Transcript F&M at NURO - Pennsylvania State University

F&M at NURO
Spring 2007
Participants:
Observational Astronomy Class
(S07 Ast 240)
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Prof. Froney Crawford
Prof. Beth Praton
Cori Quirk
Don McElheny
Louis Klapper
Our Team
Louis
Cori
Don
Froney
Photo: Beth
March 13–15, 2007
• Joint run with Gettysburg, overlapping
on 3/13
• Observing program:
 Pleiades rapid rotators (Hii1883, 2244, 2927)
BE UMa
• Clear weather all three nights
At NURO…observation skills
Trip Home…Crisis
Management Skills
5 am
Detroit
Arrived at noon.
Finally got flight at
midnight
Phoenix
Detroit
RentACar
Lancaster,
PA
Home at Last!
Back Home…Learn IRAF
?
?
*#@! ??
We didn’t find
this E-Z…
So…
we wrote our own guide
Next time:
we’re ready!
Arecibo
Program
 ~2 students per year, all undergraduate,
more than half women, typically start at Jr
level, chosen from best students in
astrophysics classes
ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
 monthly data taking at the 100-m
Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico via
internet and on-site
 improving timing models: Lommen,
Kipphorn (F&M ‘06) et al., 2006, ApJ
642:1012.
 developing algorithms to search for
gravitational waves: Lommen, Bilikova
(F&M ‘04) et al 2005, ASP Conf Series
328: 225.
F&M in Australia
NANO-Grav
• North American Nano Hertz
Observatory of Gravitational Waves
– F&M, UCBerkeley, NRAO, McGill,
University of British Coluumbia, UT
Brownsville
– NRAO Green Bank 100m Telescope and
the Arecibo 300m Telescope
Figure courtesy of George Hobbs
Putting Gravitational Wave
Physics into High School and
College Curricula
Annual Workshop with Center for
Gravitational Wave Physics at
Penn State