A Study of Evolved Stars with Time-Series Photometry

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This Research for Undergraduate Eduation award will permit the Principal Investigator (PI) to continue studies of the pulsations of stars in their terminal stages of evolution, white dwarfs and pre-white dwarfs. Using portable instrumentation constructed from a previous NSF award, the PI will spend 75 nights per year with one of two undergraduate students monitoring the light variations of candidate white dwarf pulsators. Many of the current sample of pulsating white dwarfs were discovered by this PI. The PI will continue these searches, and will also search for pulsating stars that have previously ejected most of their masses to become white dwarfs (planetary nebulae) and will also compare the pulsation periods of a selected star to determine whether the star's ageing can be followed in "real time" from its shortening pulsation periods.