Each of you have been assigned ONE Calibration Type A Star and FIVE different and distinct Mystery stars for which you do NOT know their Star Type classification. You will find the Star Types for all FIVE stars by analysing them on RSpec. You will then place the FIVE stars in a class-level Hertzsprung Russel diagram. Here is the overall process description of the final project.
Note that you will need to enter information as you go into the Global HRD Data Input Google Sheet linked here as you perform these steps. This Google Sheet also contains your Mystery Star Assignments!
Please note that the Star Type is no longer given to you. The BIDXXXXXXX you see is an encoded number You will have to find the Star Type by doing a spectral analysis on RSpec. Once you have completed this step and entered all 5 of your Estimated Star Types into the Google HRD sheet, I will release the decode Jupyter Notebook which will reveal the Henry Draper catalog number (HD Catalog Number) and give you helpful links to find the actual Star Type and much more interesting information about yout star.
Download the type A star BID225343192_TypeA5v_Dist49.5786_Mag4.58 in the Dropbox 5.Spectroscopy->Images->2025-09-01 folder and perform a 2-point calibration on it using a Hydrogen Beta line in RSpec. Note the Pixel Resolution with 2 decimal precision and enter into the HRD Google Sheet linked above.
Download the instrument Response linked here and save it to your desktop to later be be used in RSpec.
Download your 5 Stars noted in the Google Sheet above from Dropbox and use it to apply the instrument response and determine the Star Type for each star. Enter the Type and other details requested into the HRD Google Sheet linked above. You will need to Request Edit access for you to to be able to enter data into the Google Sheet. Please note that the Gold and Yellow fields require your input. See Video below for detailed instructions.
I urge you to already start work on the Final Project by examining your stars and post your calibration curves for your FIVE stars on Slack. You will also be filling out the HRD Google Sheet linked below. Please enter the results of your Mystery Star analysis here. See my Chandru’s Final Project posting in Slack and Results in the HRD Google Sheet against my name. Please follow my example for your five mystery stars and make entries in both Slack and the HRD Google Sheet against your name. Please start TODAY, I would appreciate this very much!
Please note the following important points when doing this exercise.
The star type matches are subjective and fuzzy, there may be more than one close match. Scientisits go through a similar process and consider many other factors when concluding a Star Type. It is OK not to find the exact type of the mystery star. Going through the process if far more important. This gives a real window into how doing science!
It is very important that you subtract background during calibration of the zero-order. It will have a significant effect on your accuracy of determining star types!
Use the Color Wheel to apply the instrument response to your mystery star. This is shown in the video below.
It is better to reduce window clutter (described in video) before starting analysis on a new star for analysis. This is shown in the video below.
Use the following video and notes liberally in learning about and identifying each star type and spectral lines for the stars we imaged during this course!