Developing Radio Astronomy in BYU

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Dr. Victor Migenes, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Student participation

Kirstin Cooprider (MSc): working in OH Megamasers and galaxy mergers.
Daniel Blakley (MSc): working in the VSA and OH MASERs in star forming regions.
Derek Felli (BSc): working in the VSA and OH MASERs in star forming regions.
Daniel Gibson (BSc): working in late-type stars and OH MASER emission.

Results

Research

  1. Kirstin Cooprider completed her MSc thesis and degree and graduated in August 2010. Thesis titled: OH Megamasers in merging galaxies: A multi-frequency study of IIZw096.
  2. Daniel Gibson completed his BSc thesis and degree and graduated in April 2010. Thesis titled: A study of the tangential MASER emission of U-Orionis.
  3. Derek Felli has almost completed his BSc thesis and is on time to graduate in April 2011. Thesis titled: The detection of OH MASER satellite lines in Star Forming Regions. Due to the work and experience gained in this project Derek was able to win a RUE fellowship in Arecibo Radio Telescope (NAIC) in Puerto Rico, Summer 2010.
  4. Daniel Blakley is advancing in his MSc. Coming from an Engineering background he has required additional physics and astronomy courses to strengthen his preparation, but his engineering skills have been really useful for the group. Completing installation of BYU’s first Radio Telescope on the roof of ESC.

Conferences

  1. Kirstin Cooprider attended and presented her work in: (1) 4-Corners American Physical Society meeting in Golden Colorado (Oct 2009), “OH Megamasers in Galactic Merging Regions”an oral presentation, (2) BYU’s Spring Research Conference (March 2010), “OH Megamasers in Merging Galaxies” an oral presentation, and (3) the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Washington DC (January 2010), “OH Megamasers in Merging Galaxiy Regions”, a poster presentation.
  2. Derek Felli attended and presented his work in: (1) 4-Corners American Physical Society meeting in Golden, Colorado (Oct 2009), “The Detection of OH-MASER Satellite Lines in Star Forming Regions” an oral presentation, (2) BYU Spring Research Conference (Mar 2010), “The Detection of OH-MASER Satellite Lines in Star Forming Regions” an oral presentation, and (3) the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Miami Florida (May 2010), “The Detection of OH-MASER Satellite Lines in Star Forming Regions” a poster presentation. And, 4C-APS Meeting in Oct 2010 a poster titled: “OH-MASER Lines in Galaxy Merger Arp220”.
  3. Daniel Blakley attended and presented his work in: (1) the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters Annual Conference in April 2010 in St. George UT, “Starting Radio Astronomy Research at Brigham Young University” an oral presentation, and (2) the 4- Corners American Physical Society meeting in Weber UT October 2010, “Genesis of Radio Astronomy at BYU” a poster presentation.

Publications

  1. Optical and OH Megamaser observations of the starburst galaxy IIZw096, 2010, Coziol, R., Migenes, V., Cooprider, K., Plauchu-Frayn, I., Islas, J.M., Ramirez-Garduno, L., and Klockner, H-R., Astrophysical Journal (in publication).
  2. Is there a Black Hole in the starburst merger IIZw096?, 2010, Migenes, V., Cooprider, K., and Coziol, R., Journal of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, 87.
  3. The Detection of OH-MASER Satellite Lines in Star Forming Regions, Migenes, V., Felli, D., and Ruis-Velasco, A., Astrophysical Journal (in preparation).

Budget

  1. Wages of $13,160 dollars for the Winter semester and Sp/Su Terms 2010 for Kirstin Cooprider. Her TA was converted to an RA and she was able to complete her MSc thesis and degree on time by August 2010.
  2. Wages of $3380 dollars for Daniel Blakley for the Fall 2010 semester. His TA was converted to 50% RA and 50% TA to allow him more time for course work and research.
  3. Approximately, $4000 dollars for Conference fees, travel and hotel costs for: Kirstin Cooper to attend the AAS meeting in Washington DC, Derek Felli to attend the AAS meeting in Miami FL. And, the travel costs for Daniel Blakley to attend a Summer Research post in Berkeley, CA Summer 2010.
  4. No MEG funding was used for publications. Funding found from other sources.

Evaluation of Academic Objectives and Mentoring

Our proposal for developing the field of Radio Astronomy in BYU was based on acquiring and developing the necessary technology to teach and train undergraduate and graduate students in the techniques and skills required. With some funds from the College and Capitol Investment from the Physics and Astronomy Department we have acquired a 4 m Radio Telescope that is being installed on the roof of ESC. In addition we acquired the LNA, autocorrelator and other electronics to operate in L-band and be able to detect the HI line to study the Hydrogen distribution in our galaxy and the 1667-67 MHz MASER line to study star forming regions. We are presently in negotiations to acquire a 26m radio telescope as a donation from NASA. In addition, a CASPER system was purchased, though not delivered yet, and with the proper programing we will develop a correlator for the VSA in collaboration with the Electric Engineers.

Research projects

  1. MASER emission in high and low star forming regions. We will use the Very Large Array (VLA, NRAO) and the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA, NRAO) to map the emission and study the kinematics of the region.
  2. Mass-loss rates in late-type stars. We will use the Very Large Array (VLA, NRAO), the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA, NRAO) and MERLIN (U.K.) to map this emission, measure proper motions and the thickness of the molecular shells which are parameters related to the mass-loss process.
  3. Evolution of galaxy mergers. By studying with high spatial resolution of the OH MASER emission we hope to determine the time line of the merging process.

Mentoring

I meet weekly with each student to discuss the progress of their work, answer questions and give instruction. In addition, one of the graduate students also supervises the work of one of the undergraduates (Daniel Blakley supervised Derek Felli and Kirstin Cooprider supervised Daniel Gibson). Blakley and Felli are already involved in the process of converting the VSA for astronomy use. Cooprider is taught and supervised Gibson’s use of AIPS in the process of data reduction and analysis. As a group we try to meet once every 2 weeks to discuss our work, generate new ideas and help each other with particular problems.

Conclusions

I believe the main goals of the project were achieved. Four students acquire research experience, 2 of them have done publishable work and three have attended and presented their work in a number of National meetings.