|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Research
As an undergraduate, I worked for several years as a member of the
experimental astrophysics
group at the University of Chicago on the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging
Telescope Array System (VERITAS). VERITAS is a ground-based
gamma-ray observatory, composed of an array of four 12-meter optical
reflectors that are sensitive in the 50 GeV - 50 TeV energy range.
I was involved in several hardware aspects of the project, including
testing and designing parts of the high voltage systems.
I also conducted Monte Carlo simulations of gamma ray events predicted to
be detected by the telescopes under various instrumental constraints, to
better understand the effects of bad pixels and dead photomultiplier tubes and
to distinguish valid events from false triggers. As part of my senior thesis
project, I modeled cosmic ray events to help distinguish between direct
Cherenkov radiation and associated atmospheric air showers.
Since the intensity of direct Cherenkov radiation from cosmic rays is
proportional to the square of
the primary particle, studying direct Cherenkov radiation can give us insight
into the composition of cosmic rays in the PeV energy range. In addition, I
investigated alternative possible future arrangements of the VERITAS telescope
array in order to maximize the effective aperture for direct Chernkov
radiation
detection. My proposed configuration optimized the array to obtain an
effective
aperture over ten times larger than that of the largest cosmic ray detector.
I began my graduate studies at NMSU in Fall 2007, working with Dr. Rene
Walterbos using
multi-slit spectroscopic images to produce rotation curves for the diffuse
gaseous halo of NGC891 and several other edgeon galaxies. The diffuse gas
rotates more slowly than the cooler dense gas in the plane of the disk, and
the underlying cause for this lag is not well understood. Below is an
example spectrum of the halo gas taken using the multi-slit technique.
Using spectra like this one, we can derive the kinematics of the halo gas.
|
|
A multi-slit spectrum of Halpha for the north end of NGC891 taken with
the 3.5-meter at APO using a 16-slit mask. The x-axis shows the distribution
of flux with wavelength, and the y-axis is position. The diffuse gas above
and below the disk of the edge-on
galaxy can be seen in white in the center running along the x-axis.
The brightest white
spots are due to foreground stars.
|
In the summer of 2008, I worked for 6 weeks at the Australia Telescope National Facility in Sydney, Australia with Dr. Robert Braun, studying and comparing opaque HI clumps in M31, M33, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. These regions of localized opaque gas are interesting since they are not always well correlated with CO detections (which trace molecular gas), and initial inspections show that those without CO counterparts may be representative of early evolution toward giant molecular cloud formation.
|
|
On the left is a log column density map of M31 assuming optically thin gas.
On the right is the same image corrected for opacity, for comparison.
High column density opaque gas can be seen in clumps peppering the disk
in the righthand image. (Image courtesy of Robert Braun.)
|
I am currently studying the species abundances of several planetary nebulae in the Milky Way.
I am pleased to acknowledge support from a New Mexico Higher Education Department (HED) grant for women in the sciences and the New Mexico Space Grant.
Classes
I am a TA for an introductory astronomy class. Lab website.