Instrumentation For Undergraduate Research In Astronomy

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9352146 Hirshfeld The goals of this project are to (i) expand research opportunities in observational astronomy for undergraduates; (ii) identify and carry out specific educational research projects that would be transferable to similar institutions with small observatories, and (iii) produce written guidelines and materials that would help faculty at these institutions initiate their own undergraduate research programs in astronomy. The primary instruments for the project are a CCD imaging camera to supplement an existing telescope and photoelectric photometer plus computers for data acquisition and image analysis. The camera will be used by undergraduates to obtain images of planets and extended celestial objects, such as star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, and to do long- term aperture photometry of bright eclipsing binary stars, variable stars, and selected program stars in the Harvard Center for Astrophysics radial velocity study. The significance of this project, beyond its local impact on the education of students, is its potential to improve undergraduate science training by identifying ways to help faculty at other institutions set up their own observational astronomy research programs for students. The university is providing release time for the principal investigator to carry out the project. ***