ARCSAT ID NUMBER: AS06

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE: 

Fun with galaxies: Time series imaging of Milky Way satellites for science and (Extra)galactic observations for curricular development

PI: 

Beth Willman and several undergraduate research assistants

OBSERVER(S): (people who will be doing the observing)

Beth Willman and several undergraduate research assistants (Chris Nagele, Eric Smith, Chris Garling of Haverford; Conor Hunt of Wesleyan; possibly another).  Possibly Jonathan Hargis (postdoc).

UNCERTIFIED/UNTRAINED OBSERVERS: (people who have not used ARCSAT before)

None of us have used ARCSAT before.  Willman, Nagele, and Smith have all observed with the ARC 3.5m on site.

COLLABORATORS: 

None.
 
CONTACT INFORMATION:

Beth Willman
bwillman@haverford.edu
cell phone: 646-285-8210
office phone: 610-896-1201

TIME REQUESTED: (give weeks from Mon night - Sun night, 

June 23 - 29 (First choice, because our primary science targets are rapidly setting.  Unfortunately IтАЩm out of town during all other earlier available weeks with dark first-half nights)

OR

June 30 - July 6 (A distant second choice)

INSTRUMENT: SurveyCam

FILTERS: gr are essential; possibly u, i, and/or H-alpha for pretty pics if available.

COMMENTS: We can get away with first half nights only, if you want to pair us with another institution (weтАЩd work out the night sharing etc.) 

BRIEF SCIENCE JUSTIFICATION:  (restrict yourself to 1-2 paragraphs)

For the last 3 years, Haverford College has been using the WIYN 0.9m telescope for a student-led project to search for RR Lyrae in nearby, ultra-faint Milky Way dwarf galaxies.  We aim to use the ARCSAT 0.5m to continue and augment this program, taking advantage of the remote access and (potentially) larger amount of time available to balance the difference in aperture and to continue achieving our scientific goals.  

Ultra-faint dwarf galaxies around the Milky Way provide unique benchmarks of the distribution of dark matter around our galaxy and of the formation of galaxies at the extreme.  However, they are difficult to study because they are star-poor.  RR Lyrae offer the opportunity to obtain distance estimates of and to study the extended structure of these objects.  We have one undergrad-led published paper (Boettcher et al 2013) on a new RR Lyrae found in Segue 2, and another in preparation (Gaughan, Smith, ... et al in preparation) on new RR Lyrae found in Ursa Major II.  Broad-band photometry on the ARCSAT can be used, in (relatively) dark conditions to reveal RR Lyrae out to ~60 kpc+ distances.  We will use time-series photometry during the first few hours of the night to search for  RR Lyrae in Bootes II and/or Bootes III and /or Coma Berenices.

Once our primary science targets set, we will observe a variety of other targets appropriate for undergraduate observational classes and/or outreach events, to test/develop ARCSAT as a curricular and as a possible outreach tool.  We will look at a star cluster and at тАЬpretty pictureтАЭ objects, selected by the students.  I have several undergraduates working at Haverford this summer who will analyze the time-series data in July for possible publication.