Physics, Astronomy and Geophysics Honors Papers

The Black Box Module for Low-Level Light Detection and Probing in Optogenetic Studies

Elizabeth Maret — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:37:44 PDT

An Analysis of Wind Resources and the Feasibility of Wind-Energy Generation on the Connecticut College Campus

Michael Marshall — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:47:01 PDT

A wind-resource analysis was undertaken on the Connecticut College campus to augment the preliminary wind-power feasibility study conducted by Global Energy Concepts (GEC) in 2006. Based largely on modeled wind speeds, this earlier study concluded that wind resources at the college were insufficient to generate large amounts of electrical energy given the small-scale turbine believed to be suited to the campus's available land. In the current wind-resource analysis, rather than using modeled values, on-site wind measurements were made over the course of a year and extrapolated to the hub heights of various turbines. These extrapolations suggest that the mean annual wind speed on campus, due partly to a favorable hill-acceleraiton effect, may be at least 5.2 m/s at a height of 35 m above ground level, which is 6% greater than the mean wind speed that GEC estimated. Moreover, when a wind turbine sited in the college's extensive arboretum is considered, much larger-scale projects become possible. These entail higher hub heights and therefore the capture of faster, more energy-dense wind. The current study found that, even allowing for large uncertainties in the wind-resource calculations, a commercial-sized turbine built at high elevation in the arboretum may be able to produce enough electrical power to meet a substantial proportion of the school's total electrical energy needs. Because of the many acres of woodland surrounding such a turbine, its visual and acoustic effects on its neighbors may be within acceptable limits. The study results need to be verified, however, and air turbulence over the forest is another issue requiring further investigation.

Determining the Temperature of Exoplanet HAT-P-1b

Kamen O. Todorov — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:19:04 PDT

Exoplanets, or planets orbiting stars other than our Sun, are difficult to detect. It is even more difficult to determine their properties. In this thesis I focus on HAT-P-1b, which is a ¨Dhot Jupiter¡¬ ¨C a gas giant, extremely close to its parent star. It is important for this thesis that HAT-P-1b is also a transiting exoplanet, i.e., it periodically passes directly in front of, or behind, its parent star, which gives scientists unique opportunities to determine its physical properties, to measure its temperature and to study its atmosphere¡¯s chemical properties. The purpose of this thesis is to measure the brightness temperature of the transiting exoplanet HAT-P-1b. The observations used were made with the Spitzer Space Telescope through a filter with center wavelength of 8.0¦Ìm, which covered a secondary eclipse of the planetary system, i.e., when the planet is behind its parent star, ADS 16402B. We created a light curve for the system, detected the eclipse and fitted a model eclipse curve in the data. From the eclipse depth I determined HAT-P-1b¡¯s flux. Knowing the planet¡¯s distance from ADS 16402B and the masses and radii of the star and the planet, I estimated the brightness temperature of the planet. My calculated result is 1300¡À170K. Future research will involve similar measurements in three additional wavebands, which will provide information about the chemical and thermal structure of HAT-P-1b¡¯s atmosphere.