January-April 2008 updates for NITARP
Published: April 15, 2008
- Two new projects have been approved and submitted for scheduling: "Star Formation in Lynds Dark Nebulae" and "Spitzer Light Curve of Z Cha".
- The Lynds clouds team is planning a visit to the SSC during June 14-17 to work on some of their data and to work on the archival research described in their proposal.
- Tim Spuck's student, junior Matt Walentosky, presented his Spitzer work at the 69th Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair. He will be one of three students from the event to move on to competition (all expenses paid) at the International Science & Engineering Fair in Atlanta, Georgia May 11 - 17, 2008. At the event he will be competing against students from 49 states and 48 other countries. Matt's research project is on the cataclysmic variable star WZ Sge. He used observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope, Perth Observatory, and light curves from previous studies to better understand the nature of the object and its associated activity. In addition to moving on to International competition, Matt has been awarded a $12,500 annual scholarship to Allegheny College, and an honorable mention award by the US Army.
- Tim Spuck's student, senior Nick Kelley, also presented his Spitzer work at the 69th Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair. Nick conducted his research on two potential T-Tauri stars in the Witch Head Nebula. He used observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Kitt Peak 0.9 Meter Telescope, and Perth Observatory to conclude that the candidates studied are indeed young sun-like stars in the early stages of development. Nick's research won him first place out of nearly 300 students competing in the Carnegie Science Award's senior division. He also won the $300 first place prize in the Earth/Space/Environment category, and a $50 sponsorship award from the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh. Nick will be attending the awards banquet for the Spectroscopy Society on April 21, and the awards ceremony for the Carnegie Science Award on May 9, where he will be presenting his research and formally accepting the awards.
- Rosa Hemphill's student Emily Petroff continued her student project from last year. She presented her work on the star formation rate (from the cluster center) for cl1037 last year. This year, she worked on two additional clusters, cl1127 and cl1232. Emily presented her results at the OES Aardvark Expo, where she received a first place in the Physics and Astronomy category.
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