Abstract:
As an undergraduate in the field of science, it is important to get hands-on research experience to enhance the undergraduate experience and to be well prepared for graduate school. The most ideal situation is when the research leads to publication in a national science journal. For the past two years, I have worked closely with Dr. Kaitchuck on binary star research. In particular, I focused on a system in the constellation Hercules: V921Her. Taking over 5000 photometric images of the system, I reduced the images, created light curves and modeled the system. The final goal of this project was to produce results that were sufficient to publish on this system that has not been studied a great deal in the astronomy community. Several interesting results were found in the course of this project. Most interesting is being able to define its classification as either a contact or semi-detached system. The paper prepared for publication is included and discusses this result in detail.
