PRESCOTT OBSERVATORY TEAM FOR ANALYZING TELESCOPICALLY OBSERVED ECHELLE SPECTRA (POTATOTES) Hailey Widger , Astronomy Maze Herr , Astronomy
MENTOR Noel Richardson , Physics and Astronomy
The Prescott Observatory Team for Analyzing Telescopically Observed Echelle Spectra (POTATOES) will create a team of observers who utilize the campus observatory. POTATOES will do this by recruiting freshmen and sophomores to be volunteer observers and learn to collect and reduce data. By teaching these skills earlier in their college careers, students are better prepared for creating and working on their own research projects in upcoming years. Over the course of this year, POTATOES plans to observe several massive star systems, with a focus on two interesting Wolf-Rayet stars. The team will collect data to understand the orbit of the evolved WR 133 as well as gather data that can be used to map how WR 6 loses material in a non-homogeneous way as it rotates. WR 133 has had a visual orbit created using other techniques, and WR 6 will be the first major target of the observatory’s new polarimeter.
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UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH INSTITUTE | 97
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