Undergraduate Research Opportunities
at Steward Observatory

Steward Observatory encourages astronomy majors to actively engage in research. Research provides students with a better idea of what a professional astronomer does and insight into potential areas of specialization. For a student to successfully compete for entrance into a graduate program in astronomy, it has become increasingly important for he or she to have played a major role in one or more research projects.

I. Research with a Faculty Mentor

Description of Undergraduate Research

Usually undergraduate research is conducted in association with a faculty advisor. The faculty advisor acts as a mentor providing the student with aid and guidance when needed. The great diversity in research areas being addressed by Steward faculty members provides an undergraduate researcher with many possible research topics. A few of these are described below. Each spring a campus-wide, Undergraduate Research Forum is held. In the Forum students present the results of their research activities. The pictures above were taken at the 1996 Undergraduate Research Forum. Successful projects could also be published in the astronomical literature and presented at national conferences.

Sample of Undergraduate Research Projects

Student Name	Research Area	Faculty Advisor
Matt Fisher	2-Micron All-Sky Survey	Dr. Jim Liebert
James Pizagno	Multiwavelength Extinction for a Double Galaxy System	Dr. Hans Walter Rix
Sarah O'Brien	Periodicities in the H-alpha Variability of T-Tauri Stars	Dr. Mark Giampapa
	Automation of Instrumentation for Small Optical and Radio Telescopes	Drs. Constance Walker & Christopher Walker
	HST Photometric Observations of 2 Post-AGB stars	Dr. Howard Bond
	Performance Tests of an ST-6 CCD Camera	Dr. Don McCarthy
Megan Sosey	ROSAT X-Ray Characteristics on W UMa type Contact Binaries	Dr. Tom Fleming
	Science and Education through the WWW	Dr. Christoph Keller at NSO
	UBV Photometery on White Dwarfs	Dr. Holberg at LPL
	Click Here for More Information
Natalie Butler	Automated Supernovae Search	Dr. Phil Pinto
	Multi-Spectra Images of Galaxian Clusters	Dr. John Hill
Matthew Bradstreet	Symbiotic Star System Oceit "Mira B"	Dr. Keith Hege
David Vakil	Photometry of Nearby Galaxies at 2300 Angstroms	Dr. Hans-Walter Rix
Yancy Shirley	The Effects of Molecular Outflows on Cluster Formation	Dr. Christopher Walker
	Automation of a 12 ft. Diameter Radio Telescope	Dr. Christopher K. Walker

Funding

In many instances an undergraduate researcher working with a faculty advisor can get paid for their efforts. Funding may come through either the advisor's research grants or through the NASA Space Grant Program.

Independent Research

During the course of their undergraduate studies, a student may come up with a research project of their own. Students are encourage to pursue their ideas using the computational and observational resources of the observatory. Students interested in pursuing and independent project are encouraged to team up with a faculty mentor who's research interests are closest to that of the student's.

III. Research Facilities

A. 21 Inch Optical Telescope

B. 12 foot diameter Radio Telescope