Category: Astronomy/Space Sciences
- Project Title Professor
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Astrophysical Plasmas and Detector Development Hakeem Oluseyi
Astrophysical Plasmas and Detector Development
Despite more that 50 years of study, the processes that heat and accelerate solar plasmas to form the corona and solar wind are still not well understood. We study the manifestations of plasma structures rooted in the solar atmosphere and model the transport of energy therein based on models of the discrete structures that may mediate this process. To further facilitate study of these phenomena, we have also contributed to the development of novel CCD technologies that allow observation of solar EUV emissions with excellent sensitivity and spatial fidelity.
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Dynamical Hypermassive Black Hole Masses Daniel Batcheldor
Dynamical Hypermassive Black Hole Masses
We are using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph aboard Hubble to constrain the masses of 5 hypermassive black holes, which are potentially billions of times more massive than the Sun. These objects, found at the centers of the most massive galaxies, will allow us to determine how massive these objects can become. This could lead us towards a better understanding of black hole and galaxy evolution.
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Ground Based Observations of the 2010 July 11 Total Solar Eclipse Hakeem Oluseyi
Ground Based Observations of the 2010 July 11 Total Solar Eclipse
The objective of the observations is to gain information about the solar corona, with a focus on two specific solar features: solar plumes and coronalcavities. Plumes appear around the polar regions of the Sun, and may be sources of fast solar wind. Coronal cavities, coronal features enveloping filament channels, are often the site of solar eruptions. The Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) team will consist of Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi and two students.
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Mapping the Milky Way: Data-miners, Modelers, Observers, Unite! Hakeem Oluseyi
Mapping the Milky Way: Data-miners, Modelers, Observers, Unite!
Analyses of survey data has revolutionized astronomy over the last decade and is becoming ever more important in the field. This research will test and influence theories of galaxy formation and evolution by comparing the spatial, kinematic and metallicity distributions of the Milky Way stars with predictions by state-of-the-art N-body models. As a part of this work we will deliver a fully-classified database of sources taken from a catalogue consisting of ~24 million sources.
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Microcapsules for Core Content Delivery Nasri Nesnas
Microcapsules for Core Content Delivery
The design of microcapsules that contain one or two components that can be delivered for various space and biomedical applications.
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Resolving the Critical Ambiguities of the M-sigma relation Daniel Batcheldor
Resolving the Critical Ambiguities of the M-sigma relation
The Hubble Space Telescope data archive contains a wealth of data on an increasingly large sample of galaxy nuclei. We are mining this archive to determine the quality of data present and whether or not this can increase the number of black hole mass estimates currently in the literature. With a greater number of black hole mass estimates we can continue to refine our understanding in the evolution of galaxies and black holes.
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Reverberation Mapping of the size of the Dusty Tori in Active Galactic Nuclei Daniel Batcheldor
Reverberation Mapping of the size of the Dusty Tori in Active Galactic Nuclei
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are powered by supermassive black holes feeding on gas and dust at the centers of galaxies. We see two types of AGN, depending on their inclination to our line of sight. Surrounding the feeding black hole is a region of dust thick enough to block most of the radiation coming from a hot thin disk of material plunging toward the black hole. However, we do not know the size of this dusty region, nor the distribution of material within it. We are using the Spitzer Space Telescope to attempt to constrain the size of this dusty region.
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Self-Assembly in Biology and the Origin of Life (SABOL) Daniel Kirk, Hector Gutierrez, Samuel Durrance
Self-Assembly in Biology and the Origin of Life (SABOL)
The SABOL International Space Station experiment has several important scientific elements dedicated specifically to (i) developing an improved understanding of the origin of life on our planet, (ii) increasing our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, and (iii) providing an opportunity to apply this new understanding for the betterment of h
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The Importance Warm Outflows in the Most Rapidly Evolving Galaxies in the Local Universe Daniel Batcheldor
The Importance Warm Outflows in the Most Rapidly Evolving Galaxies in the Local Universe
Although there is increasing speculation that the evolution of galaxy bulges may be regulated by AGN-induced outflows associated with the growth of the central supermassive black holes, the importance of AGN-induced outflows relative to those driven by starbursts has yet to be established observationally. Therefore, we are using the unique capabilities of ACS/WFC and STIS on board HST to measure the spatial scales, structures and velocity gradients of the emission line outflows in a complete sample of nearby ultra-luminous infrared galaxies with optically-detected AGN.
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The SARA REU Site Program Daniel Batcheldor, Terry Oswalt
This grant will fund the continuation of a productive summer research experience for undergraduate (REU) program led by Dr. Batcheldor. The students in this REU program will be working with mentors and institutions that are part of the Southeast Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA), a consortium of 10 universities located primarily in the southeastern United States. Students are guaranteed a 5-day trip to SARA's 0.9-m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.