Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Expres. Iii. Revealing The Stellar Activity Radial Velocity Signature Of Ε Eridani With Photometry And Interferometry, Rachael M. Roettenbacher, Samuel H. C. Cabot, Debra A. Fischer, John D. Monnier, Gregory W. Henry, Robert O. Harmon, Heidi Korhonen, John M. Brewer, Joe Llama, Ryan R. Petersburg, Lily L. Zhao, Stefan Kraus, Jean-Baptiste Le Bouquin, Narsireddy Anugu, Claire L. Davies, Tyler Gardner, Cyprien Lanthermann, Gail Schaefer, Benjamin Setterholm, Catherine A. Clark, Svetlana G. Jorstad, Kyler Kuehn, Stephen Levine

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

The distortions of absorption line profiles caused by photospheric brightness variations on the surfaces of cool, main-sequence stars can mimic or overwhelm radial velocity (RV) shifts due to the presence of exoplanets. The latest generation of precision RV spectrographs aims to detect velocity amplitudes ≲ 10 cm s⁻¹, but requires mitigation of stellar signals. Statistical techniques are being developed to differentiate between Keplerian and activity-related velocity perturbations. Two important challenges, however, are the interpretability of the stellar activity component as RV models become more sophisticated, and ensuring the lowest-amplitude Keplerian signatures are not inadvertently accounted for in flexible …

Eccentric Neutron Star Disk Driven Type Ii Outburst Pairs In Be/X-Ray Binaries, Alessia Franchini, Rebecca G. Martin

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

Be star X-ray binaries are transient systems that show two different types of outbursts. Type I outbursts occur each orbital period while type II outbursts have a period and duration that are not related to any periodicity of the binary system. Type II outbursts may be caused by mass transfer to the neutron star from a highly eccentric Be star disk. A sufficiently misaligned Be star decretion disk undergoes secular Von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZLK) oscillations of eccentricity and inclination. Observations show that in some systems the type II outbursts come in pairs with the second being of lower luminosity. We use …

The Temple Of Immensity: For Choir And Electronics, Steven Naylor

Honors Projects

the temple of immensity is a composition for 16-part choir and fixed media electronics composed by Steven Naylor using astronomical data concerning the stars nearest to Earth and their properties. “The temple of immensity” is an archaic and rarely used term, defined as “the universe or the complete overhead expanse of the heavens, especially as conceived as an object of religious reverence.” This piece seeks to convey feelings of wonder and awe for outer space through the setting of an original self-composed poem and through the use of star data to determine musical aspects. The resulting 28-minute composition blends voices …

The Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability From The Perspective Of Hybrid Simulations, Peter A. Delamere, Nathan P. Barnes, Xuanye Ma, Jay R. Johnson

Faculty Publications

The flow shear-driven Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability is ubiquitous in planetary magnetospheres. At Earth these surface waves are important along the dawn and dusk flanks of the magnetopause boundary while at Jupiter and Saturn the entire dayside magnetopause boundary can exhibit KH activity due to corotational flows in the magnetosphere. Kelvin-Helmholtz waves can be a major ingredient in the so-called viscous-like interaction with the solar wind. In this paper, we review the KH instability from the perspective of hybrid (kinetic ions, fluid electrons) simulations. Many of the simulations are based on parameters typically found at Saturn’s magnetopause boundary, but the results …

The Emission Spectrum Of The Hot Jupiter Wasp-79b From Hst/Wfc3, Trevor O. Foote, Nikole K. Lewis, Brian M. Kilpatrick, Jayesh M. Goyal, Giovanni Bruno, Hannah R. Wakeford, Nina Robbins-Blanch, Tiffany Kataria, Ryan J. Macdonald, Mercedes López-Morales, David K. Sing, Thomas Mikal-Evans, Vincent Bourrier, Gregory Henry, Lars A. Buchhave

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

Here we present a thermal emission spectrum of WASP-79b, obtained via Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 G141 observations as part of the PanCET program. As we did not observe the ingress or egress of WASP-79b's secondary eclipse, we consider two scenarios: a fixed mid-eclipse time based on the expected occurrence time, and a mid-eclipse time as a free parameter. In both scenarios, we can measure thermal emission from WASP-79b from 1.1 to 1.7 μm at 2.4σ confidence consistent with a 1900 K brightness temperature for the planet. We combine our observations with Spitzer dayside photometry (3.6 and 4.5 …

Newgrange Skyscape In Stellarium, Frank Prendergast

Articles

Newgrange Skyscape in Stellarium is a new customised landscape planetarium model giving the user the unique ability to interrogate the dynamic sky above the Boyne Valley on any date of interest during the hours of daylight or darkness. Archaeological, astronomical and topographical points of interest are labelled in the model and visible even during the hours of darkness. These are summarily described in a short gazetteer appended at the end of the instruction document to encourage further exploration of the wonderful heritage found in the Boyne Valley and beyond.

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=aGPsVGBXkY4

Watch on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/493351576

Search For Lensing Signatures In The Gravitational-Wave Observations From The First Half Of Ligo–Virgo's Third Observing Run, Ligo Scientific Collaboration, Virgo Collaboration, Tiffany Z. Summerscales

Faculty Publications

We search for signatures of gravitational lensing in the gravitational-wave signals from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo during O3a, the first half of their third observing run. We study: (1) the expected rate of lensing at current detector sensitivity and the implications of a non-observation of strong lensing or a stochastic gravitational-wave background on the merger-rate density at high redshift; (2) how the interpretation of individual high-mass events would change if they were found to be lensed; (3) the possibility of multiple images due to strong lensing by galaxies or galaxy …

Point Absorber Limits To Future Gravitational-Wave Detectors, Wenxuan Jia, Hiroaki Yamamoto, Kevin Kuns, Anamaria Effler, Matthew Evans, Peter Fritschel, R. Abbott, C. Adams, R. Adhikari, Karla E. Ramirez

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

High-quality optical resonant cavities require low optical loss, typically on the scale of parts per million. However, unintended micron-scale contaminants on the resonator mirrors that absorb the light circulating in the cavity can deform the surface thermoelastically, and thus increase losses by scattering light out of the resonant mode. The point absorber effect is a limiting factor in some highpower cavity experiments, for example, the Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detector. In this Letter, we present a general approach to the point absorber effect from first principles and simulate its contribution to the increased scattering. The achievable circulating power in current …

Search For Lensing Signatures In The Gravitational-Wave Observations From The First Half Of Ligo–Virgo's Third Observing Run, Richard Abbott, Thomas D. Abbott, S. Abraham, Fausto Acernese, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Karla E. Ramirez, Wenhui Wang

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We search for signatures of gravitational lensing in the gravitational-wave signals from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo during O3a, the first half of their third observing run. We study: (1) the expected rate of lensing at current detector sensitivity and the implications of a non-observation of strong lensing or a stochastic gravitational-wave background on the merger-rate density at high redshift; (2) how the interpretation of individual high-mass events would change if they were found to be lensed; (3) the possibility of multiple images due to strong lensing by galaxies or galaxy …

Developing A Practice In Remote Sensing For Next-Generation Human Rights Researchers, Theresa Harris, Jonathan Drake, Umesh K. Haritashya, Wumi Asubiaro Dada, Fredy Cumes

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Remote sensing is increasingly recognized as an important tool for documenting human rights abuses. When used alongside interviews, case studies, surveys, forensic science, and other well-established research methods in human rights and humanitarian practice, remotely sensed data can effectively geolocate and establish chronologies for mass graves, forced displacement, destruction of cultural heritage sites, and other violations. But as a highly technical field of science that relies on ever-changing technologies, remote sensing and geospatial analysis are not readily accessible for human rights and humanitarian practitioners. The community of practice grew out of innovative work by practitioners at NGOs and specialized inter-governmental …

Search For Lensing Signatures In The Gravitational-Wave Observations From The First Half Of Ligo-Virgo's Third Observing Run, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott

Faculty Publications

We search for signatures of gravitational lensing in the gravitational-wave signals from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo during O3a, the first half of their third observing run. We study: (1) the expected rate of lensing at current detector sensitivity and the implications of a non-observation of strong lensing or a stochastic gravitational-wave background on the merger-rate density at high redshift; (2) how the interpretation of individual high-mass events would change if they were found to be lensed; (3) the possibility of multiple images due to strong lensing by galaxies or galaxy …

A Gravitational-Wave Measurement Of The Hubble Constant Following The Second Observing Run Of Advanced Ligo And Virgo (Vol 908, 218, 2021), B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Multi-Scale Feedback And Feeding In The Closest Radio Galaxy Centaurus A, B. Mckinley, S. J. Tingay, M. Gaspari, R. P. Kraft, C. Matherne, A. R. Offringa, M. Mcdonald, M. S. Calzadilla, S Veilleux, S. S. Shabala, S. D. J. Gwyn, J. Bland-Hawthorn, D. Crnojevic, B. M. Gaensler, M. Johnston-Hollitt

Faculty Publications

Supermassive black holes and supernova explosions at the centres of active galaxies power cycles of outflowing and inflowing gas that affect galactic evolution and the overall structure of the Universe(1,2). While simulations and observations show that this must be the case, the range of physical scales (over ten orders of magnitude) and paucity of available tracers make both the simulation and observation of these effects difficult(3,4). By serendipity, there lies an active galaxy, Centaurus A (NGC 5128)(5,6), at such a close proximity as to allow its observation over this entire range of scales and across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. In …

The Hashtag Project: The First Submillimeter Images Of The Andromeda Galaxy From The Ground, Matthew W.L. Smith, Stephen A. Eales, Thomas G. Williams, Bumhyun Lee, Zongnan Li, Pauline Barmby, Martin Bureau, Scott Chapman, Brian S. Cho, Aeree Chung, Eun Jung Chung, Hui Hsuan Chung, Christopher J.R. Clark, David L. Clements, Timothy A. Davis, Ilse De Looze, David J. Eden, Gayathri Athikkat-Eknath, George P. Ford, Yu Gao, Walter Gear, Haley L. Gomez, Richard De Grijs, Jinhua He, Luis C. Ho, Thomas M. Hughes, Sihan Jiao, Zhiyuan Li, Francisca Kemper

Physics and Astronomy Publications

Observing nearby galaxies with submillimeter telescopes on the ground has two major challenges. First, the brightness is significantly reduced at long submillimeter wavelengths compared to the brightness at the peak of the dust emission. Second, it is necessary to use a high-pass spatial filter to remove atmospheric noise on large angular scales, which has the unwelcome side effect of also removing the galaxy's large-scale structure. We have developed a technique for producing high-resolution submillimeter images of galaxies of large angular size by using the telescope on the ground to determine the small-scale structure (the large Fourier components) and a space …

Diving Beneath The Sea Of Stellar Activity: Chromatic Radial Velocities Of The Young Au Mic Planetary System, Bryson Cale, Michael Reefe, Peter Plavchan, Angelle Tanner, Eric Gaidos, Jonathan Gagne, Peter Gao, Stephen R. Kane, Victor J. S. Bejar, Nicolas Lodieu, Guillem Anglada-Escude, Ignasi Ribas, Enric Palle, Andreas Quirrenbach, Pedro Amado, Ansgar Reiners, Jose A. Caballero, Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio, Stefan Dreizler, Andrew W. Howard, Benjamin J. Fulton, Sharon Xuesong Wang, Kevin I. Collins, Mohammed El Mufti, Justin Wittrock, Emily A. Gilbert, Thomas Barclay, Baptiste Klein, Eder Martioli, Robert Wittenmyer, Duncan Wright, Brett Addison, Teruyuki Hirano, Motohide Tamura, Takayuki Kotani, Norio Narita, David Vermilion, Rena A. Lee, Claire Geneser, Johanna Teske, Samuel N. Quinn, David W. Latham, Gilbert A. Esquerdo, Michael L. Calkins, Perry Berlind, Farzaneh Zohrabi, Caitlin Stibbards, Srihan Kotnana, Jon Jenkins, Joseph D. Twicken, Christopher Henze, Richard Kidwell, Jr., Christopher Burke, Joel Villasenor, Patricia Boyd

Faculty Publications

We present updated radial-velocity (RV) analyses of the AU Mic system. AU Mic is a young (22 Myr) early-M dwarf known to host two transiting planets-P-b similar to 8.46 days, R-b = 4.381(-0.18)(+0.18) R-circle plus, P-c similar to 18.86 days, R-c = 3.5(-0.16)(+0.16) R-circle plus. With visible RVs from Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exo-earths with Near-infrared and optical echelle Spectrographs (CARMENES)-VIS, CHIRON, HARPS, HIRES, MINERVA-Australis, and Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph, as well as near-infrared (NIR) RVs from CARMENES-NIR, CSHELL, IRD, iSHELL, NIRSPEC, and SPIRou, we provide a 5 sigma upper limit to the mass of AU …

Software Training In Hep, Sudhir Malik, Samuel Meehan, Kilian Lieret, Meirin Oan Evans, Michel H. Villanueva, Daniel S. Katz, Graeme A. Stewart, Peter Elmer, Sizar Aziz, Matthew Bellis, Riccardo Maria Bianchi, Gianluca Bianco, Johan Sebastian Bonilla, Angela Burger, Jackson Burzynski, David Chamont, Matthew Feickert, Philipp Gadow, Bernhard Manfred Gruber

Faculty and Student Publications

The long-term sustainability of the high-energy physics (HEP) research software ecosystem is essential to the field. With new facilities and upgrades coming online throughout the 2020s, this will only become increasingly important. Meeting the sustainability challenge requires a workforce with a combination of HEP domain knowledge and advanced software skills. The required software skills fall into three broad groups. The first is fundamental and generic software engineering (e.g., Unix, version control, C++, and continuous integration). The second is knowledge of domain-specific HEP packages and practices (e.g., the ROOT data format and analysis framework). The third is more advanced knowledge involving …

Learning Orbital Dynamics Of Binary Black Hole Systems From Gravitational Wave Measurements, Brendan Keith, Akshay Khadse, Scott E. Field

Faculty and Student Publications

We introduce a gravitational waveform inversion strategy that discovers mechanical models of binary black hole (BBH) systems. We show that only a single time series of (possibly noisy) waveform data is necessary to construct the equations of motion for a BBH system. Starting with a class of universal differential equations parameterized by feed-forward neural networks, our strategy involves the construction of a space of plausible mechanical models and a physics-informed constrained optimization within that space to minimize the waveform error. We apply our method to various BBH systems including extreme and comparable mass ratio systems in eccentric and noneccentric orbits. …

Order And Harmony: Kepler’S Guiding Forces, Dan Broadbent

Faculty Publications

Adapted from the article “Order and Harmony: Kepler’s Guiding Forces” included in “Towards Mysteries of the Cosmos with Johannes Kepler – on the 450th Anniversary of His Birth,” a commemorative volume published by the Obserwatorium Atronommiczne Krolowej Jadwigi Rzepienniku Biskupim (Queen Jadwiga Observatory of Rzepiennik Biskupi Poland) December 2021. Adapted with permission.

As the subject librarian for physics and astronomy at Brigham Young University, the author has had the privilege of handling some of Johannes Kepler’s original books preserved in the university’s archives. One of the most impressive materials in the archive is a large page from Mysterium Cosmographicum that …

An Argument For The Second Nuclear Era: Salvaging The Atomic Age In Response To Climate Change, Ian Sager

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Image Data Analysis And Design Optimization Of The Snowball Chamber, Yujia Huang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Dark Matter is the invisible massive particle that makes up over 26.8 percent of the mass-energy content of the universe. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, or WIMPs, are one of the candidates of dark matter particles. Many scientists around the world are trying to figure out how to detect detect dark matter using either indirect search, direct production or direct detection experiments. However, due to the lack of evidence of finding WIMPs in direct detection experiments at a large mass scale, a call for investigating WIMPs at a lower mass range is attracting more attention.

Analysis Of Titan's Fluvial Features Using Numerical Modeling, Jeshurun Horton

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

River channels have been observed near the Huygens probe landing site on the surface of Titan, along with evidence of rounded water ice boulders transported through fluid flow. Evidence near the landing site suggests active flow of liquid methane, which has motivated the study of the effects of sediment load and channel sizes on Titan’s fluvial features. A numerical model is used to determine the viscosity, flow velocity, and critical boulder transport diameter based on channel size, slope, and a range of sediment concentrations. This model achieves two ends: first, observed boulder diameters are used to determine the ideal channel …

Tic 172900988: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet Detected In One Sector Of Tess Data, V. B. Kostov, B. P. Powell, J. A. Orosz, W. F. Welsh, W. Cochran, K. A. Collins, M. Endl, C. Hellier, D. W. Latham, P. Macqueen, J. Pepper, B. Quarles, L. Sairam, G. Torres, R. F. Wilson, S. Bergeron, P. Boyce, A. Bieryla, R. Buchheim, C. B. Christiansen, D. R. Ciardi, K. I. Collins, D. M. Conti, S. Dixon, P. Guerra, N. Haghighipour, J. Herman, E. G. Hintz, W. S. Howard, Eric L.N. Jensen, J. F. Kielkopf, E. Kruse, N. M. Law, D. Martin, P. F. L. Maxted, B. T. Montet, F. Murgas, M. Nelson, G. Olmschenk, S. Otero, R. Quimby, M. Richmond, R. P. Schwarz, A. Shporer, K. G. Stassun, D. C. Stephens, A. H. M. J. Triaud, J. Ulowetz, B. S. Walter, E. Wiley, D. Wood, M. Yenawine, E. Agol, T. Barclay, T. G. Beatty, I. Boisse, D. A. Caldwell, J. Christiansen, K. D. Colón, M. Deleuil, L. Doyle, M. Fausnaugh, G. Fűrész, E. A. Gilbert, G. Hébrard, D. J. James, J. Jenkins, S. R. Kane, R. C. Kidwell Jr., R. Kopparapu, G. Li, J. J. Lissauer, M. B. Lund, S. R. Majewski, T. Mazeh, S. N. Quinn, E. Quintana, G. Ricker, J. E. Rodriguez, J. Rowe, A. Santerne, J. Schlieder, S. Seager, M. R. Standing, D. J. Stevens, E. B. Ting, R. Vanderspek, J. N. Winn

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We report the first discovery of a transiting circumbinary planet detected from a single sector of Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data. During Sector 21, the planet TIC 172900988b transited the primary star and then five days later it transited the secondary star. The binary is itself eclipsing, with a period P ≈ 19.7 days and an eccentricity e ≈ 0.45. Archival data from ASAS-SN, Evryscope, KELT, and SuperWASP reveal a prominent apsidal motion of the binary orbit, caused by the dynamical interactions between the binary and the planet. A comprehensive photodynamical analysis of the TESS, archival and follow-up data …

Toi-1201 B: A Mini-Neptune Transiting A Bright And Moderately Young M Dwarf, D. Kossakowski, J. Kemmer, P. Bluhm, S. Stock, J. A. Caballero, V. J. S. Béjar, C. Cardona Guillén, N. Lodieu, K. A. Collins, M. Oshagh, M. Schlecker, N. Espinoza, E. Pallé, T. Henning, L. Kreidberg, M. Kürster, P. J. Amado, D. R. Anderson, J. C. Morales, S. Cartwright, D. Charbonneau, P. Chaturvedi, C. Cifuentes, D. M. Conti, M. Cortés-Contreras, S. Dreizler, D. Galadí-Enríquez, P. Guerra, R. Hart, C. Hellier, C. Henze, E. Herrero, S. V. Jeffers, J. M. Jenkins, Eric L.N. Jensen, A. Kaminski, J. F. Kielkopf, M. Kunimoto, M. Lafarga, D. W. Latham, J. Lillo-Box, R. Luque, K. Molaverdikhani, D. Montes, G. Morello, E. H. Morgan, G. Nowak, A. Pavlov, M. Perger, E. V. Quintana, A. Quirrenbach, S. Reffert, A. Reiners, G. Ricker, I. Ribas, C. Rodríguez López, M. R. Zapatero Osorio, S. Seager, P. Schöfer, A. Schweitzer, T. Trifonov, S. Vanaverbeke, R. Vanderspek, R. West, J. Winn, M. Zechmeister

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We present the discovery of a transiting mini-Neptune around TOI-1201, a relatively bright and moderately young early M dwarf (J ≈ 9.5 mag, ~600–800 Myr) in an equal-mass ~8 arcsecond-wide binary system, using data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, along with follow-up transit observations. With an orbital period of 2.49 d, TOI-1201 b is a warm mini-Neptune with a radius of R_b = 2.415 ± 0.090 R_⊕. This signal is also present in the precise radial velocity measurements from CARMENES, confirming the existence of the planet and providing a planetary mass of M_b = …

Toi-1431b/Mascara-5b: A Highly Irradiated Ultrahot Jupiter Orbiting One Of The Hottest And Brightest Known Exoplanet Host Stars, B. C. Addison, E. Knudstrup, I. Wong, G. Hébrard, P. Dorval, I. Snellen, S. Albrecht, A. Bello-Arufe, J.-M. Almenara, I. Boisse, X. Bonfils, S. Dalal, O. D. S. Demangeon, S. Hoyer, F. Kiefer, N. C. Santos, G. Nowak, R. Luque, M. Stangret, E. Palle, R. Tronsgaard, V. Antoci, L. A. Buchhave, M. N. Günther, T. Daylan, F. Murgas, H. Parviainen, E. Esparza-Borges, N. Crouzet, N. Narita, A. Fukui, K. Kawauchi, N. Watanabe, M. Rabus, M. C. Johnson, G. P. P. L. Otten, G. J. Talens, S. H. C. Cabot, D. A. Fischer, F. Grundahl, M. Fredslund Andersen, J. Jessen-Hansen, P. Pallé, A. Shporer, D. R. Ciardi, J. T. Clark, R. A. Wittenmyer, D. J. Wright, J. Horner, K. A. Collins, Eric L.N. Jensen, J. F. Kielkopf, R. P. Schwarz, G. Srdoc, M. Yilmaz, H. V. Senavci, B. Diamond, D. Harbeck, T. D. Komacek, J. C. Smith, S. Wang, J. D. Eastman, K. G. Stassun, D. W. Latham, R. Vanderspek, S. Seager, J. N. Winn, J. M. Jenkins, D. R. Louie, L. G. Bouma, J. D. Twicken, A. M. Levine, B. Mclean

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We present the discovery of a highly irradiated and moderately inflated ultrahot Jupiter, TOI-1431b/MASCARA-5 b (HD 201033b), first detected by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission (TESS) and the Multi-site All-Sky Camera (MASCARA). The signal was established to be of planetary origin through radial velocity measurements obtained using SONG, SOPHIE, FIES, NRES, and EXPRES, which show a reflex motion of K = 294.1 ± 1.1 m s⁻¹. A joint analysis of the TESS and ground-based photometry and radial velocity measurements reveals that TOI-1431b has a mass of M_p = 3.12 ± 0.18 M_J (990 ± 60 M_{⊕ …}

On The Mobility Of Small Aperture Telescopes For Initial Orbit Determination And Apparent Magnitude Derivation Of Low Earth Satellites, Jonathan Ian Hernandez

Master's Theses

Maintaining Space Domain Awareness (SDA) of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) requires effective methods of tracking and characterization. Optical measurements of these objects are generally sparse due to limited access intervals and high angular rates. Light pollution and geographic obstructions may also preclude consistent observations. However, a mobile small aperture telescope grants the ability to minimize such environmental effects, thereby increasing capture likelihoods for objects within this regime. By enhancing LEO satellite visibility in this way, extensive orbital and visual data are obtainable.

An 8-inch Meade LX200GPS telescope equipped with a Lumenera SKYnyx2-0M CCD camera comprises the system that …

Toi-2109: An Ultrahot Gas Giant On A 16 Hr Orbit, I. Wong, A. Shporer, G. Zhou, D. Kitzmann, T. D. Komacek, X. Tan, R. Tronsgaard, L. A. Buchhave, S. Vissapragada, M. Greklek-Mckeon, J. E. Rodriguez, J. P. Ahlers, S. N. Quinn, E. Furlan, S. B. Howell, A. Bieryla, K. Heng, H. A. Knutson, K. A. Collins, K. K. Mcleod, P. Berlind, P. Brown, M. L. Calkins, J. P. De Leon, E. Esparza-Borges, G. A. Esquerdo, A. Fukui, T. Gan, E. Girardin, C. L. Gnilka, M. Ikoma, Eric L.N. Jensen, J. Kielkopf, T. Kodama, S. Kurita, K. V. Lester, P. Lewin, G. Marino, F. Murgas, N. Narita, E. Pallé, R. P. Schwarz, K. G. Stassun, M. Tamura, N. Watanabe, B. Benneke, G. R. Ricker, D. W. Latham, R. Vanderspek, S. Seager, J. N. Winn, J. M. Jenkins, D. A. Caldwell, W. Fong, C. X. Huang, I. Mireles, J. E. Schlieder, B. Shiao, J. N. Villaseñor

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

We report the discovery of an ultrahot Jupiter with an extremely short orbital period of 0.67247414 ± 0.00000028 days (∼16 hr). The 1.347 ± 0.047 R_Jup planet, initially identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, orbits TOI-2109 (TIC 392476080)—a T_eff ∼ 6500 K F-type star with a mass of 1.447 ± 0.077 M_☉, a radius of 1.698 ± 0.060 R_☉, and a rotational velocity of v sin i_* = 81.9 ± 1.7 km s⁻¹. The planetary nature of TOI-2109b was confirmed through radial-velocity measurements, which yielded a planet mass of 5.02 …

Utilizing High Throughput Computing Techniques For The Predictions Of Spectroscopic Properties Of Astrophysically Relevant Molecules, Brian Ferrari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Here, we utilize Quantum Chemistry (QC) approaches to predict the structures, vibrational frequencies, infrared intensities and Raman activities of unusual molecular species using the General Atomic and Molecular Structure System (GAMESS(US)) package. A Python-based software, AutoGAMESS, was developed to automate the workflow and take advantage of High Throughput Computing (HTC) techniques enabling the automated generation of spectroscopic data from hundreds of calculations. This approach was utilized to determine these properties for a series of carbon oxides (C2On; n = 3 to 4), anticipated to be produced during the radiation of pure carbon dioxide ices, under conditions relevant to the interstellar …

Modeling Cherenkov Light Detection Timing For The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System, Keilan Finn Ramirez

Physics

The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) is an array of four 12-meter telescopes which use the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Technique to conduct high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. VERITAS detects magnitude and location information associated with Cherenkov light, and uses this information to indirectly observe gamma-rays through a software reconstruction process. VERITAS also records timing information corresponding to Cherenkov light detection, and this additional information could theoretically be incorporated into the reconstruction process to improve the accuracy of gamma-ray observations. The first step to including timing information is to understand when Cherenkov light detection would be expected from a known …

Identification And Characterization Of Bisbenzimide Compounds That Inhibit Human Cytomegalovirus Replication, Nicole Falci Finardi, Hyeongjun Kim, Lee Z. Hernandez, Matthew R. G. Russell, Catherine M-K Ho, Vattipally B. Sreenu, Hannah A. Wenham, Andy Merritt, Blair L. Strang

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The shortcomings of current anti-human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) drugs has stimulated a search for anti-HCMV compounds with novel targets. We screened collections of bioactive compounds and identified a range of compounds with the potential to inhibit HCMV replication. Of these compounds, we selected bisbenzimide compound RO-90-7501 for further study. We generated analogues of RO-90-7501 and found that one compound, MRT00210423, had increased anti-HCMV activity compared to RO-90-7501. Using a combination of compound analogues, microscopy and biochemical assays we found RO-90-7501 and MRT00210423 interacted with DNA. In single molecule microscopy experiments we found RO-90-7501, but not MRT00210423, was able to compact DNA, …

The Belle Ii Online–Offline Data Operations System, Matthew Barrett, Takanori Hara, Michel Hernández Villanueva, Kunxian Huang, Dhiraj Kalita, Petteri Kettunen, Prashant Shingade

Faculty and Student Publications

Data collection at the Belle II experiment started in the spring of 2019. During the early stages of the experiment it is important that the raw data are both copied to permanent storage and made available soon after being recorded to allow for the timely commissioning and calibration of the detector. Automated procedures have been developed to transfer the data from the detector in a timely manner; these procedures include fault management, performance monitoring, and quality checks. It is important that the systems put in place will also scale to the much higher data rates expected in the coming years …