observations of active galactic nuclei via a student operated remote observatory whitney wills

Observations of Active Galactic Nuclei via a Student Operated Remote

Observatory

Whitney Wills

Michael Carini-Faculty MentorDepartment of Physics and Astronomy

Western Kentucky University

AbstractI will describe an astronomical observatory run by undergraduatestudents under the supervision of faculty mentors. The facility is operated remotely from the campus of Western Kentucky University. Undergraduate students operate a 0.6m telescope equipped with a CCD camera to obtain data for key science projects. Our primary goal is the monitoring of the brightness variations of Active Galactic Nuclei and using these variations to investigate the physics at work in these objects. Working from a control room on WKU's campus, the telescope and camera are controlled over the internet. The scientific data is stored at the observatory and transferred via the internet to WKU's campus, where it is archived and analyzed by undergraduate students. I will report on the results of our first few months of monitoring AGNS.

Telescope Specifics

• 0.6 meter diameter primary mirror

• f/11

• Manufactured by Group 128

• Equatorial mount

• Ash Dome

• Installed in 1988

• Located 12 miles SW of Bowling Green

Refurbishment Work

• Astronomical Consultants and Equipment Inc. contracted to refurbish and automate the telescope

• Refurbishment work began July 1999• First light for refurbished telescope came in

October, 2000• Refurbished telescope dedicated November

22, 2000

Telescope Status

• Telescope is fully functional

• Remote and onsite observing capability

• 4 WKU undergraduate students routinely operating the telescope remotely and obtain data: Whitney Wills, Ashley Atkerson, Tala Monroe & Wes Ryle

What is an AGN?

Take a normal Galaxy

At the center add:1 supermassive BlackHole(mass = 105 - 109 times massof the sun) 1 accretion disk2 relativistic jets of material= 1 Active Galactic nucleus (AGN)

What is a BL Lac Object?

• The most extreme example of an AGN

• Highly variable continuum emission at all wavelengths

• Featureless optical spectra

• Highly variable polarization

Why Study these Objects?

• Featureless continuum means continuum radiation is the only diagnostic

• They vary, so why not?

• Variability is not regular, can’t get a few cycles and be finished

• Theoreticians need to be kept busy-models need data.

Observations

• Data obtained with the WKU Bell 0.6m Telescope, operated from WKU’s campus

• Axiom AP2e CCD(charge coupled device) camera

Data Reduction

• Used Image Reduction and Analysis Facility(IRAF) Software

• Removed background and thermal noise from the pictures(Bias and Dark levels)

• Removed non-linearity(Flat Field)

• Measured the brightness inside a circular aperture centered on the star

Results

• Light curve(plot of brightness vs time) constructed

• Shows a decline in brightness of 0.4 magnitudes followed by a brightness increase of 0.5 magnitudes over the 2 months of observing

The Bell 0.6m Telescope Bell Observatory from above

Whitney Wills and Lindsey Hopper at the Telescope

External View of the Observatory

Mr Rico Tyler and Dr. David Barnaby watch Mr. Tyler’s Franklin-Simpson High School Astronomy students operate the telescope from WKU’s control room during the observatory dedication ceremony

Acknowledgements

This project has been supported by NASA, the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium and the Applied Research and Technology Program (ARTP) at WKU