Anacapa Scholar: Philip Steven Muirhead
An astronomy professor and two graduate students visit us for an exchange of knowledge.
All year long, the campus welcomes visiting scholars, artists in residence, and other guests who share their special expertise. Some become members of the campus community for extended periods of time, others are here only briefly to deliver lectures or meet with students.
Recently, we welcomed a professor of astronomy from Boston University.
Visitor: Philip Steven Muirhead, Assistant Professor of Astronomy at BU.
His current work: I work on a variety of topics related to small stars and exoplanets. Lately, I have been developing instrumentation for the new 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope in Happy Jack, Arizona, designed to measure the metal content of small stars and their ages. I am also involved in NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), identifying the best small stars to search for transiting exoplanets.
What he did on campus: Dr. Swift and I are co-investigators on a NASA grant to measure the precise sizes of "eclipsing binary stars," or stars that mutually eclipse each other. These stars are special because we can measure their exact sizes. We want then to use those sizes to determine the sizes of other stars that host exoplanets, and find out if those planets could be habitable or not. Myself and two Ph.D. students from Boston (Eunkyu Han from BU and Yutong Shan from Harvard) are visiting to learn how to analyze a specific type of data that Dr. Swift is an expert on: Doppler measurements of eclipsing binary stars.
His impressions of Thacher: The students and the faculty made a big impression on me! Every conversation I've had, I was amazed by the knowledge and interest of the students here at Thacher. They have high standards for themselves, and aren't afraid of challenging material. I am equally impressed by the faculty, including Dr. Swift, who really nurture the students' energy.
Our impressions of him:
I thought the most interesting part of his talk was when he explained how to find the properties of stars and their planets using just the light emitted from the stars. I think it's amazing how much we can learn from light. I'm really excited about the opportunities that the Thacher Observatory presents and I hope that we can start to do real data analysis on the things Prof. Muirhead talked about.—Maya Wilcox '17
It was amazing to have Professor Muirhead and the graduate students come to campus. A few of us were able to ask his advice on projects we're currently working on, and his talk to the larger community was really engaging.—Katie O'Neill '18
Professor Muirhead's talk was extraordinarily interesting. I had no idea that there were so many different kinds of stars and that they are all so different in their own ways. Professor Muirhead also made me fully appreciate how complex the mathematics used in astronomy are. I have a completely new appreciation for astronomy that is so much more intense than it was before.—Ethan Kallett '18
Back
Recently, we welcomed a professor of astronomy from Boston University.
Visitor: Philip Steven Muirhead, Assistant Professor of Astronomy at BU.
His current work: I work on a variety of topics related to small stars and exoplanets. Lately, I have been developing instrumentation for the new 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope in Happy Jack, Arizona, designed to measure the metal content of small stars and their ages. I am also involved in NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), identifying the best small stars to search for transiting exoplanets.
What he did on campus: Dr. Swift and I are co-investigators on a NASA grant to measure the precise sizes of "eclipsing binary stars," or stars that mutually eclipse each other. These stars are special because we can measure their exact sizes. We want then to use those sizes to determine the sizes of other stars that host exoplanets, and find out if those planets could be habitable or not. Myself and two Ph.D. students from Boston (Eunkyu Han from BU and Yutong Shan from Harvard) are visiting to learn how to analyze a specific type of data that Dr. Swift is an expert on: Doppler measurements of eclipsing binary stars.
His impressions of Thacher: The students and the faculty made a big impression on me! Every conversation I've had, I was amazed by the knowledge and interest of the students here at Thacher. They have high standards for themselves, and aren't afraid of challenging material. I am equally impressed by the faculty, including Dr. Swift, who really nurture the students' energy.
Our impressions of him:
I thought the most interesting part of his talk was when he explained how to find the properties of stars and their planets using just the light emitted from the stars. I think it's amazing how much we can learn from light. I'm really excited about the opportunities that the Thacher Observatory presents and I hope that we can start to do real data analysis on the things Prof. Muirhead talked about.—Maya Wilcox '17
It was amazing to have Professor Muirhead and the graduate students come to campus. A few of us were able to ask his advice on projects we're currently working on, and his talk to the larger community was really engaging.—Katie O'Neill '18
Professor Muirhead's talk was extraordinarily interesting. I had no idea that there were so many different kinds of stars and that they are all so different in their own ways. Professor Muirhead also made me fully appreciate how complex the mathematics used in astronomy are. I have a completely new appreciation for astronomy that is so much more intense than it was before.—Ethan Kallett '18
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