Observational Astronomy

Elliott Horch

Several research projects are currently being pursued in the area of observational astronomy at UMD.

One such 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. 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 elsewhere, 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. 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. Research and development of new astronomical imaging systems and optics is also an area of current activity. A dual-channel CCD-based speckle imaging system is currently being designed. Student participation is highly valued in all of these focus areas.

 Last Updated On: 9/1/06