NDQC Astrophysics Group

Aaron McNeely (Bremen High School), Dan Walsh (John Adams High School), K. Dyer (Adams High School), J. Isaacson (Adams High School), A. Reilly (St. Joseph's High School)

 

During the summer of 2015, the Notre Dame QuarkNet Astrophysics group studied AG Pegasi, a symbiotic variable star. On four separate evenings of observing, the group obtained CCD images of the star and its surrounding field using an 11-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope located at the University of Notre Dame, Jordan Hall. The images were used to extract data on the brightness of the star. AG Pegasi was undergoing an eruption in brightness, the first observed since 1885. The data was submitted to the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) to be disseminated to the world's variable star researchers.