Research in Heidelberg

Last Blog Post

2010-08-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Finished my final presentation today which seems to have gone well. My tutor told me that he presented my findings at a conference and they were very well regarded. I was also interviewed and published in the newspaper again. Its been a fun time....

It's sad that I only have one more day left here in Heidelberg. But I'm ready for my senior year and it has been a great month. See you all Saturday!

Age of the Universe

2010-08-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished my research completely with the age of the universe since the big bang. It is 12.2 billion years old. The accepted age is currently around 13.5 billion years old, so my answer comes out as a reasonable estimate. So, I must say that my time doing research in the MPIA was quite amazing. Now, I am just working on a small paper of my methods and on a presentation for ISH.

Other great news comes from France. I was able to navigate Paris with a few friends from ISH. We were able to see a huge portion of the city in only one day, walking over 25 km!

An Assortment of Things

2010-08-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I have practically finished my research assignment and have found the hubble constant within 20% error. My mentor thought this was astounding that a high school kid, given two weeks, could get such an accurate measure. Given the hubble constant's past, I agree that we live in a strange world; only a few decades ago there was an enormous range in possible values.

Still, despite the name of this blog, I don't only do research here. The program is as much a scientific expedition as an international and social forum. So, in the social side of things, I had the pleasure of meeting with our own Dr. and Mrs. Borrmann and also with Reserve exchange student, Tom Breuer.

In other news, tomorrow I will be heading for Paris for the weekend with some of my new found friends. I will certainly upload photos of my social adventures and the conclusion of my research in the near future. Thanks for reading.

The Research

2010-08-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been awhile since I've posted here. Work certainly keeps you busy! The project is beginning to shape up. I've collected all the data I need from the SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) and have begun to interpret the data.

Here is a picture of the data I've collected where the x-axis represents red-shift (roughly the Doppler effect where relative velocities change the perceived wavelength of any wave, in this case electromagnetic radiation) and the y-axis represents apparent magnitude. The shape of the curve represents 'hubble flow' or the expansion of the universe. The major issues are the stars I added. The blue stars are solved issues where the data was simply contaminated by an outside source (in most cases a close star which made the apparent magnitude of the galaxy much brighter). The issue I am researching now is how to deal with the orange stars. My current hypothesis after some careful reading of papers and texts on cosmology is that the anomalies I see are manifestations of the "Great Attractor"; however, I will certainly need to read more on the topic before I draw any conclusions. Of course, I will also need to examine some attributes of the problem galaxies so that I can be certain that they are in the target region of this phenomena.

In the next graph, you simply see a histogram of apparent magnitudes of galaxies at a certain red-shift. I am also currently examing this data so that I may try to develop a standard model for average absolute magnitude based on the collected data. Eventually, after I have completed my statistical analysis, I will be able to use my data as a benchmark to estimate the distances to various intergalactic regions. This will hopefully allow me to determine both the current size of the visible universe and the age of the universe independently of a given hubble constant.

Thanks for reading all of this. I will try to be more consistent in my updates but life is busy!

Astronomy!

2010-07-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

Started at the MPIA (Max Planck Institute of Astronomy) today! It is located pretty far away from the rest of Heidelberg on a hill. I work in the "visiting researcher" room so I feel both special and out of place with all the Ph.Ds around me. We started the day with some math (i.e my mentor Dr. Van Der Wal gave me an assumption and I had to derive a bunch of astrological equations that I will need). Then lunch came around and we began some technical training. I basically measured stuff with telescope-like objects and determined the margin of error.

So, for me it was a pretty good day. Deriving equations, eating, reading about astronomy, and using a telescope.
Here is some of my work from today:

Heidelberg

2010-07-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report on (or on which to report). Walked around Heidelberg today and we finished our training on Friday.

I'll update after my first day at the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy on Monday!

Making the Papers

2010-07-21T08:15:00.001-07:00

Training today was more genomics based (alas, it is still for the biology students who make up the majority of the participants) at the European Molecular Biology Lab.

I guess I will have to wait until Monday for any significant physics research. Apparently, I was also in the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (the regional newspaper) as a pioneer in the US' participation, so I will try to find a copy of it.

EDIT: I bought the newspaper and, oddly, I was the only American interviewed. It roughly says that "I was surprised by the appearance of Heidelberg compared to American cities." (The city had a lot more green spaces than comparable ones in the US).

2010-07-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

We began introductory training today (similar to some of the stuff I've done at the Cleveland Clinic with Mr. Aguilar last year). I also met with my mentor at the MPIA (Max Planck Institute of Astronomy), Dr. Arjen van der Wel and he gave me the outline for my project.

I will be using an untested method of measurement to try to determine the age and size of the universe. The results will be used to quantify the accuracy of this method. The main components of my research will be based upon red shift, 'brightness' of stars, the Hubble constant, and other ideas. If my research progresses many simplifying methods will be removed to make both the work much more difficult and the results much more applicable to the professional scientific world.

Our training continues tomorrow at the European Molecular Biology Lab (EMBL). I will try to remember to take pictures because, as all reporters know, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Here in Heidelberg

2010-07-18T02:41:00.001-07:00

I made it all the way to Heidelberg, past enormous lines for customs and through the autobahn. Not much to say yet. The program begins tomorrow with an introduction to the city. I haven't met my roommate yet, either. Work at the Max Planck Institute begins in a week...

I'll include a few pictures of the surroundings and whatnot. Sorry for the kind of bland prose here, while it may be noon in Heidelberg, it is still 6 am for me.