About Me

Hi, I'm Abby! I'm a senior at MIT double majoring in Physics and Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. My research insterests are in observational astronomy and planetary astronomy, whether it be solar system objsects or exoplanets. So far, I have studied the rotation rates of Koronis family asteroids and stellar occulations of Kuiper Belt Objects Pluto and Ixion. As part of the NSF REU program at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, I got the opportunity to measure a distortion solution of the Canda-France-Hawaii Telescope which will be implented in a publicly available data analysis pipeline for parallaxes of brown dwarfs. I've also worked at MIT's Wallace Astrophysical Observatory for two years where I got to operate telescopes and learn about instrumentation. When I'm not conducting research, I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others and have TA'ed for Hands on Astronomy: Observing Stars and Planets and Physics I. Outside of astronomy I enjoy hiking in the Rocky Mountains, finding new coffee shops, and solving jigsaw puzzles.

Research

I have done several research projects related to observational astronomy, planetary astronomy, and instrumentation. I have gotten to explore objects in the solar system and beyond! Here is a link to my publications and below is a description of some of the projects I have worked on.

Improving the astrometric distortion solution of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope for brown dwarf parallax measurements

This project was conducted through the NSF REU program at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy where I worked with Dr. Mike Liu and Dr. Rob Siverd. I calculated distortion solution for the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope’s Wide-field Infrared Camera (WIRCam) instrument. The solution will be made publicly available as part of a data analysis pipeline for high-precision parallax measurements of brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs have a mass-age-luminosity relationship which makes modeling their evolution difficult. In order to better constrain these models, further observations are needed. Since parallax distances are need to determine mass, age, and luminosity, there have been on-going efforts to measure them. This work is a continuation of the Hawaii Infrared parallax program which has been utilizing the CFHT since 2007. Work is on-going, but you can find an update in my progress report and presentation from the end of the REU program.

Stellar Occultations of Kuiper Belt Objects Pluto and Ixion (MIT Planetary Astronomy Lab)

Stellar occultations are one of the best ways to study objects in the outer solar system. They can be used for measuring an objects atmospheric properties, determining shape and size, and detecting ring material. We used stellar occultations to monitor Pluto’s atmospheric pressure and to measure Ixion’s diameter and oblateness. Pluto has thin atmosphere, primarily made of nitrogen. However, due to Pluto’s high eccentricity, it is unknown if Pluto’s atmosphere will vanish as it moves farther from the Sun and further investigation is needed. I observed the stellar occultation of Pluto in Australia, tested the high-speed camera that was used for observations, and reduced the raw images to light curves using Python. I am using python to analyze occultation data of Kuiper Belt Object Ixion to calculate its diameter and oblateness, determine if any ring material is present, and set a lower bound on any possible atmosphere.

Undergraduate Researcher at MIT’s Wallace Astrophysical Observatory

While working at Wallace, I observed several Koronis family asteroids and measured their rotation periods. You can check out the results for Tampere, Onnie, and Russell! With enough data, their light curves can be used to determine the asteroid’s spin axis orientation, spin direction, and approximate shape. Since the spin vectors of the Koronis family are unexpectedly aligned, they are useful for studying the Yarkovsky–O'Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack (YORP) thermal affect. I also observed Pluto since variations in its photometric color are useful for studying its surface ices. In addition to observing, I performed maintenance on instrumentation including replacing a telescope’s mount control board, cleaning the optical components of a finderscope, and calibrating the spectrograph’s micrometer.

Chemical Analysis of Population II star HE2226-1529

As part of a research-focused class, Observational Stellar Archeology, I performed a chemical and kinematic analysis of HE2226-1529 using spectroscopic data from the Magellan Observatory. Population II stars are some of the oldest stars in the universe and are therefore useful for understanding the early universe. I found that it is a very metal poor star with [Fe/H] = -2.79. I classified it as an r-I process star that exists in the inner halo. My analysis suggests that the star was formed from the gas of a neutron star merger and asymmetric supernova in the classical dwarf galaxy. HE2226-1529 was accreted early in the history of the Milky Way. After being accreted, the star would have moved in the outer halo before being pulled into the inner halo where it exists today. If you would like more information, you can find my final report here.

Spectral Comparison of Jupiter and Saturn

As part of the class Observational Techniques of Optical Astronomy, I observed and analyzed spectra of Jupiter and Saturn to compare their chemical compositions. I performed statistical tests and interpreted the results in a paper and presentation.

Teaching

I have had the pleasure of being an undergraduate TA for two classes.

1. Hands-On Astronomy: Observing Stars and Planets (Spring 2023)

This course is an introductory seminar in the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science department. I helped introduce students to observational astronomy by assisting them during weekly lab sections. I guided students on how to use equipment such as binoculars, DSLR cameras, and small (72mm - 24in) telescopes.

2. MIT Experimental Study Group, Physics I (Fall 2021)

MIT’s Experimental Study Group (ESG) is a learning community for first-year students which emphasizes small-group learning and peer-to-peer teaching. After participating in ESG my first year, I returned as a sophomore as an undergraduate TA. My primary responsibility was to guide students through weekly problem sets by hosting office hours. Improved personal teaching abilities by enrolling in ES.200 ESG Undergraduate Teaching, a seminar which provides instruction for first time TAs.

Contact

Email: acolclas@mit.edu
The best way to reach me is via email. Please don't hesitate to reach out!

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