9528506 Dukes This award will provide support for seven astronomers at four primarily undergraduate institutions. The observations, to obtain data for the research projects, will be obtained by the continued use of an automated 0.75-m telescope. This telescope is operated by computer control and does not require an observer at the telescope. This type of telescope, known as an Automatic Photometric Telescope or "APT" yields data that is as good or better than that obtained by most manual observers. Telescopes of this type are revolutionizing the observations of certain types of astronomical objects which require an extensive series of measurements. These objects have traditionally been neglected since most astronomers have not had the time or the dedicated facilities required to observe them properly. Undergraduate students will be able to participate directly in the valuable research. The schools involved in the Four College Consortium are The College of Charleston, The Citadel, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and Villanova University. Some of the data needed for the projects are solely dependent on the APT data, and in other projects the APT data provides crucial ground-based data in support observations from orbiting observatories such as the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and ROSAT and ASCA satellites, which collect data in the X-ray region of the spectrum, as well as observations made with instruments such as the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. The major long term monitoring projects involve studying stars on and near the main stellar evolutionary sequence. Stars lying on the main sequence are those which are fusing hydrogen into helium in their central regions. These stars (the Sun is an example) are considered "normal" stars. The research projects to be carried out involve studying "peculiar" properties of these "normal" stars. These "peculiar" properties are observed in the Sun but are enhanced in stars which are o n the main sequence and are cooler than the Sun or hotter than the Sun. Specific projects to be carried out range from observations of hot, massive "B" stars to those of cool, low mass "M" stars. In order of decreasing stellar mass, these projects include: * Stellar Seismology and Investigations of Mass Ejection Events of "B" Stars * Hot, Chemically Peculiar Stars with Strong Magnetic Fields * The Sun in Time Project: A Coordinated Optical APT, UV, and X-ray Study OF Stars similar to the Sun but of different ages. * APT Observations of Very Young, Active Red Dwarfs * Search for Starspot Variability among Strong X-ray emitting Cool Stars Projects not involving main sequence stars include: * Internal Structures of Stars and Tests of General Relativity from Apsidal Motion: Studies of Eccentric Eclipsing Binaries * Studies of Stars having exhausted hydrogen in their central regions (Cepheid Strip Variable and Red Giant Stars)
