After
studying
stars
light-years
away,
senior
physics
major
Kyle
Pellegrin
'18
recently
attended
the
231st
American
Astronomical
Society
Conference
in
Washington
where,
under
the
mentorship
of
Dr.
Robert
Harmon
of
Ohio
Wesleyan
University,
he
and
fellow
undergraduate
researchers
presented
their
summer
research,
"Evolution
of
Starspots
on
LO
Pegasi."
The
project,
funded
by
the
National
Science
Foundation's
Research
Experiences
for
Undergraduates
Program,
focused
on
studying
starspots
on
the
surface
of
LO
Pegasi,
a
star
located
approximately
81
light-years
from
Earth.
"Starspots
are
regions
where
the
stellar
surface
is
colder
than
the
surrounding
area
of
the
star
due
to
the
star's
magnetic
field
suppressing
the
convection
of
plasma,"
Pellegrin
explained.
Modeling
the
stellar
surface
Pellegrin
and
his
research
partners
spent
the
summer
gathering
data
from
the
night
sky
using
the
Perkins
Observatory
facility
in
Delaware,
Ohio.
The
team
employed
a
technique
known
as
differential
photometry
to
gather
details
on
the
star's
brightness
and
then
fed
their
data
into
a
light
curve
inversion
program,
which
generated
models
of
the
stellar
surface.
The
models
will
provide
researchers
with
additional
tools
to
increase
their
fundamental
understanding
of
starspots
in
their
ongoing
efforts
to
expand
their
knowledge
of
the
universe.
"I
am
grateful
to
Dr.
Brent
Strunk
of
the
BW
Math
and
Computer
Science
Department
as
he
is
the
one
who
first
brought
the
NSF
research
opportunity
to
my
attention,"
Pellegrin
said.
New
round
of
research
Following
his
summer
research
experience,
Pellegrin
began
further
astronomical
studies
with
a
small
group
of
students
at
BW
under
the
guidance
of
Dr.
Peter
Hoekje
of
the
physics
department
and
professor
Gary
Kader,
director
of
the
Burrell
Memorial
Observatory.
"The
current
focus
of
this
on-campus
research
is
to
put
in
place
procedures
that
will
allow
for
further
successful
astronomical
observations,"
said
Pellegrin.
"This
will
provide
a
solid
foundation
to
support
future
work
partnering
with
the
American
Association
of
Variable
Star
Observers."
Pellegrin's
current
research
project
also
provided
the
basis
for
a
scholarship
grant
from
the
Ohio
Space
Grant
Consortium
(OSGC).
Along
with
presentations
from
other
OSGC
scholarship
recipients,
the
results
of
Pellegrin's
research
will
be
presented
at
the
Ohio
Aerospace
Institute
meeting
in
Cleveland
on
March
23.
