Gillen B
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Expertise
astronomy, physics, galaxies
Bio
Hi! I'm Gillen, a recent PhD graduate in astronomy from the University of Michigan. I studied how galaxies form using computer simulations and data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Before Michigan, I got a BS in physics and astronomy from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. While my research involved galaxies, I'm knowledgeable about most areas of astronomy. In my free time, I love to be outside. I do a ton of camping and hiking. I also run, mountain bike, and cross country ski. I also like to read and watch sports.Project ideas
Investigating the Radii of Star Clusters
Most stars are born in star clusters, which are groups of hundreds to millions of stars. As part of my research, I measured the radii of 6000 clusters seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. This database of cluster radii is publicly available, with plenty of questions left to answer. In this project, you'll learn why star clusters are interesting, learn how to analyze data using Python, then combine the two to get new insights about star clusters. The final product of this project would likely be a scientific paper or essay, but there are a lot of ways to present this information.
Investigating Galaxy Populations
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has data for tens of millions of galaxies. There's a nearly unlimited number of questions to be answered with this data, so you can pick something you're interested in! This could include how galaxies grow over time, how the black holes at the center of galaxies effects galaxies, or how galaxies form stars. Then you'll learn how to work with large astronomy data sets using Python to answer the question you've laid out. This would likely result in an essay or scientific publication.