Dr. Megan Schwamb is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at Yale University. In collaboration with a three-year survey of the southern hemisphere led by Yale, Dr. Schwamb will search the southern skies for the largest and brightest members of the Kuiper belt and study the orbital and physical characteristics of these new discoveries and what they reveal about the dynamical history and environment of the early solar system. Dr. Schwamb will use spectroscopic observations to examine the surface volatile inventory and the processes shaping the surfaces and atmospheres of the newly discovered dwarf planets; search for satellites to probe the internal structure, composition, and mass of these large Kuiper belt objects and investigate the collisional history of the Kuiper belt; and examine the orbital properties of all new discoveries including looking for Sedna-like and other unusual orbits.
Dr. Schwamb will also conduct a two-fold outreach program that focuses on students interested in pursing a career in science and the broader public. For the duration of the fellowship, Dr. Schwamb will supervise a summer undergraduate student each year on projects related to the Yale survey, mentor young women interested in pursuing a career in science, and develop workshops at the Leitner Family Observatory geared towards schoolchildren on topics related to the solar system. To reach the broader public, Dr. Schwamb will create a website and blog to chronicle the progress of the Yale survey and detail new, exciting information learned about the dwarf planets discovered.
As part of my fellowship I worked with on the La Silla QUEST Kuiper belt survey which searched the Southern skies for any remaining bright Pluto-sized bodies in the Kuiper belt, covering ~8,000 square degrees down to a R magnitude of 21.5. With most of our sky coverage south of the ecliptic, we are sensitive to distant Solar System bodies on highly inclined orbits, having discovered 2010 WG9. With an inclination of 70 degrees, 2010 WG9 is the third and brightest of a dynamical subclass of Centaurs, on extreme nearly perpendicular orbits specifically with perihelia between Neptune and Uranus.A survey paper detailing the Kuiper belt objects detected in the survey was published (which I am second author on) and an analysis of 2010 WG9's unusual light curve. I am second author on the paper and contributed to taking the observations used in the paper. Throughtout the fellowship period, I helped with the discovery and characterization of exoplanets with the Planet Hunters citizen science project. For four years Kepler monitored the brightness of the same set of ~160,000 stars for the drop in light caused by an exoplanet passing in front of or transiting its parent star. Visitors to the Planet Hunters website are presented with a 30-day lightcurve segment of a Kepler star and mark potential transits by drawing boxes in the interface. Volunteers have contributed over 21 million classifications since the project’s launch in 2010. To date: Over 290,000 people world wide have contributed to Planet Hunters and its’ discoveries: 2 confirmed planets and over 30 planet candidates missed by automated routines. Most recently, I worked on the validation and study of Planet Hunters’ first confirmed planet (PH1), a transiting circumbinary planet (& 7th circumbinary planet discovered) in a quadruple star system. In addition, I was a founding member of the science team for Planet Four project, a citizen science project launched in January 2013 aimed at studying the climate and seasonal processes on Mars. Dark features develop on the top of Mars’ Southern polar CO2 ice sheet, as it thaws during the spring. Carbon dioxide geysers loft dust and dirt through cracks in the ice sheet to the surface where it is believed the surface winds subsequently sculpt the material into the hundreds of thousands of dark fans and blotches observed from orbit. It is difficult if not impossible for computer algorithms to accurately identify individual fans and blotches that are easily spotted by eye. Planet Four enlists citizen scientists to examine high-resolution images, from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and map the sizes, shapes, and orientations these features. Planet Four will produce a seasonal wind map of the South Pole of Mars and reveal how it changes over time and is impacted year to year by the Martian climate. Over 70,000 people have contributed to the project since launch, marking over 6 million fans and blotches to date. During the fellowship period I also co-founded Astronomy On Tap a public astronomy lecture series consisting of short talks by astronomers and planetary scientists held in local bars in New York City. The aim is to bring astronomy to the people, rather than having them come to the astronomers, in a more relaxed setting to talk about interesting science results. In addition to New York City, this has expanded to Columbus, Ohio. I also was a frequent contributor to the blogs for the Planet Hunters and Planet Four projects communicating to the public the progress and science resulting from these citizen projects as well as gathering guest posts by other scientists detailing their research activities in associated fields.
