February-March 2008
Mr. Loughran has been interviewed, and his students Clare and Curt soon will be, for an in-house
publication for alumni; that article is not yet written. Articles will be written
for local and diocesan newspapers as well.
After climbing into the details of the star formation rate project and
presenting the material at the AAS, Mr. Loughran reviewed the chances of these two
students making a contribution in the area they had intended: in estimation
and reduction of error for the project. After several weeks of effort they
decided not to pursue that option, and both students have moved on to assist
in another science research project. (That project uses seismic data from
the LIGO-Hanford experiment, and although the focus of our project is more
earth science than astrophysics, it is useful to have students with the
astronomy backgrounds Clare and Curt now have on the project, to help set it
in context of the LIGO experiment.)
For now, they are suspending activity on the Spitzer SFR project until reduced
IRAC data becomes available.
October 2007 - January 2008
Mr. Loughran's students, seniors Curt Collingwood and Clare Mundy, have completed a semester's effort to get up to speed on the Spitzer distant cluster star formation rate project. They will advance the project by conducting error analysis, and using Spitzer IRAC data (not yet reduced) to minimize uncertainty by narrowing down the number of SED models used to calculate total infrared luminosity.
Curt and Clare assisted in the preparation and presentation of two posters at Winter 2008 AAS meeting in Austin. One of these posters, " Establishing a School-based Research Community (SRC) for Astronomy ", presented the results of the study thus far as published in the 2007 RBSE Journal article by former students Matt Pellegrino and Vinay Patel. The second paper, " Student Exploration of Star Formation Rate in Three High-Redshift Galaxy Clusters: an NOAO/Spitzer education and public outreach project ", presented the curricular context within which this research was conducted.
Also this quarter, Mr. Loughran arranged for two events which added value to a NASA outreach effort. NASA sent its mobile visualization unit, "Vision for Space Exploration Experience", to South Bend for a week in mid-October. As Co-PI of the Notre Dame extended Research Community, a teacher-led and NSF-sponsored GK-12 program, He arranged for a solar telescope to be present outside the visualization center at a local high school. (See the photos, below.) He also arranged and served as master of ceremonies for an evening of astronomy at the University of Notre Dame, held in conjunction with the NASA "Space Exploration" visit. Mark Klem, Project Manager for Propulsion and Cryogenics Advanced Development at NASA's Glenn Research Center, joined Notre Dame Astrophysicist Peter Garnavich in presenting two facets of the technology of space exploration: NASA's Orion lunar mission, and the Large Binocular Telescope. A press release for the event is appended to this quarterly report; an article on the ND Department of Physics website can be found at
http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicid=24886
July-September 2007
Students Matt Pellegrino and Vinay Patel finished their paper, "Star
Formation Rate in Three High-Redshift Galaxy Clusters: A Contribution to the
Study of Galactic Evolution", and published it in the 2007 Edition of the RBSE
Journal
(http://www.noao.edu/education/arbse/arpd/journal). Matt went on to attend
the University of Chicago, and Vinay, the University of Michigan.
Two additional students from the Saint Joseph's High School Research
Community have picked up the mantle and will begin to work with the same
cluster data this year.
Interest in the Spitzer project has complemented and enhanced other NOAO
outreach projects, notably the variable star project with data taken
remotely through the New Mexico Skies Observatory. See a teacher/student
presentation of work they did this summer at the University of Notre Dame
at http://leptoquark.hep.nd.edu/%7Etloughran/Variable%20Star%20Presentation.ppt.pps.
Preparations are underway to present a multiwavelength astronomy
module at Science
Spooktakular !, and to submit a
poster to the Winter 2008 AAS meeting.
We have arranged to make multiwavelength viewing of the sun (visible and
H-alpha) available outside of a NASA visualization mobile unit which will be
parked outside a local high school for three days in October. Images will
be available soon!
April-June 2007
Seniors Matt Pellegrino and Vinay Patel wrote up the results of their year-long study of star formation rate and
morphology of three clusters observed with Spitzer. The results were accepted for publication in the RBSE Journal,
a publication of the NOAO's Research Based Science Education Program.
They also completed a milestone map for the project, describing the performance milestones that needed to be met
and documenting resources for achieving them. The map is meant to make it easier for subsequent students to climb
the learning curve and push the project forward next year. The team had hoped to submit an observing proposal for
a future round, but have instead handed off that project to willing students from next year's class. Next Fall Matt
will attend the University of Chicago, and Vinay will head to the University of Michigan. Congratulations to both
for an excellent year's work.
A report on the year's work will be presented to the astronomy working group (two additional teachers, two high school
student, and one graduate student) in the context of the Notre Dame extended Research Community's (NDeRC's) summer
activities. NDeRC is an NSF-sponsored GK-12 project; the five-year project begins its funding cycle on July 1st, 2007.
The proposal was written by high school teachers at the Notre Dame QuarkNet Center. NOAO's TLRBSE projects will be
available to local teachers in partnership with an astronomy graduate student from the University of Notre Dame.
Spitzer Teacher Loughran is coPI on the project.
January-March 2007
High school seniors Vinay Patel and Matt Pellegrino prepared a paper for publication based upon their Spitzer research: "Star Formation Rate in Three High Redshift Galaxy Clusters: A Contribution to the Study of Galactic Evolution". The paper will be submitted to the RBSE Journal on April 3rd. Meanwhile, the students submitted a team project to the Northern Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair. They earned a First in Division--Intel Excellence in Computer Science award, as well as other cash awards from the Michiana Astronomical Society and the Physics Club of Notre Dame. Finally, the story of their participation in the Spitzer project was
written up on the front page of the Community section of the South Bend Tribune on March 20, 2007. The SBT has a circulation of 146,476. The article is accessible at
https://www2.southbendtribune.com/stories/2007/03/20/community.20070320-sbt-FULL-E1-Sky_s_the_limit_for_.sto
Meanwhile, enrollment for next year is full (25 students) in the science research course led by Spitzer Teacher Tom Loughran at Saint Joseph's High School, were Matt and Vinay are students, thanks in no small part to the publicity generated by their Spitzer research.
Matt's and Vinay's paper presents the calculated star formation rates for each member and for the wholes of the three galaxy clusters, compares the morphology distribution of cluster members to published trends for other high-redshift clusters, and characterizes each cluster with respect to
morphology - distance, star formation - distance, and star formation - morphology relations. Finally, they compare the star formation rate for the entire clusters and for members inside the virial radius to published simulated results, finding surprising agreement with the theory in spite of
surprisingly different observed trends in the SFR - redshift relation for the set of whole clusters, compared with their virial fractions.
October-December 2007
Dr. Loughran made a presentation to some 1000 elementary and middle school students and family members at the Science Spooktacular!, sponsored by Ethos (http://www.ethosinc.org/) . The presentation introduced multi-wavelength astronomy and the Spitzer Space Telescope using an IR camera on loan from Indiana University's astronomy group. Face painting with ice was a big hit. Science teachers attending the event took away a Spitzer DVD. Kevin Johnson of the Joint Institute of Nuclear Astrophysics also participated in the event, offering some insight into stellar formation as well as providing a range of follow-up programs (http://www.jinaweb.org/html/jinaprograms.html) , including the Sensing Our World program for middle school students.
Seniors Matt Pellegrino and Vinay Patel have succeeded in providing star formation rate (SFR) estimates for galaxy clusters cl 1227 and cl 1232 of the Blackwell, et al. "Star Formation in High Redshift Clusters with Spitzer" proposal, adding these to the cl 1037 estimates worked out last July at the SSC. They have plotted these SFRs (normalized to cluster mass) as a function of red shift together with other galaxies from the EDisCS survey, and have otherwise characterized the clusters (plotting SFR as functions of galaxy type and of projected-2-d distance normalized to the virial radius; and plotting galaxy type as a function of that same normalized distance.) Matt and Vinay are preparing an entry for the Northern Indiana Science and Engineering Fair, part of the Intel SEF program.
July-September 2006
In July Dr. Loughran traveled with students Matt Pellegrino and Vinay Patel
to the Spitzer Science Center to work with the 2006 cohort of Spitzer
teachers and astronomers Greg Rudnick, Vandana Desai and Rose Finn. They
succeeded in establishing an estimate of the star formation rate for cl1037
during a productive three-day session. (Photo attached.) On return, Matt
and Vinay continued to read background material and message the data;
currently they are working toward a possible Siemens and/or Intel science
fair submission. Each of them prepared and delivered one half of a two-part
PowerPoint presentation to their Saint Joseph's High School Research
Community: on multi-wavelength astronomy, IR and Spitzer; and on the galaxy
cluster star formation rate project.
Dr. Loughran is preparing a Halloween presentation to elementary and middle
school students at the Science
Spooktacular!. The presentation will introduce multi-wavelength astronomy
and the Spitzer Space Telescope using an IR camera on loan again from
Indiana University's astronomy group. Face painting with ice will provide
cool and ghoulish entertainment, as well as stir up interest in Spitzer
images. The Joint Institute of Nuclear Astrophysics
will participate in the display, offering some
insight into stellar formation as well as providing a range of follow-up
programs, including the Sensing Our World program for middle school
students.
April-June 2006:
Dr. Loughran has worked (through the end of May) with two high school students (Vinay Patel and Matt Pellegrino) to prepare them (and himself)for participation in their study of star formation rates in three high-redshift galaxy clusters. The students have finished reading three chapters (1, 2, and 4) of Spark & Gallagher's Galaxies.
These same two students along with Dr. Loughran added a second teacher (Aaron McNeely of Bremen High School, an astronomy teacher supported by an NSF RET grant) and a third high school student (Sunil Agarwal from Elkhart Central High School) to prepare for work on the Spitzer project, as well as a number of other projects (including the AGN and remote observing projects of the TLRBSE program, and a binary star observing program.) They will work together for 25 hours each week for six weeks this summer. They are also reading through the five documents posted at the MIPS data handbook site.
The Spitzer space telescope and the star formation rate project in particular were presented to 20 middle school students participating in the Sensing Our World program of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophyics (JINA) on 6/29/06. Middle school students interacted with the three high school students who had just used Spitzer's Leopard software to download results (pbcd files) for the first of three observations scheduled with Spitzer for our galaxy cluster star formation rate project; they were using PhotoShop equipped with the NASA/ESO FITS Liberator plug-in to create first-look images of our cluster by colorizing and combining the 24, 70 and 160 micrometer pbcd .fits files. (See attached-Matt Pellegrino's first attempt at creating a colorized astroimage.) Student-processed Hubble images of the Eagle Nebula, as well as student-observed (via the New Mexico Skies/TLRBSE remote observing program) and student-processed images of M-63 were used in the description of star formation and galaxies, leading into a discussion of star formation rate in clusters of galaxies. Middle school students in groups of five interacted for ten minutes each with the three high school students engaged in this Spitzer research project.
March 2006:
Dr. Loughran and his group are preparing for their Spitzer project. They have continued to correspond among their 2006 Cohort,
and are preparing-under Greg Rudnick's guidance--for data analysis by doing some background study, working our way through
most of Spark & Gallagher's Galaxies in the Universe.
Two students in Dr. Loughran's research class - Vinay Patel and Matt Pellegrino - are preparing to assess Spitzer data by reading and discussing chapters 7 - 18 of Michael Seeds' Foundations of Astronomy, and the first chapter of Sparks and Gallager's Galaxies in the Universe. At least one and perhaps both of these students will work full time with the data this summer as part of the Research Experience for High School Students (REHS) program at the Notre Dame QuarkNet Center. In addition, Aaron McNeely, an astronomy teacher at a local high school, will work eight weeks this summer with these students funded by the Research Experience for Teachers program at the Notre Dame Physics Department. Aaron is a local amateur astronomer and contributor to astronomy magazines and web sites. These two students, Aaron along with Dr. Loughran will keep a sketch of the learning curve as we climb it this summer, identifying milestones and the resources we consult to achieve them, and in this way prepare for development of an e-Lab dedicated to Spitzer research.
Three additional students (seniors Cait Makielski, Ping Wong, and Paul Rumbach) have been learning to create presentation-quality
astroimages using NASA/ESO PhotoShop FITS Liberator software. They are also preparing a film to be shown at Saint Joseph High School morning
video assembly (to the 760+ student body). This work is preliminary to their attempt to create a film featuring their classmates' research on
the Spitzer project.
February 2006:
113 students at Saint Joseph's High School experienced the world through the
lense of an infrared camera borrowed from Dr. Catherine Pilachowski of Indiana University, thus putting into practice the hands-on experience we were offered with a similar camera at the Spitzer/TLRBSE seminar for new Spitzer teachers at the AAS in January 2006.
The camera was on loan for a Spitzer presentation at Science Alive! During that event (Feb 4, 2006), 1500 persons, mostly elementary and middle school children and their families, experienced face painting with ice in front of an IR camera viewed on an 8 foot screen. Each person took home an 8 x 10 color reprint of a Spitzer astroimage. The Spitzer presentation was held in cooperation with the Joint Institute on Nuclear Astrophysics, which runs a host of programs for middle and high school students during the summer and ran a booth next to our Spitzer booth at Science Alive!
Jeff Adkins
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John Blackwell
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Kareen Borders
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Lauren Chapple
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Howard Chun
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Harlan Devore
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Cris DeWolf
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Velvet Dowdy
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Peter Guastella
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Rosa Hemphill
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Ardis Herrold
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Chelen Johnson
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Virginia Jones
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Susan Kelly
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Thomas Loughran
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Anthony Maranto
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Christoper Martin
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David McDonald
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Jeffrey Paradis
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Vincent Pereira
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Peter Pitman
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Steve Rapp
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Theresa Roelofsen
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John Schaefers
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Babs Sepulveda
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Timothy Spuck
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Linda Stefaniak
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Dwight Taylor
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Jennifer Tetler
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Beth Thomas
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Cynthia Weehler
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Lynne Zielinski
