Faculty and
Staff Research
Professor R. Earle Luck's research interests include
studies of stellar and galactic chemical evolution, stellar abundance
analysis, isotopic abundance ratios, spectrum synthesis techniques,
spectroscopic data reduction techniques, robotic/remote telescope
control and instrumentation, and educational support of middle and
secondary school science teachers. (See the
Nearby Stars Stellar Database)
Professor Chris Mihos uses observational data
from ground- and space-based telescopes combined with state-of-the-art
computer modeling to study the evolution of galaxies and galaxy
clusters. Using Case's wide-field Burrell Schmidt telescope, Mihos is
surveying the nearby Virgo cluster of galaxies to find the ghostly
intracluster light that traces the history of galaxy collisions inside
the cluster. Computer simulations of galaxy clusters are being used to
probe how these intracluster stars are torn out of cluster galaxies,
while other simulations have focused on mergers of galaxies, the
triggering of starburst galaxies and quasars, and the transformation of
spiral galaxies into ellipticals. This merger-driven evolution of
galaxies is also the focus of studies using the Hubble and Spitzer
Space Telescopes which provide a detailed view of colliding galaxies in
the local universe.
Professor Heather Morrison is an observational
astronomer whose main research interest is the formation of
galaxies. She uses observations of old stars in our own and
nearby galaxies to reconstruct their history. A major project is
the SDSS-II SEGUE survey for stars in the outer halo of the Milky Way,
which is mapping the outer parts of the Galaxy in much more detail than
previosly possible, and detecting streams of stars which have been
pulled off by tidal forces as small satellites are captured by the
Milky Way. She also works on the formation and evolution of the Milky
Way's nearest large neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy.
Professor Idit Zehavi's
research interests include cosmology and the large-scale structure of
the universe, galaxy formation and evolution, and cosmic flows. She is
an astrophysicist working at the interface of theory and observations,
performing phenomenological studies using large surveys of galaxies. In
recent years she has been extensively involved with the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey (SDSS), an ambitious ongoing survey aimed at mapping a
quarter of the sky. She is primarily focused on studying the clustering
properties of galaxies and their implications on cosmological models,
galaxy formation, and the relationship between galaxies and dark matter.
Observatory Manager Paul Harding combines an
interest in observations which constrain galaxy formation via the
stellar fossil record with a broad background in telescope, instrument,
and detector design. Students can gain hands-on experience in
projects as diverse as the recent optimization of the Burrell Schmidt
telescopes optical assembly, or working on the controller electronics
for the Schmidt's wide field camera.
Graduate Student Research
Craig Rudick
works in extragalactic astronomy, doing both theory and
observations. He is interested in various aspects of galactic
evolution, especially those resulting from interactions between
galaxies, in an attempt to understand groups and clusters of galaxies
as evolving systems. His thesis topic involves using intracluster light
to study the evolution of galaxy clusters.
Undergraduate
Student Research
Many of our undergraduate students are active in research projects
within the department. Examples of recent undergraduate research
programs include:
Colin Slater
('09) has worked on engineering upgrades to the Burrell Schmidt (w/ Harding),
and developing new algorithms for quantifying and correcting the stellar
point spread function and internal reflections on the Burrell Schmidt (w/ Mihos
and Harding>.
Steven Janowiecki
('08)
has worked on studies of intracluster light in the Virgo cluster (w/
Mihos). He has also been studying morphological properties of galaxies in the SDSS (w/
Zehavi).
Lucy Frey ('08) used
computer simulations to study the evolution of intracluster light (w/ Mihos). She
also worked
on the structure of the Milky Way, looking for streams of stars
in its halo (w/ Morrison).
Dave Starinshak
('07) worked on discovering and modeling star streams in the
Milky Way halo (w/ Morrison).
Andrew Schechtman-Rook
('07) worked on studies of the Milky Way using the SDSSII SEGUE
database (w/ Morrison), and is currently studying the formation of
intracluster light in N-body simulations (w/ Mihos).
Dan Oravetz ('06)
worked
on studies of the globular clusters in the Andromeda galaxy (w/
Morrison) and on Case's Burrell Schmidt telescope (w/ Harding)
Stuart Robbins ('05) worked on the search for
intra-group
planetary nebulae in the nearby M81 group of galaxies (w/ Feldmeier).
Colin Wallace ('05) has used computer models of
galaxy
mergers to probe how well kinematic tracers can describe the mass
distribution
of elliptical galaxies (w/ Mihos).
Stephanie Bush ('04) studied how the evolution of
tidal
debris in mergers of galaxies depends on the properties of the galactic
disks and dark matter halos (w/ Mihos). She also worked for a summer
with
Dr. Eric Wilcots at the University of Wisconsin studying the gas
distribution around dwarf galaxies.
Bonnie Stayer ('04) has used phometric data to
determine
the ages of the globular clusters in the disk of M31 (w/ Morrison).
Steve Rodney ('03) has worked on imaging the
intracluster light in galaxy clusters (w/ Morrison and Mihos).
Cameron McBride ('03) has worked on computational
models
of the formation of galaxy clusters and intracluster light. He also has
worked on a variety of web-based educational projects, including the
JavaLab (w/ Mihos)
Amanda Kepley ('02) has done research on the
longitudinal dynamics of particle accelerators at Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory with Dr. Chandra Bhat and on far-infrared
polarimeters at University of Chicago with Dr. Roger Hildebrand. She
continues to work with Professor Morrison on the Spaghetti
Project.
Nathan Kaib ('02) developed techniques to produce
artificial images of galaxy cluster models in order to quantify the
presence of intracluster light in galaxy clusters (w/ Mihos).
Becky Stanek ('01) studied the properties
dynamical
models of triaxial galaxies with central black holes (w/ Mihos). She
spent a summer at Space Telescope
Science Institute in their summer student program, working for Dr.
Torsten Boeker,
and continues to work with Dr. Boeker and Dr. Roeland van der Marel
on a project investigating the nature of nuclear star clusters in
spiral
galaxies.
Jackie Monkiewicz ('98) worked on imaging the
extremely
faint light around nearby galaxies, in particular the stellar halo
around the nearby galaxy NGC 5907 (w/ Morrison).
Research Facilities
The Burrell Schmidt
wide field telescope, 100% owned and operated by Case Astronomy, is
located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in southwest Arizona. It is
used for deep wide-field imaging and surveys. More information can be
found on the Observatory page.
Case is a partner institute in
the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey project.
The department runs
an extensive
computing network of Linux and Windows
workstations. We also are the home of Muleteam, a heterogenous Linux
Beowulf computing cluster.
The
Astronomy Library,
a branch of Case's
University
Library system, has been a part of the observatory for over a
hundred
years. It houses a strong collection of research materials, study
space, and computers for accessing electronically available literature
and databases.
