Students In WKU Astronomy
Program Make Discoveries

Bowling Green, Ky. - Like most teen-agers, Kaitlin Lewis and Vince Ingram have spent the summer watching the newest stars.

Lewis and Ingram, however, haven't been watching out-of-this-world performances by Britney Spears, 'N Sync or Christina Aguilera. Their focus has been on the stars light years away from Earth.

The students, participating in a summer astronomy program at Western Kentucky University, have discovered an eclipsing binary, or two stars that orbit one another. And they rediscovered another eclipsing binary that hasn't been studied since the early 1970s.

"This is unique, especially working with the age group we're working with," said Dr. Charles McGruder, head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

But he said the discoveries affirm Western's growing reputation in astronomy and the University's efforts to get more young people interested in the sciences.

"Gifted students will be able to make significant contributions and need to be encouraged at an early age," Dr. McGruder said.

Thanks to the WKU summer program, Lewis and Ingram have seen their interest in astronomy grow.

"My interest is definitely up," said Ingram, a 17-year-old student at the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville, S.C. "The discovery was pretty exciting and was something you don't do every day."

Lewis agreed. "We can definitely leave here saying we accomplished something," said Lewis, a 16-year-old student at the Advanced Academy of Georgia in Carrollton.

That's the point of the NASA-funded summer project, which has attracted eight students from six states, Dr. McGruder said. "Students become an integral part of our research team for nine weeks in the summer," he said. "It's real research not just for fun."

The discoveries by Lewis and Ingram came while the student group was analyzing data and images collected over the past 10 years by robotic telescopes. "In doing that, we discovered two eclipsing binaries," said Todd Hillwig, a doctoral student at Indiana University who is working with the eight students.

Using a computer program to analyze images of the stars, the students could see variations of light and made their discoveries, Hillwig said.

"That's what is exciting to me," Hillwig said. "We're trying to get these students excited about astronomy. And to find something, look it up and see that no one has seen it before makes it really exciting."

Now the students are busy compiling more information on the stars, including their temperatures, size and orbital periods, he said. Lewis and Ingram also will write the research report about the eclipsing binaries.

"Even if students aren't interested in astronomy as a career, you can learn a lot," Lewis said. "Not everything you learn here is directly related to astronomy. You can use it in other fields."

The summer program's discoveries are the latest bright spots for the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The department is developing a program called STARBASE (Students Training for Achievement in Research Based on Analytical Space-Science Experiences), which will include roboticized telescopes at Western's Astrophysical Observatory and at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

"I think what we're doing here in astronomy at WKU is extremely exciting and fundamental," Dr. McGruder said. "We are trying to make major contributions to various fields of astronomy."