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Amanda Quint
Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Materials Science
Missouri State University
Advisor: Dr. Mike Reed
Abstract
In March of 2009 NASA launched Kepler, a solar-orbiting telescope with the main mission of detecting and classifying planets around other stars. By measuring minute changes in a star's brightness (down to a few parts in a million), Kepler is able to detect planets transiting in front of their stars. However, due to both the preciseness of the equipment onboard and the lack of noise in the observations, Kepler is also able to contribute to the study of many different types of stars, including pulsating subdwarf B stars. The long-period type of this star usually has pulsation periods between 45 minutes to 2 hours. These periods are almost equally spaced and due to the long continuous data collection sequences, we are able to find period spacings and mode identifications for these stars.
Amanda Quint Quint is from Walnut Grove, Missouri and is currently a senior studying Computer Science at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. She plans to graduate in May 2011 and enter the workforce.
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