reference stars available. Astronomical phenomena such as exoplanet transits and small-scale structure within quasars may be observed by means of millimagnitude photometric variability on the timescale of minutes to hours. Because of atmospheric distortion, ground-based observations of these phenomena require the use of differential photometry whereby the target is compared with one or more reference stars. …

Gemini: The Twins Of Leda, Derek Schneider

Natural Sciences Student Research Presentations

This poster for the Natural Sciences Poster Session at Parkland College features the constellation Gemini, identifying prominent stars in the constellation and objects within the region (nebulae, clusters, galaxies), calculating the lifespans of the stars in the constellation, calculating average rise time change, and briefly touching on the associated mythology.

Canis Major, Sage A. Russell

Natural Sciences Student Research Presentations

This poster for the Natural Sciences Poster Session features the constellation Canis Major. Features of the poster include a calculation of the change in rise time to calculate the passage of a year, determining the life span of the major stars in the constellation, and identifying Messier objects within the region.

Search For Binaries In The Kepler K2 Fields Using Pulsation Timing Method, Tomomi Otani, Terry Oswalt

Publications

Finding orbital solutions of binaries which have small mass ratios (50 days) is challenging using traditional techniques. The radial velocity method is a good way to detect such binary stars, however it requires large telescopes. Therefore, the search for binaries in those regions is still incomplete. For binaries in this regime with at least one component that pulsates, pulsation timing is a better approach. Orbital solutions for such systems can be obtained from the periodic change in pulse arrival times as the star’s reflex motion is manifested by the changing distance along the line of sight. We present a search …

Maximum Mass Restraint Of Neutron Stars: Quarks, Pion, Kaons, And Hyperons, Garrett Ryan

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the topic of maximum mass stability of neutron stars. The outer structure is detailed and explores nuclear pasta phases, the neutron drip line, and density transitions of matter in the crust and atmosphere layers. Other discussion points include superfluids in the crust and core, vortex roles in neutron stars, and magnetic field effects on the EOS in neutron stars. The inner core is studied in much more detail due to its significant role in EOS. The variety of stars include pion condensate stars, kaon condensate stars, npeu stars, npeu stars with the inclusion of hyperons, quark-hybrid stars, …

Utilizing The O-C Method To Determine Third-Body Existence In Eclipsing Binary Systems, Patrice Majewski, Tomomi Otani, Terry D. Oswalt

Publications

Previous studies on the subject of eclipsing binaries (EBs) within the Kepler field have been adequately determined the period, distance, and other stellar parameters of these systems (Borkovits, et al. 2015). Additionally, with the use of Observed-minus-Calculated (O-C) plots, variation in the timing of timing of eclipses can be easily detected. The eclipse timing shifts may be caused by dynamical effects or by light-travel time effects (LTTE) caused by the existence of a third body. The following research was conducted on ten binaries within the Kepler “K2” Campaign 5 field whose light curves (LCs) showed evidence of eclipses with periods …

Gyrochronology Of Wide Binaries In The Kepler K2 Fields, Alexander Stone-Martinez, Gustavo Villarroel, Patrice Majewski, Tomomi Otani, Terry Oswalt, Andrew Mcnaughton

Publications

Gyrochronology is the method of determining a stars age based on its rotation period and mass. A cool main sequence star loses it's angular momentum as it ages, so the rotation rate slows down. Gyrochronology has been tested on star clusters in previous studies and now we are applying the theory to binary stars. Components of a binary should be the same age, so Gyrochronology should return the same age for both stars in binary systems. We examined the rotation periods for 290 wide binary main sequence stars in the Kepler K2 fields. These observations are part of a continuing …

Multispectral Observations And Analysis Of The Rosette Nebula, Jeremy Huber

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

The Rosette nebula is a large, ring-shaped emission nebula with a distinctive central cavity excavated by its central cluster of OB stars. Toward understanding the three dimensional structure and fundamental physical processes of this object, we have acquired flux-calibrated, 4-degree field, deep exposures of the Rosette region through 3 nm bandwidth H-alpha (656.3 nm) as well as H-beta (486.1nm), [OIII] (500.7 nm) and [SII] (671.6 nm) filters with 4.5 nm bandwidth. The 4 arcsec/pixel images are supplemented with 4 degree field slit spectra and combined with archival data from the Galactic Evolution Explorer satellite (GALEX), Akari, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite …

Determination Of Stellar Parameters Through The Use Of All Available Flux Data And Model Spectral Energy Distributions, Gemunu Ekanayake

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

Basic stellar atmospheric parameters, such as effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity plays a vital role in the characterization of various stellar populations in the Milky Way. The Stellar parameters can be measured by adopting one or more observational techniques, such as spectroscopy, photometry, interferometry, etc. Finding new and innovative ways to combine these observational data to derive reliable stellar parameters and to use them to characterize some of the stellar populations in our galaxy is the main goal of this thesis.

Our initial work, based on the spectroscopic and photometric data available in literature, had the objective of calibrating …