Measuring Projected Rotation Rates of Stars — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

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The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
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Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Measuring Projected Rotation Rates of Stars

Name: Tod Schulter
Major: Mathematics and Physics
Hometown: Sterling, IL
Faculty Sponsor: Julie Dahlstrom
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: SURE
Funding: National Science Foundation Grant AST-1008424

Abstract

Studying interstellar gas requires differentiating spectroscopic features of stars from those of intervening clouds. To accomplish this end, the characteristic broadening of a star’s absorption lines due to rotation must be determined. Stellar spectra stored in the University of Chicago’s DIB (Diffuse Interstellar Band) Database were studied using Richard Gray’s SPECTURM software in combination with simulated models from the Kurucz Grids of ATLAS9 Model atmospheres. The observed line profiles were modeled using a combination of broadening components from mixing processes within the stellar atmosphere as well as a projected rotational velocity, v sin i.

All together, measurements of v sin i values were made of 47 different stars without prior measurements. In several instances, complicating factors such as atmospheric instability or chemical abundance peculiarities caused v sin i measurements to be less accurate, or unattainable. Nonetheless, the values found through this research have been added to the DIB Database to further research within the field of astronomy.

Poster file