[Virginia Tech Department of Physics]

Some Results from the Spring 1999 Semester of PHYS 3154 Observational Astrophysics

Images

[Spring 1999 Images]
These images were taken by students PHYS 3154 using the 0.4m telescope. Clockwise from the top-left corner they are images of the galaxy M65 in Leo (imaged by Mark Blackmon, John Ciccarelli, and Natalie Smith), the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) in Canes Venatici (imaged by Adam Drake, Victor Gehman, Seth Hornstein, and Chad King) and the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) in Virgo (imaged by Daniel Fisher, Richard Fortgang, and Katie Hale). The images of M65 and M51 are a composites of images in the red, green, and blue parts of the spectrum --- producing a color image. The image of M104 is a high-resolution image in the green part of the spectrum.

Reports

Students reported observations of the locations of asteroids and comets to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Minor Planet Center. These reports resulted in the assignment of a IAU code for the Martin Observatory. One group also reported its observations of the changing brightness of the recently discovered Supernova 1999an in the galaxy IC 755 (see their report).

Presentations

At the end of the semester each student gave an oral presentation on a project they worked on during the semester. The presentations are listed below.
  1. Adam Drake "Observations and Photometry of SN 1999an"
  2. Mark Blackmon "Imaging a Galaxy: M65"
  3. Seth Hornstein "Color Imaging of M51"
  4. Richard Fortgang "Astrometry of (52)Europa and (762)Pulcova"
  5. Kathleen Hale "Astrometry of Comet Jäger"
  6. Charles King "Monitoring a Supernova: Somebody is Paying Attention"
  7. Natalie Smith "Imaging the Galaxy M65"
  8. Daniel Fisher "Variations in BL Cam"
  9. Victor Gehman "Observing Intensity Variations in SN 1999an"
  10. John Ciccarelli "Astrometry of the Comet P/1998U3 (Jäger)"
To PHYS 3154 webpage