In my project, I constructed a particle detector in order to detect muons coming from cosmic rays. The detector was designed by MIT under the project called Cosmic Watch: Catch yourself a muon [1]. The assembly of the detector involved soldering various electronic components on the board circuits. In the end, I had a fully-assembled detector which was able to register events. While recording, the event rate was not constant and was not consistent with cosmic rays rates. Therefore, the detector needs further troubleshooting.
I report on a photometric analysis of three cataclysmic variables (HP Lib, NY Lup, and NR TrA) that we observed using the 0.6m-telescope in El Sauce Observatory in Chile and the 0.43m-telescope in Siding Spring Observatory in Australia from June 2020 to March 2021. We used 45s exposures and a 2 to 3 hour-long span. Our goal is to produce a light curve for each target star in order to observe the variation over the course of the observing period. Analyzing the light curve allows us to determine properties of the binary system, such as variations in the material flow rate between the two stars. For our analysis, we used the image processing software AstroImageJ to align our image ensembles and we chose from several field stars for our comparison and check stars for our targets. After performing a photometric analysis of our data with the same software, we observed a substantial variation in the light of each target for each night. Our data will be contributed to the data bases of the Center for Backyard Astrophysics, an amateur professional collaboration, and of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
A cataclysmic variable star system consists of two stars that are close enough that material can be transferred from one to the other through an accretion stream onto a circumstellar accretion disk. We observe variation in the light due to rotation of the accretion hotspots, variations of the material flow rate, and the change of view angle due to orbital motion of the binary. As part of the Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA), an amateur-professional collaboration, we chose high priority targets and observed them using the 0.6m telescope of El Sauce Observatory in Chile. We observed HP Lib on three nights in June and July and noted an overall brightening. We obtained photometry on NY Lup for four nights during a single week in July and detected a local minimum. Our results will be combined with those of other CBA observers and will be analyzed for variation on multiple timescales allowing a detailed interpretation in terms of physical changes of the systems.
For my scholar's project, I am composing a Romantic style sonatina for flute and piano. As a performer on clarinet and piano, I have experienced a wide range of music styles, but have a special appreciation for music of the mid to late 1800s. I have chosen to compose in this "romantic" style in order to better understand the rich and complex harmonies, orchestration colors, and new approaches to instrumental roles that this music provides. In preparation for my own work in composition, with the help of my advisor I have explored and analyzed orchestral and chamber music of Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, and Poulenc, focusing on harmony, melody, orchestration, form, and expression. Developing tools and strategies that I can use in my own work, I have challenged myself to create melodies of various characters, filter them through the particular idiosyncrasies of the two instruments, and blend them into the harmonic and formal fabric of the piece. Professional musicians will be on campus later in May to record my composition. By the end of the project I hope to complete a three-movement sonatina. The purpose of today's presentation is to provide a glimpse into my compositional process.
“ … i Abstract Kakogiannis,Christos Statistical Effects of Synthetic Template Mismatch … Template Mismatch with Model DEIMOS Observations By Christos Kakogiannis ********* Submitted in partial … ”
Abstract
High-precision kinematics of individual stars in Milky Way satellite galaxies and globular clusters is crucial for studies of galaxy formation, cosmology, alternative gravity models, and dark matter. We tested a rigorous method that matches model DEIMOS observations of such targets with synthetic template spectra that deduces radial velocities and [Fe/H] abundances. We added noise to create a model spectrum with SNR = 30, fitted templates with different parameters to it, and calculated the<br />best-match velocity and the goodness of the fit. The best fits occur for templates that are close in parameter space to the model spectrum, and the fits get worse the further away the templates are from the model spectrum. Within a window of ? ±1500 K from the model spectrum, the bias in inferred velocity increases at a rate of roughly ? 0.5 km s?1/1000 K , but stays below the DEIMOS resolution. We conclude that the method does not introduce a bias to the inferred velocity larger than ? 30% of the instrumental resolution and that the uncertainty is dominated by the resolution, suggesting that the step size in our parameter space was well chosen.
