For Dr. Gregory Feiden stars are more than a source of aesthetic beauty. They are a laboratory for learning about the physics that govern our universe.
"I want to understand what goes on inside stars," said the assistant professor of astronomy at the University of North Georgia (UNG). "I am interested to learn in detail how the physics governing our world give stars their color and brightness."
Feiden is collaborating with Dr. Wei-Chun Jao, staff astronomer and adjunct professor at Georgia State University, to understand new features they have uncovered about the relationship between a star's brightness and color among the smallest stars.
They wrote and published a paper in the Astronomical Journal highlighting their discoveries. Their paper was featured on the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) Nova website, which highlights important papers published in AAS journals.
Now, Feiden and Jao are working to characterize the physics producing these features. Feiden credits UNG alumnus Khian Skidmore for laying the groundwork.
"Khian and the code he wrote are foundational to our work," Feiden said.
He said a second paper authored by Feiden, Skidmore, and Jao, leveraged Skidmore's code. The paper was published in the Astrophysical Journal, which constitutes significant new research relevant to astrophysical applications.
"Through our research, we are hoping to understand the physics giving rise to these features and to bring their importance to the attention of others," Feiden said.
