Friday, August 12, 2016

Updated Abstract

RZ Psc-an infrared-bright, variable star, far from any star forming regions-has an ambiguous evolutionary status, for which both pre- and post-main sequence perspectives have been presented. Due to the unique characteristics of this star, determining its age would assist in explaining its properties, which in turn could further our understanding of stellar evolution. Our research aims to identify a potential group of young stars, known as a stellar association or moving group, that may have formed at the same time and place as RZ Psc. If no moving group is found, it would provide evidence that RZ Psc is an evolved star that may be part of a binary system (a system of two stars orbiting each other about a shared center of mass). Hence, we are studying stars in the vicinity of RZ Psc over a range of different wavelengths to produce Spectral Energy Distributions and determine the stars’ space motions. This project focused on processing raw CCD (charge-coupled device) images from the WIYN 0.9 m telescope, producing calibrated images, and performing photometry (measuring the flux, or brightness, of stars).

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