AggieSTAAR

The Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M University is pleased to host the Aggie Scholarships for Technology Advancements in Astronomical Research (AggieSTAAR) program in Summer 2022, 2023, and 2024. During the 10-week summer period, students conduct astronomical research or complete an instrumentation project with Texas A&M faculty and research staff, participate in weekly seminars and group discussions, and attend an observing trip to McDonald Observatory.

Possible fields of study in astronomical research include black holes, supernovae, cosmology, the high-redshift Universe, Dark Energy, the cosmic distance scale, the Milky Way galaxy, and extrasolar planets. Students may also work in the Munnerlyn astronomical Instrumentation lab and participate in designing and building astronomical instrumentation to support these fields of research for projects in which Texas A&M University is an institutional member: Giant Magellan Telescope, Hobby Eberly Telescope, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, and Dark Energy Survey.

Questions about the program may be addressed to Dr. Jennifer Marshall, AggieSTAAR program director, at marshall@tamu.edu.

AggieSTAAR 2024

Radio Observations of Dual Active Galactic Nuclei in Nearby Galaxies, Elizabeth N. Jones, Krista Lynee Smith

Long Slit Spectrograph using an Asymmetric Offner Relay, Evan J. Batteas, Luke M. Schmidt, Darren L. DePoy

Color Correcting for White Dwarf Supernovae, Gabriella M. Cruz, Yaswant Devarakonda, Peter J. Brown

Characterization of Focal Ration Degradation in Optical Fibers for Use in Astronomical Instruments, Hudson Malone, Noah Siebersma, Luke Schmidt

Investigating Radio Variability of AGN with VLITE, Jonas White, Krista Smith

Design and Fabrication of the Back-End for a Prototype Multi-Object Spectrograph, Mason D. Jelken, Luke M. Schmidt

Utilizing a High Power Broadband Light Source to Characterize the Throughput Ratio of Fiber Optics, Noah Siebersma, Hudson Malone, Luke Schmidt

Generating a Test Set for Machine Learning Detection of AM CVn Transients with TESS, Nhu Ngoc Ton, Ryan J. Oelkers

Ages of Quiescent Galaxies at 0.5 < z < 3.5 Derived from JWST Grism Data, Rishmita Rao, Lu Shen, Casey Papovich, Vicente Estrada-Carpenter

Attempting to Detect Methane in Titan's Atmosphere with ETSI, Yifan Wang, Ryan J. Oelkers

AggieSTAAR 2023

Long Slit Spectrograph using Asymmetric Offner, Evan Batteas, Luke M. Schmidt, D.L. DePoy

Simultaneous Multi-color Observations of Planetary Nebulae with ETSI, Nhu Ngoc Ton, Alexandra Boone, Ryan J. Oelkers

Calibration Measurements of Two Scientific Grade Astronomical Cameras, Jared Bull, Luke Schmidt, Ryan Oelkers

Spectral Reduction with the CTIO Spectrograph, Nathan Sala

Utilizing a High Power Broadband Light Source to Measure Throughout and Focal Ration Degradation of Fiber Optics, Noah Siebersma, Luke Schmidt

Exploring Stellar Kinematics Near NGC 772's Central Massive Black Hole, Christian Lambert, Jonelle L. Walsh

AggieSTAAR 2022

3D Printed Diffraction Gratings, Brant Conway, Zachary Read

Simultaneous Multi-Color Observations of an Unknown Variable Star, Nhu Ngoc Ton, Ryan J. Oelkers

Fiber Optic Characterization for Unprecedented Sky Subtraction (FOCUSS), Enrique Gonzalez Vega, Shravan Menon, Silvana Delgado Andrade