Example Astronomy and Astrophysics Project Descriptions
The astronomy program is very active in undergraduate research both during the academic year and in the summer as part of the REU program. Undergraduate students are typically assigned their own projects centering around a specific set of data, simulations, or observations, but they work in collaboration with faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the department. They are considered important members of our research teams and often make significant contributions to ongoing research programs. The range of projects reflects the diversity of research areas encompassed by the astronomy faculty; recent examples include analyzing images of protostars made with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), analyzing multi-object spectroscopy of accreting young stars, n-body simulations of the formation of binary stars in dense clusters, searching for clusters in other galaxies with the HST, analyzing near- IR spectra of brown dwarfs, and studying the destruction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in supernova remnants. Although the focus is often on data analysis and simulations, undergraduate researchers have access to the 1meter Ritchey-Chretien telescope on campus. Past undergraduate projects with this telescope include measurement of the rotation rates of Be stars and searches for transits of evaporating exoplanets. More recently, the department has become a partner with Lowell Observatory in the 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope, AZ. This partnership provides new data for undergraduate research as well as a chance for them to directly participate in observing either by traveling to the site or through remote observing. See Fig. 1 for an REU research result.
Highlighted project: Title: The Structure of Dusty Molecular Fuel in Post-Starburst Galaxies. Mentors: Prof. J.D.Smith, Adam Smercina a past REU student. Description: At the forefront of astrophysics is our attempt at understanding the full evolution of galaxies, from their violent births in the early universe, to their subsequent merger driven growth and buildup, to their final fading into quiescent, aging stellar systems nearly devoid of star formation. Of this evolutionary cycle, the process of galaxy death, though occurring most recently, is perhaps the least accessible. Through a poorly understood process, many galaxies undergo incredibly rapid truncation of highly active star formation on very short timescales. By carefully selecting and studying a sample of such post-starburst galaxies in the relatively nearby universe, our group has been uncovering the fate of the dusty gas and molecular fuel after the fall from the starburst peak. Using data from the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes, we now have a full census of the content and conditions of the interstellar media in galaxies caught in rapid transition from star-forming to quiescent. A comprehensive paper by former UT REU student A. Smercina is Ref. [39]. We have recently been mapping several of these peculiar galaxies at high resolution in molecular gas emission using the ALMA interferometer.
Professional Development: An REU student would be involved directly in the analysis of ALMA molecular cubes, including fitting simple rotational models to velocity maps, to search for evidence of outflows and turbulent support. In addition, our access to the Discovery Channel Telescope makes possible some straight-forward but much-needed optical drift-scan spectroscopy to characterize the stellar emission outside of the small SDSS fiber field from which they were selected. And in addition, the student would undertake simulations targeting high-resolution JWST observations, in 2nd year and later (launching Oct. 2021). Both velocity modeling and DCT follow-up would be publishable work, and learning about proposal preparation (e.g. exposure time calculations, observational simulations) would serve as valuable professional preparation for a student entering the field during the JWST era. And, as always in our REU program, students would learn how to present their research succinctly and effectively. Travel to- and observing at- the DCT (near Flagstaff, AZ), as well as tours of the Univ. of Michigan (where former UT student A. Smercina is now a graduate student) would add significantly to the experience.
Other projects: “Characterizing Ancient Star Clusters in Young Galaxies”, Mentor: Prof. R. Chandar
The student will study globular cluster systems in spiral galaxies from quality observations taken with HST by utilizing strategies developed by the Chandar group. This project will allow an REU student to learn how to use software tools that are commonly used in astronomy, how to process and interpret data, and give them background in an area of active research. They will become familiar with the Hubble Legacy Archive and other publicly available databases that are commonly used in astronomy.