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When
Amy Stutz agreed to help an astronomy professor with a research
project, she had no idea she would publish a paper in a prestigious
astronomy journal, peer at galaxies through a telescope in Chile,
or go to Tasmania to search for dark matter.
The research that this undergraduate physics major published in
the Astrophysical Journal with Andy Gould, associate professor
of astronomy, revealed that a type of star astronomers use as
a standard ruler to measure the size and age of the universe may
not be standard after all. If, as Gould and Stutz found, the stars
vary in brightness and color, all measurements based on those
stars may be off-kilter.
She spent the summer of 1999 surveying galaxies at Cerro Tololo
Interamerican Observatory atop the Andes in Chile. Now, she is
gearing up for a trip this summer to Canopus
Observatory in Tasmania, Australia, where she will search
for planets around other stars.
Stutz isn't sure if she wants to be an astronomer or a physicist,
or even a scientist at all. She may set her sights on teaching.
Regardless, she believes that studying science and doing research
has trained her to do whatever she wants to do.
"I figure if you can teach yourself physics, you can teach yourself
anything," she said. "Or at least give it a shot, you know?"
Related
Information
Department
of Physics
Department
of Astronomy
Canopus
Observatory
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