Undergraduate Research

ASTRO majors have an unusually wide range of opportunities to engage in research as undergraduates. PASTR majors have opportunities to participate, as well, if interested. However, we encourage PASTR students to consider opportunities for internships and similar experiences, which are discussed in a different section below. In research, the student can acquire skills not available in the classroom, participate in the excitement of pushing the frontiers of knowledge and technology, and earn important credentials for future jobs or education. Students typically begin research in the summer after their sophomore year, but some begin earlier. Research opportunities are many and varied in the department. Examples include:

• development of equipment for and analysis of data from the 9 meter Hobby-Eberly Telescope.
• analysis of images and spectra from Kitt Peak, Palomar, and Keck ground-based observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope. Topics have included search for extremely distant quasars, formation and evolution of galaxies, and study of dwarf galaxies and cataclysmic variable stars.
• analysis of images and spectra to search for and characterize exoplanets using data from MINERVA, the Davey Lab 24”, NASA Kepler mission, and other instruments used by faculty and students in the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds.
• analysis of data from the NAIC Arecibo radio telescope, searching for planets and other temporal phenomena in millisecond pulsars
• analysis of data from the Chandra and XMM X-ray telescopes. Penn State scientists have made extensive observations using these satellite-borne X-ray telescopes concerning quasars, young stars, supernova remnants, pulsars, and other topics.
• theoretical astrophysics on many topics including: interpretation of the enigmatic gamma-ray bursts; calculations of colliding black holes in Einstein’s General Relativity; dynamics of star clusters, formation of planetary systems, and the formation of the first stars in the early universe.
• participating in planning, data analysis, follow-up observations and interpretations for the Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer.
• performing lab hardware development as part of an instrument development team working on ground-based spectrographs, such as the HPF or NEID planet finders or x-ray detector development for space-based missions or sub-orbital rocket flights.

Undergraduate research in the department can be conducted either for academic credit (usually ASTRO 496 Independent Study) or for pay (full-time during the summer for students not taking summer classes or part-time during the academic year).

Individual student initiative is crucial for involvement in research. Students are encouraged to knock on doors, chat with various faculty, or ask their academic advisor or the Head of the Undergraduate Program for advice about research projects.

Students with particularly strong academic records can apply to more than a dozen nationally competitive summer research programs. Some are organized by national observatories (NRAO, NOAO), NASA, and DOE research centers. Other summer programs are hosted by other university departments nationwide under the auspices of the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program. Applications are typically due between December and February prior to the summer. The best method for identifying REU programs is by using the NSF’s website, which has REU programs broken up by discipline. Several of the astronomy sites do offer research opportunities in planetary science, as well.

Publications by ASTRO Undergraduates:

Undergraduate research projects often result in published papers. Our students are usually listed as coauthors on these publications. The student names are in boldface in the following list of publications.

2017 Publications:

"Outer Architecture of Kepler-11: Constraints from Coplanarity" Jontof-Hutter, Daniel; Weaver, Brian P.; Ford, Eric B.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Fabrycky, Daniel C. 2017 The Astronomical Journal, 153, 227

"A large systematic search for close supermassive binary and rapidly recoiling black holes - III. Radial velocity variations", Runnoe, J. C., Eracleous, M., Pennell, A., Mathes, G., Boroson, T., Sigurðsson, S., Bogdanović, T., Halpern, J. P., Liu, J., & Brown, S. 2017, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468, 1683

"Updating quasar bolometric luminosity corrections - III. [O III] bolometric corrections", Pennell, A., Runnoe, J. C. & Brotherton, M. S. 2017, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468, 1433

"Star Formation In Nearby Clouds (SFiNCs): X-Ray and Infrared Source Catalogs and Membership", Getman, K.V., Broos, P.S., Kuhn, M.A., Feigelson, E.D., Richert, A.J.W, Ota, Y., Bate, M.R., and Garmire, G.P., 2017, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 229, 28

2016 Publications:

"Search for Blazar Flux-correlated TeV Neutrinos in IceCube 40-string Data”, Turley, C. F., Fox, D. B., Murase, K., Falcone, A., Barnaba, M., Coutu, S., Cowen, D. F., Filippatos, G., Hanna, C., Keivani, A., Messick, C., Meszaros, P., Mostafa, M., Oikonomou, F., Shoemaker, I., Toomey, M., & Tesic, G., 2016, Astrophysical Journal, 833, 117

2015 Publications:

"Abiotic O2 Levels on Planets around F, G, K, and M Stars: Possible False Positives for Life?", Harman, C. E., Schwieterman, E. W., Schottelkotte, J. C., & Kasting, J.F., 2015 Astrophysical Journal, 812, 137

"A Search for Fast X-ray Variability from Active Galactic Nuclei using Swift", Pryal, M., Falcone, A.D., & Stroh, M., 2015 Astrophysical Journal, 802, 33

"A Chandra Search for a Pulsar Wind Nebula around PSR B1055-52" Posselt, B., Spence, G., & Pavlov, G. G. 2015 The Astrophysical Journal, 811, 96

"A Large Systematic Search for Close Supermassive Binary and Rapidly Recoiling Black Holes. II. Continued Spectroscopic Monitoring and Optical Flux Variability" Runnoe, J. C., Eracleous, M., Mathes, G., Pennell, A., Boroson, T., Sigurðsson, S., Bogdanović, T., Halpern, J. P., & Liu, J. 2015, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 221, 7

"A Search for Substellar Companions to the Two Nearest Brown Dwarf Systems", Melso, N.D., Kaldon, K.M., and Luhman, K.L., The Astronomical Journal, 150, 62

“Searching for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) in GALFACTS Data”, Kaldon, Kristina; Ghosh, Tapasi; Salter, Christopher J., American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #225, #336.29.

“Optimizing Focusing X-Ray Optics for Planetary Science Applications”, Melso, Nicole; Romaine, Suzanne; Hong, Jaesub; Cotroneo, Vincenzo, American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #225, #338.37.

2014 Publications:

“A Spitzer Survey for Wide Substellar Companions to Nearby Stars”, Melso, Nicole; Kaldon, K.; Luhman, K., American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #223, #441.08.

“Self Regulated Growth of Stars and Black Holes in Galaxies via Feedback”, Sherman, Sydney; Li, Y.; Zhu, Q., American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #223, #251.24

“Spectroscopic Monitoring of Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidates”, Mathes, Gavin; Eracleous, M.; Sigurdsson, S.; Runnoe, J. C.; Bogdanović, T., American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #223, 250.15

“A Positional X-ray Instrumentation Test Stand For Beam-Line Experiments”, Nikoleyczik, Jonathan; Prieskorn, Z.; Burrows, D. N.; Falcone, A., American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #223, 148.23

2013 Publications:

“Exoplanet Orbit Database”, Wright, J. T.; Kakhouri, O.; Marcy, G. W.; Han, E.; Feng, Y.; Johnson, J. A.; Howard, A. W.; Fischer, D. A.; Valenti, J. A.; Anderson, J.; Piskunov, N.

“New Features of the Exoplanet Orbit Database at Exoplanets.org”, Feng, Ying; Han, E.; Wright, J.; Fakhouri, O.; Ford, E. B.; Planet Survey, California

“Updates to the Exoplanet Orbit Database and Transit&Secondary Eclipse Ephemerides”, Han, Eunkyu; Feng, Y.; Wright, J.; Zhao, M.; Wang, X.; Fakhouri, O.; Kane, S. R.; Dragomir, D.

“The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON)”, Smith, M. W. E.; Fox, D. B.; Cowen, D. F.; Mészáros, P.; Tešić, G.; Fixelle, J.; Bartos, I.; Sommers, P.; Ashtekar, Abhay; Jogesh Babu, G.; Falcone, A. D.; Gao, Shan; Hashemi, B.; Homeier, A.; Márka, S.; Owen, B. J.; Taboada, I.

“Origin of the Correlations Between Supermassive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies”, Sherman, Sydney; Li, Y.; Zhu, Q.

2012 Publications:

“Ultraviolet Properties of Nearby Galaxies from Swift UV/Optical Telescope Imaging”, Hoversten, Erik A.; Berrier, Joshua; Conroy, C.; Gronwall, C.

“A near-infrared frequency comb for Y+J band astronomical spectroscopy”, Osterman, Steve; Ycas, Gabriel G.; Diddams, Scott A.; Quinlan, Franklyn; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Ramsey, Lawrence; Bender, Chad F.; Terrien, Ryan; Botzer, Brandon; Sigurdsson, Steinn; Redman, Stephen L.

“Demonstration of on-sky calibration of astronomical spectra using a 25 GHz near-IR laser frequency comb”, Yeas, Gabriel G.; Quinlan, Franklyn; Diddams, Scott A.; Osterman, Steve; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Redman, Stephen; Terrien, Ryan; Ramsey, Lawrence; Bender, Chad F.; Botzer, Brandon; Sigurdsson, Steinn

“On the sensitivity of the HAWC observatory to gamma-ray bursts”, Abeysekara, A. U.; et al, including Condreay, Phillip

“A Swift X-ray Survey Of The Localization For An Icecube 22-string Candidate Source Of High-energy Neutrinos”, Conlon, Kyle; Fox, D.

“Pipeline for Making Images of Gas Flows in Binary Stars”, Richards, Mercedes T.; Slobounov, Elena; Conover, Marshall; Fisher, John; Cocking, Alexander

“Cosmic Variance in the Physical Properties of Ly-alpha Emitting Galaxies at 2 < z < 3”, Gronwall, Caryl; Matkovic, A.; Ciardullo, R.; Feldmeier, J. J.; Hay, J.; MUSYC Collaboration

“Evidence for a Compact Wolf-Rayet Progenitor for the Type Ic Supernova PTF 10vgv’, Corsi, A.; Ofek, E. O.; Gal-Yam, A.; Frail, D. A.; Poznanski, D.; Mazzali, P. A.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Arcavi, I.; Ben-Ami, S.; Cenko, S. B.; Filippenko, A. V.; Fox, D. B.; Horesh, A.; Howell, J. L.; Kleiser, I. K. W.; Nakar, E.; Rabinak, I.; Sari, R.; Silverman, J. M.; Xu, D.; Bloom, J. S.; Law, N. M.; Nugent, P. E.; Quimby, R. M.

“Search for Relativistic Magnetic Monopoles with IceCube”, IceCube Collaboration, including Larson, Michael J.

“An improved method for measuring muon energy using the truncated mean of dE/dx”, IceCube Collaboration, including Larson, Michael J.

“New M, L, and T Dwarf Companions to Nearby Stars from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer”, Luhman, Kevin L.; Loutrel, Nicholas P.; McCurdy, Nicholas S.; Mace, Gregory N.; Melso, Nicole D.; Star, Kimberly M.; Young, Michael D.; Terrien, Ryan C.; McLean, Ian S.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Rhode, Katherine L., The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 760, Issue 2, article id. 152, 9 pp.

“The HD 192263 System: Planetary Orbital Period and Stellar Variability Disentangled,” Dragomir, Diana; Kane, Stephen R.; Henry, Gregory W.; Ciardi, David R.; Fischer, Debra A.; Howard, Andrew W.; Jensen, Eric L. N.; Laughlin, Gregory; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Matthews, Jaymie M.; Pilyavsky, Genady; von Braun, Kaspar; Wang, Sharon X.; Wright, Jason T.

“The TERMS Project: Improved Orbital Parameters and Photometry of HD168443 and the Photometry Pipeline,” Pilyavsky, Genady; Mahadevan, S.; Kane, S. R.; Howard, A. W.; Ciardi, D. R.; de Pree, C.; Dragomir, D.; Fischer, D.; Henry, G. W.; Jensen, E. L. N.; Laughlin, G.; Marlowe, H.; Rabus, M.; von Braun, K.; Wright, J. T.; Wang, X.

“Scaling Relations Between Low-mass Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies”, Zhu, Qirong; Li, Yuexing; Sherman, Sydney.

2011 Publications:

“Precision Rvs In The Nir: First On-sky Velocities With A U/ne Lamp And A Laser Frequency Comb”, Mahadevan, Suvrath; Ramsey, L.; Redman, S.; Bender, C.; Terrien, R.; Botzer, B.; Osterman, S.; Diddams, S.; Ycas, G.; Quinlan, F.

“Laser Frequency Comb Supported Stellar Radial Velocity Determination in the NIR: Initial Results”, Osterman, Steve; Diddams, S.; Quinlan, F.; Ycas, G.; Mahadevan, S.; Ramsey, L.; Bender, C.; Terrien, R.; Botzer, B.; Redman, S.

“First Stellar Radial Velocities with a Laser Frequency Comb: Observations in the NIR H Band”, Osterman, Steve; Diddams, S.; Quinlan, F.; Ycas, G.; Mahadevan, S.; Ramsey, L.; Bender, C.; Redman, S.; Terrien, R.; Botzer, B.

“Precision Radial Velocities in the near-infrared Y and H bands with the Penn State Pathfinder Instrument”, Terrien, Ryan; Mahadevan, S.; Ramsey, L.; Bender, C.; Redman, S.; Osterman, S.; Diddams, S.; Ycas, G.; Quinlan, F.; Botzer, B.

“A Precision Radial Velocity Pathfinder Instrument in the H Band with a Laser Frequency Comb”, Mahadevan, Suvrath; Ramsey, L.; Redman, S.; Bender, C.; Botzer, B.; Osterman, S.; Diddams, S.; Ycas, G.; Quinlan, F.

“The Exoplanet Orbit Database”, Wright, J. T.; Fakhouri, O.; Marcy, G. W.; Han, E.; Feng, Y.; Johnson, John Asher; Howard, A. W.; Fischer, D. A.; Valenti, J. A.; Anderson, J.; Piskunov, N.

“IceCube sensitivity for low-energy neutrinos from nearby supernovae”, IceCube Collaboration, including Larson, Michael J.

“Search for a diffuse flux of astrophysical muon neutrinos with the IceCube 40-string detector”, Abbasi, R.; Abdou, Y.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; et al, including Larson, Michael J.

“The MgII Absorption View Through z<1 Galaxies”, Mathes, Nigel; Rodriguez-Hidalgo, P.; Charlton, J.; Rao, S.; Nestor, D.

“Visible and Near-Infrared Properties of Optical Fibers Coupled to the Pathfinder High-Resolution NIR Spectrograph”, McCoy, Keegan; Ramsey, Lawrence

“A Search for the Transit of HD 168443b: Improved Orbital Parameters and Photometry”, Pilyavsky, Genady; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Kane, Stephen R.; Howard, Andrew W.; Ciardi, David R.; de Pree, Chris.; Dragomir, Diana; Fischer, Debra; Henry, Gregory W.; Jensen, Eric L. N.; Laughlin, Gregory; Marlowe, Hannah; Rabus, M.; von Braun, Kaspar.; Wright, Jason T.; Wang, Xuesong X.

“TERMS Photometry of Known Transiting Exoplanets”, Dragomir, Diana; Kane, Stephen R.; Pilyavsky, Genady; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Ciardi, David R.; Gazak, J. Zachary; Celino, Dawn M.; Payne, Alan; Rabus, Markus; Ramirez, Solange V.; von Braun, Kaspar; Wright, Jason T.; Wyatt, Pamela

“The TERMS Project: Systematic Transit Exclusion”, Kane, Stephen R.; Ciardi, D.; Dragomir, D.; Fischer, D.; Henry, G.; Howard, A.; Jensen, E.; Laughlin, G.; Mahadevan, S.; Pilyavsky, G.; von Braun, K.; Wang, X.; Wright, J.

“Stellar Variability of the Exoplanet Hosting Star HD 63454”, Kane, Stephen R.; Dragomir, Diana; Ciardi, David R.; Lee, Jae-Woo; Lo Curto, Gaspare; Lovis, Christophe; Naef, Dominique; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Pilyavsky, Genady; Udry, Stephane; Wang, Xuesong; Wright, Jason

“Improved Orbital Parameters and Transit Monitoring for HD 156846b”, Kane, Stephen R.; Howard, Andrew W.; Pilyavsky, Genady; Mahadevan, Suvrath; Henry, Gregory W.; von Braun, Kaspar; Ciardi, David R.; Dragomir, Diana; Fischer, Debra A.; Jensen, Eric; Laughlin, Gregory; Ramirez, Solange V.; Wright, Jason T.

“Improving Transit Predictions of Known Exoplanets with TERMS”, Kane, Stephen R.; Ciardi, D.; Dragomir, D.; Fischer, D.; Henry, G.; Howard, A.; Jensen, E.; Laughlin, G.; Mahadevan, S.; Pilyavsky, G.; von Braun, K.; Wright, J.

“Transit Monitoring of Known Exoplanets with TERMS”, Kane, Stephen R.; Ciardi, D.; Fischer, D.; Gelino, D.; Henry, G.; Howard, A.; Jensen, E.; Laughlin, G.; Mahadevan, S.; Pilyavsky, G.; von Braun, K.; Wright, J.

2010 Publications:

“GRB 090417B and its Host Galaxy: A Step Toward an Understanding of Optically Dark Gamma-ray Bursts,” Holland, Stephen T.; Sbarufatti, Boris; Shen, Rongfeng; Schady, Patricia; Cummings, Jay R.; Fonseca, Emmanuel; Fynbo, Johan P. U.; Jakobsson, Páll; Leitet, Elisabet; Linné, Staffan; Roming, Peter W. A.; Still, Martin; Zhang, Bing, Astrophysical Journal, 717, 1 (2010)

“The Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 090417b and its Host Galaxy: A Step Towards an Understanding of Optically-Dark Gamma-Ray Bursts,” Holland, Stephen; Sbarufatti, B.; Shen, R.; Schady, P.; Cummings, J.; Fonseca, E.; Fynbo, J.; Jakobsson, P.; Leitet, E.; Linne, S.; Roming, P.; Still, M.; Zhang,B., Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 2.07 (2010)

“Spectral Energy Distributions of Weak Active Galactic Nuclei Associated with Low-Ionization Nuclear Emission Regions,” Eracleous, M.; Hwang, J. A.; Flohic, H. M. L. G. Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.187.135E (2010)

“An Assessment of the Energy Budgets of Low-Ionization Nuclear Emission Regions,” Eracleous, Michael; Hwang, Jason A.; Flohic, Hélène M. L. G. The Astrophysical Journal,

711, 2, (2010)

“Choosing the Initial LISA Orbital Configuration”, Jani, Karan; Finn, Lee Samuel; Benacquista, Mathew

“A Bare Molecular Cloud at z ~ 0.45,” Jones, Therese M.; Misawa, Toru; Charlton, Jane C.; Mshar, Andrew C.; Ferland, Gary J., Astrophysical Journal, 715, 2 (2010)

“Connections of MgII Absorption Kinematics and Galaxy Properties for a Sample of DLAs and Sub-DLAs,” Mathes, Nigel; Rodriguez Hidalgo, P.; Charlton, J.; Jones, T.; Rao, S., Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 215.460.09 (2010)

“Alpha-enhancement and Evolution of Very Strong MgII Absorbers,” Rodriguez, Paola; Wessels, K.; Charlton, J. C.; Jones, T. M.; Cucchiara, A.; Mshar, A.; Narayanan, A., Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 215.460.02 (2010)

“The Observational Limits Of Ground Based Gravitational Wave Detectors: Core-collapse Supernovae,” Lang, Meagan; Bondarescu, R.; Finn, L.; Fisher, R.; Kopparapu, R., Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 215.406.08 (2010)

“Gravitational-wave astronomy with Stokes Parameters,” Bondarescu, Ruxandra; Kopparapu, R.; Finn, L.; Lang, M.; Summerscales, T., Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 215.406.07 (2010)

“Tidal Tails in Interacting Galaxies: Formation of Compact Stellar Structures,” Mullan, B.; Charlton, J. C.; Konstantopoulos, I. S.; Bastian, N.; Chandar, R.; Durrell, P. R.; Elmegreen, D.; English, J.; Gallagher, S. C.; Gronwall, C.; Lee, K. H.; Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2010., p.129 (2010)

“Star Formation In Hickson Compact Group 7: U-band Studies Of A Future Dry Merger,” Lee, Kising; Konstantopoulos, I.; Charlton, J.; Gallagher, S.; Fedotov, K.; HCG Team; Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 215.478.09 (2010)

“A Limit on the Number of Isolated Neutron Stars Detected in the ROSAT All-Sky-Survey Bright Source Catalog,” Turner, Monica L.; Rutledge, Robert E.; Letcavage, Ryan; Shevchuk, Andrew S. H.; Fox, Derek B., The Astrophysical Journal, 714, 2 (2010)

“Connections of MgII Absorption Kinematics and Galaxy Properties for a Sample of DLAs and Sub-DLAs”, Mathes, Nigel; Rodriguez Hidalgo, P.; Charlton, J.; Jones, T.; Rao, S.

“The K-Band Quasar Luminosity Function from an SDSS and UKIDSS Matched Catalog,” Peth, Michael; Ross, N. P.; Schneider, D. P.; Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 215.433.20 (2010)

“Measurement of sound speed vs. depth in South Pole ice for neutrino astronomy,” Icecube Collaboration; Abbasi, R.; Abdou, Y.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; Adams, J.; Aguilar, J. A.; Ahlers, M.; Andeen, K.; Auffenberg, J.; Bai, X.; Baker, M.; and 250 coauthors (including Stephens, Grant), Astroparticle Physics, Volume 33, Issue 5-6, p. 277-286. (2010)

“Limits on a muon flux from Kaluza-Klein dark matter annihilations in the Sun from the IceCube 22-string detector,” Icecube Collaboration; Abbasi, R.; Abdou, Y.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; Adams, J.; Aguilar, J. A.; Ahlers, M.; Andeen, K.; Auffenberg, J.; Bai, X.; Baker, M.; and 249 coauthors (including Stephens, Grant), Physical Review D, 81, 5 (2010)

“Search for Muon Neutrinos from Gamma-ray Bursts with the IceCube Neutrino Telescope,” Icecube Collaboration; Abbasi, R.; Abdou, Y.; Abu-Zayyad, T.; Adams, J.; Aguilar, J. A.; Ahlers, M.; Andeen, K.; Auffenberg, J.; Bai, X.; Baker, M.; and 249 coauthors (including Stephens, Grant), The Astrophysical Journal, 710, 1 (2010)

“Luminosity Functions and Photometric Properties of Lyman-alpha Emitters at 2 < z < 3,” Wolf, Christopher; Sinawa, S.; Ciardullo, R.; Gronwall, C.; Guaita, L.; Gawiser, E.; Bond, N.; Feldmeier, J.; Padilla, N.; MUSYC Collaboration, Bulletin American Astronomical Society, No. 215.410.10 (2010)