[phas-dept] Physics and Astronomy Colloquium This Thursday

[Matt Wood]

Dear all:
Resend with picture and abstract.  Dr. Whelan will be arriving around 2pm tomorrow.  If anybody would like to meet with him, please contact me.  We’ll also be taking him to dinner.  Austin College is just an hour away in Sherman, TX.

Colloquium

Oct. 15, Thursday, 4-5pm in Science 127 (coffee and cookies served at 3:50pm)
All students currently enrolled in Physics 401 and 501 are required to attend all colloquia

A Campaign to Spectroscopically Monitor B-Type Emission-Line Stars: Year One

Prof. David G. Whelan, Austin College

[cid:5F9E7C5E-3D01-441D-9EAE-429A199DBA0F]
Dr. David G. Whelan is in his second year on the faculty at Austin College. An
astrophysicist, he earned his Ph.D. in 2013 from the University of Virginia. He is
part of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE)
team, one of the four surveys currently being conducted as part of the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). His primary research interests are on the nature of
massive stars and their impact on the interstellar medium. At Austin College, Dr.
Whelan works with undergraduate students at the new Adams Observatory's
24-inch telescope to study a sample of new Be stars that were discovered with
APOGEE.

Abstract:
Beginning in 2011, the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE)
began a spectroscopic campaign to study the history of the Milky Way Galaxy. During the first three
years of observations, APOGEE revealed 128 previously unknown emission-line B-type stars (Be
stars), and observed a further 110 known Be stars. This is the largest near-infrared high-resolution
spectroscopic and multi-epoch dataset of Be stars in existence. APOGEE-2, which began observing in
2014, is making additional contributions to the original dataset.
As part of a campaign to determine the spectroscopic characteristics of the objects in this
sample, our group has undertaken a systematic program to observe this sample at optical wavelengths.
Many of our optical spectra have been taken at larger telescopes, but a growing number of optical
spectra have been taken with the Adams Observatory, Austin College. Undergraduate students are
taking part in every aspect of the project from sample selection to data collection and reduction, and
then the analysis of these data.
I will highlight certain discoveries made using the APOGEE sample, as well as some surprises
from the optical follow-up. Plans for future work will be brought up, including some more directed
work on Be stars in clusters with APOGEE-2, as well as what we are developing at Adams Observatory
to make efficient use of our time and resources.





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