LVAAS General Meeting & Holiday Party Pot Luck

Sunday December, 8, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Da Vinci Science Center, Allentown PA

Click here for details about the party.

Please RSVP ASAP, but no later than Wednesday, by clicking here.

 

Schedule of events:

Arrive: anytime after 12:15 p.m.

Food and Fellowship: 1 p.m.

Presentation by Ava Stabile: 2 p.m.

Membership and Announcements: 2:15 p.m.

Guest Speaker: 3 p.m.

Speaker is in Person
 

" Hunting Exoplanets Transiting Evolved Stars Using Machine Learning"

Featuring Emma Page, PhD Candidate, Lehigh Univ.

Only ~6% of known transiting planets orbit evolved host stars. Discovering more will allow us to test if the population of planets orbiting main sequence stars is similar to those orbiting evolved stars. Our team developed the giants pipeline, which reduces Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curves to search for long duration, shallow transits around evolved stars. We combine observational parameters from the Box Least Squares (BLS) algorithm with host star properties as input parameters, and train a random forest model to categorize light curves as potential planet candidates or non-detections. From 90,000 targets, the model categorizes ~3,000 as transit candidates. We analyze the sample of 3,000 predicted candidates to further vet the light curves and choose targets for follow up observations. Using this planet hunting method, we identified ~300 eclipsing binary star systems and discovered ~30 new planet candidates transiting evolved stars.

Emma Page grew up in Phoenix, AZ and discovered she loved physics and math at a young age. She attended Austin College in Sherman, TX as an undergraduate. During this time, she fell in love with astronomy research at the Adams Observatory while collecting follow up photometry for exoplanets. Now, Emma is a Physics PhD candidate at Lehigh University and is expected to graduate in May of 2025. As a graduate student, she contributes to publications on the discovery and population analysis of exoplanets, brown dwarfs, and eclipsing binary stars. Emma specializes in python and machine learning applications for astronomy as a part of her PhD.  She is currently applying to post-doctorate jobs and hopes to continue applying her machine learning experience to large astronomical datasets. When not working, Emma is hanging out with her dog Oberon, cooking up a storm, and painting as much as she can. 

 

Prospective new members who wish to attend the meeting should email membership@lvaas.org.

—    LVAAS    —

THE LEHIGH VALLEY AMATEUR ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY -- 620B East Rock Road -- Allentown, PA 18103 -- 610-797-3476 -- www.lvaas.org

WELCOME!

Founded in 1957, the Lehigh Valley Amateur Astronomical Society (LVAAS) is one of the oldest continuously-operating amateur astronomy organizations in the U.S. The mission of LVAAS is to promote the study of Astronomy and to maintain a meeting space, observatories, and a planetarium.

LVAAS operates two astronomy sites: The South Mountain site in Salisbury Township is the headquarters of the Society. It has a planetarium with a Spitz A3P projector, a 21 foot dome, meeting space, the Red Shift store, library, workshop space, and three observatories. The Pulpit Rock site near Hamburg is LVAAS's members-only dark sky site. At 1600 feet above sea level, the site features five observatories and a pad for member's scopes.

Members who receive training on the scopes may obtain keys to the observatories. LVAAS also maintains a rental "fleet" of telescopes that members may rent at low cost. Members also receive access to The Observer, our online newsletter, as well as reduced subscription prices to Sky and Telescope and Astronomy Magazine. If you want to learn more about astronomy and LVAAS, please join us at our next public star party.

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