AST-9731179 Reed Photometry, Database Development, and Analyses of Galactic Plane OB Stars Stars of spectral types 0 and B are among the hottest, most luminous, and short lived stars known, and, as such, cannot move far from their birthplaces in the spiral arms of disk galaxies during their main-sequence lifetimes of but a few millions of years. Consequently, they serve as natural "tracers" of the physical, chemical, and dynamical structures of such galaxies and as laboratories for studying the natures of massive stars and star-forming regions. These stars within our own Milky Way (MW) Galaxy are of particular interest as their apparent brightness make them relatively easy to study in detail. Over 12,000 OB stars in the plane of the Milky Way were cataloged by astronomers at the Hamburg and Warner and Swasey observatories in a seven volume set of luminous stars (LS) catalogs between 1959 and 1971. These LS catalogs constitute the most extensive available uniformly-executed survey for intrinsically luminous stars in the plane of the MW, and have served as starting points for a number of research projects for more than three decades. A project has begun to compile published spectrophotometric information for the LS stars into a coherent database that would be made freely available to the astronomical community. The resulting set of databases have stimulated a number of investigations and the database continues to grow and be disseminated as new data are published. Despite their importance in a variety of areas of astronomical research, fundamental broadband photometry (let alone spectroscopy or narrow-band photometry) has yet to be obtained for nearly half of the LS stars. This project is therefore directed at (I) obtaining photometry for as many of these stars as possible while (II) expanding the existing databases to incorporate published spectral classifications for LS stars visible from the Northern hemisphere, and (III) undertaking the analyses of the accumulated data. The resulting databases will be made freely available to the entire astronomical community. Alma College has guaranteed access to telescope time to carry out the project. Undergraduate students will be involved in all aspects of this work. The students will have the opportunity to apply knowledge and techniques acquired in the classroom to actual research situations. ***
