RR Lyrae Distances

Labs from Laura Sparks

ACEAP Ambassador

Astronomy Instructor

Earth & Space Sciences

Santa Rosa Junior College

(707) 778 - 3602

"Hello Astronomy Colleagues,

I would like to share a draft lab on RR Lyrae stars utilizing real data.

Students are guided through several tutorial spreadsheets to measure the

period and magnitude of RR Lyraes in the direction of the Hydra II Ultra

Faint Dwarf Galaxy. Then they calculate the distance to each star and

try to figure out if any of them are part of Hydra II. It is aimed at

community college non-science majors taking introductory astronomy, but

could also work with high school students. This lab was made possible

by participation in the NSF-funded Astronomy in Chile Educational

Ambassadors Program (ACEAP). A BIG thank you is owed to Dr. Kathy Vivas

generously made her data available to me.

The lab assumes that students have already worked with the stellar

magnitude system, and it would also help if they are already familiar

with Cepheid variables."