Dr. Elliott P. Horch
Elliott P. Horch, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Stanford University, 1994
- M.S. in Astronomy, Yale, 1989
- B.A. in Physics, University Chicago, 1987
Contact Information:
- E-Mail: ehorch@umassd.edu
- Phone: 508.999.8360
- Fax: 508.999.9115
- Office: Group II Building, Room 205
Biography:
Dr. Elliott Horch is currently pursuing two main projects in the area of observational astronomy at UMD. The first project involves the analysis of Hubble Space Telescope data of old, metal poor binary stars in order to determine the masses and the luminosities of the components of these systems. (Funding Source: AURA/STScI, Amount: $98,244 over 3 years.) This information will help to piece together how the Milky Way Galaxy formed billions of years ago. With the help of collaborators at the University of Hawaii and Lowell Observatory, the same stars being studied from Space are also being observed from the ground via spectroscopy at the Keck II Telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Another project involves speckle imaging of binary stars dicovered by the HIPPARCOS satellite in the early 1990's; ours is the first systematic follow-up of these discoveries. (Funding Source: NSF, Amount $234,341 over 3 years.) Such observations will allow us to determine orbits and masses of these stars. The survey nature of this project will give a more complete picture of the binary population in this region of the Milky Way Galaxy as well as many stringent tests of stellar evolution theory. The observations are taken at the WIYN Telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona in collaboration with Yale University.
Areas Of Interest:
- Astronomical Imaging Systems
- Astrophysics
- Observational Astronomy
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Edit Profile Last Updated on Friday, August 17, 2007
