Problems and Experiments in Astrophysics and Stellar Phenomena

Abstract

This Senior Individualized Project was undertaken in basically three parts: 1) The performance of laboratory experiments which illustrate current astrophysical problems. The solving of these problems primarily involves making various distance measurements by a number of different methods. The importance of these measurements and reports of each experiment are given in the main body of this thesis. 2) A paper on an original experiment developed by the student. This part is fulfilled in A Guide to Binary Systems and the Masses of stars which is an attempt to explain how the masses of stars' may be calculated from observations of binary star systems. Once the process of how to calculate the masses of stars is explained, one should be able to do so given data on various binary systems. Thus, a data table is given for this purpose with appropriate aids and explanation in order to make the necessary calculations. 3) The reading of Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy by Thomas L. Swihart. Once the reading was finished, a representative set of problems was worked out from the book to prove understanding of the material. This set of problems and their solutions appears in Appendix A under the title, Solutions to Selected Astrophysical Problems.