Astrophysics Projects

ASTROPHYSICS Projects (PHYS-480): Spring 2010

Dr. Mary Lou West
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
Textbook: "Foundations of Astrophysics" by B.Ryden and B. Peterson, 2010

Astrophysics Individual Projects

Each student will conduct a project which involves applying an astrophysical theory to data of real astronomical objects. In some cases the theory is an analytical equation, but in most cases it is a numerical model which needs to be calculated. A written (about 7 pages) and oral lab report shouild include statistical and graphical discussions, and is due April 14. Each student should have a unique project.
Here are some examples of the sort of detail I will be expecting in a project:

1. Comet Warnings
Comets' orbits are ellipses around the sun. Most comets come into the inner part of the solar system from far beyond Jupiter's distance. They are usually first sighted when they pass the orbit of Mars on the way toward perihelion. Suppose that we determined that a newly-seen comet was on a collision course with the Earth. How much time would we have to do something to avert a collision? How long would we have if the collison would take place after the comet passed perihelion?
There is a nice animation of a comet's orbit and tail properties at www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/comets/comet_model_interactive.html.
Look up the parameters of 100 comets. ( neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/neo_elem?type=NEC has a good starting list)
What is a (semi-major axis) in terms of perihelion and aphelion distances?
Use ORBIT to calculate the time from perihelion to Earth crossing, and to Mars crossing.
Discuss these two times for each of your comets.
What is the Torino scale and its levels?
Describe the Spacewatch Program, the Spaceguard program, and what humans plan to do if a collision is imminent.
Describe a close miss that actually happened.
2. Near Earth Asteroid Warnings
The orbits of asteroids are also ellipses about the sun. Most of them stay in nearly circular orbits between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but some of them have elongated paths which bring them into the vicinity of the Earth. They are sometimes first sighted when they pass the orbit of Mars on the way toward perihelion. Suppose that we determined that a newly-seen asteroid was on a collision course with the Earth. How much time would we have to do something to avert a collision? How long would we have if the collison would take place after the asteroid passed perihelion? Note that asteroids are VERY hard to spot coming from sunward.
Look up the parameters for 100 NEOs. ( neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/neo_elem has a good starting list)
What are the various classes of earth-crossing asteroids?
Use ORBIT to calculate the time from perihelion to Earth crossing, and to Mars crossing.
Discuss these two times for each of your asteroids.
What is the Torino scale and its levels?
Describe the Spacewatch Program, the Spaceguard program, and what humans plan to do if a collision is imminent.
Describe a close miss that actually happened.
3. Hohmann transfer orbits and gravity assists
Consider the Grand Tour of the solar system, and spacecraft sent to Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
4. Lagrangian points
Consider the Sun/Jupiter system. Look up all the asteroids in the Trojan groups.
5 and 6. Black Hole Companions, semi-relativistic model
Look up the properties of 3 black holes. The projects include
5. Stellar mass black holes (3 to 80 solar masses)
6. Supermassive black holes (thousands or millions of solar masses)
Use ORBIT to calculate the orbit of a close companion object of various eccentricities.
Calculate the fastest speed of the object. (Which part of the orbit is this in?)
Modify ORBIT to use relativistic corrections. Compare the corrected version to the original output and to the real objects.
7, 8 and 9. Global Warming. The projects include
7. Global warming on the Earth
8. Global warming on Venus
9. Surface temperatures of exoplanets (Choose representative examples of the 400 known.)
Calculate the Planck Blackbody curve for various appropriate surface temperatures.
Look up the infrared absorption curves for water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane.
Figure out how the greenhouse effect changes as the planet heats up. When does the runaway greenhouse happen?
10, 11, 12. Spectral Energy distributions. The projects include:
10. Spectral energy distribution of stars (see SDSS, advanced, color), color – color diagram
11. Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (see SDSS, advanced, hr)
12. Classifying galaxies (See SDSS, advanced, galaxies), color – color diagram
13, 14, 15, 16, 17. Models of Stars (StatStar from Carroll and Ostlie)
13. Hot stars (O, B, A)
14. Sun-like stars (G, various metallicities)
15. Cool stars (K, M)
16. Dwarf and giant stars from a color-color diagram (see SDSS, advanced, color),
17. Population I and Population II stars from a color-color diagram (see SDSS, advanced, color),
The Vogt-Russell theorem asserts that a star's structure is uniquely determined by its mass and its chemical composition.
Look up the parameters for 100 real stars (main sequence stars are sometimes called dwarfs, but not white dwarfs). A good starting place is James Kaler's star of the week site at www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/class.html
Using StatStar calculate about 10 static stellar models for the main sequence stars you need. For projects 13, 15 and 16 calculate models with standard composition (hydrogen = .70, metals = .008). However, for projects 14 and 17 calculate models with mass = 1 solar mass, composition varying from metals = .001 to .050. Look for data on a few Population II stars, metal-poor stars, or globular cluster stars to compare to the models.
Plot your models as well as the data for the real stars on a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
Discuss the trends you see, and also how well these models match the real stars.
CLEA – Radio Astronomy of Pulsars
18. Spin-down time
19 and 20. Collisions of Galaxies: (GALAXY from Carroll and Ostlie, or Galaxy Crash JavaLab at burro.astr.cwru.edu/JavaLab/GalCrashWeb, or Galaxy Merger Zoo)
Look up the properties and/or images of 3 colliding galaxy pairs. Try an Internet image search for colliding galaxies or ring galaxies.
Use one of the programs to calculate 20 colliding galaxy scenarios.
Compare these with the 3 real examples. The projects include
19. Head-on collisions, see the Cartwheel galaxy for a start.
20. Side-swipe collisions, see the Whirlpool galaxy for a start.
21, 22, and 23.Large Scale Structure of the Universe (SDSS or CLEA)
21. Hubble diagram (expansion of the universe)
22. Large scale structure of the universe (CLEA, SDSS)
22. Quasars – colors from spectrum vs. redshift
23. Quasar types from a color-color diagram
24. A project you suggest, with the instructor’s approval.

Projects chosen this year:
1. Comet Warnings - Tim R.
2. Near Earth Asteroid Warnings - Bill P. and Paul M.
3. Hohmann transfer orbits and gravity assists - Matthew H.
4. Lagrangian points, Trojan asteroids - Alex C.
5. Stellar mass black holes - Brian R.
6. Supermassive black holes - Ryan C.
8. Global warming on Venus - Joe C.
10. Spectral energy distribution of stars -Kaitlyn M.
14. Sun-like stars (G, various metallicities) - Garrett N.
18. Spin-down time - Pat C.
19. Collisions of galaxies - head-on - Dawn H.
20. Collisions of galaxies - side-swipe - Craig L.
21. Hubble diagram (expansion of the universe) - Oscar P.

This page is http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~west/ast480/approjects.html