Astronomy research at New Paltz
08/31/2010
Kyle McDonald
Kyle McDonald is a sophomore physics major who is interested in studying astronomy. This summer Kyle worked with Dr. Amy Forestell on an astronomy research project funded by the SUNY New Paltz SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) program. Kyle was the first student to use the new research telescope at Smolen Observatory. He characterized the CCD (charge-coupled device; a detector like a digital camera) and used it to show how well our new telescope can do imaging of astronomical objects.
Astronomical detectors take black-and-white images.
Original black & white image.
To create the pretty color images we are used to seeing astronomers use filters that block out all but one color of light. They then falsely color the images and combine them to create a color picture. One of Kyle's color images is shown here.
Kyle's colored version.
