Olivia DrakeAdam Jensen, research associate for the Astronomy Department, received a $68,012 grant from the Space Telescope Institute, AURA, for his research on “Definitive ISM Abundances through Low-mass X-ray Binaries as Lighthouses.” This research program will use 13 orbits of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observing time along with archival data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory to better understand the composition of the interstellar dust in our galaxy. One HST observation was executed in June, with additional observations to follow this fall. The project is funded through May 31, 2012.
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Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, and Seth Redfield, assistant professor astronomy, are co-authors of the article, "Gas Absorption in the KH 15D System: Further Evidence for Dust Settling in the Circumbinary Disk," published in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 711, Issue 2, pp. 1297-1305 in March 2010. Their data supports a picture of a particular circumbinary disk as being composed of a very thin particulate grain layer composed of millimeter-sized or larger objects that are settled within whatever remaining gas may be present. Herbst also is the author of "Periodic variability in the emission spectrum of…
Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy, received a grant from NASA on Jan. 28 for his research titled "Probing the Atomic & Molecular Inventory of the Beta-PicAnalog, the Young Edge –On Debris Disk of HD32297rp." The $48,334 grant, will be applied over two years.
Roy Kilgard, research assistant professor of astronomy, received a grant on Jan. 4 from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for research titled "ULX in the Most Metal Poor Galaxies." The award, worth $15,000, will be applied through Dec. 22, 2011.
David Pesci5 Questions is a new feature in The Wesleyan Connection that will ask faculty members - surprise! - five questions about their work and activities. This issue, the questions go to Edward Moran, chair and associate professor of astronomy and director of the Van Vleck Observatory. His primary area of study is black holes. This summer he received a major National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for an extensive study on “intermediate mass” black holes. Q: Everyone thinks they know, but once and for all: what is a black hole? EM: Technically, black holes are places where matter has been crushed down…
Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy, received a grant for $20,000 from NASA for his research on "Development and Flight Testing of High Efficiency Echelles & Detectors for the Future of Ultraviolet Astronomy." Redfield is collaborating with the project's lead institution, the University of Colorado. NASA awarded $2.1M for the entire project.
Edward Moran, chair and associate professor of astronomy, director of the Van Vleck Observatory, received a grant from the National Science Foundation for his research titled "Black Holes in the Milky Way's Backyard." The grant, worth $275,164, will be applied over three years. The award, presented on Aug. 26, is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Extra-solar planets was the theme of StarConn, an all-day convention and astronomy celebration held at Wesleyan on June 4. The event was an outreach effort presented by the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford with the help of the university. The event featured lectures and a two-hour observing session with the 20-inch Clark refractor at Wesleyan's Van Vleck Observatory. Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy, was one of the speakers at the event. He is featured in a June 4 Meriden Record Journal article about StarConn. The article is online here.