Week 7

Day 1. I began my work on error bars for the normalization of the luminosities of my clusters. I am able to subplot all of the clusters. After I get my plot to work, I look at Lei Bai's papers to get an idea on how to normalize her luminosity functions.

Day 2. I begin to work on the email of tasks that I have been given. I am trying to plot RA vs DEC. This requires me to write code that calls in 2 different tables. I have to set a flag in order to identify those that belong to the cluster and those that are not a part of the cluster. I then subplotted them. When that was finished, I began to work on using sigma^3 to normalize my functions.

Day 3. I continue to try and figure out my sigma squared using the dictionaries that I was given yesterday. I then continue working on the sigma^3 but keep finding different errors. Rose helps me fix my sigma^3 work and I am able to work on making the plots nice.

Day 4. I am trying to figure out what is wrong with my axis. I can't figure it out so I go and work on some code academy. Rose gives me some suggestions on how I can fix my axis. I spend the rest of the time working on that. I also was able to successfully plot all of the clusters on one graph.

Day 5. I comment my program so that when people look back to try and use it, they can understand what is going on. I work on my program that puts the clusters in one figure. I try and change the color for each cluster. There is now a line connecting all the error bars but I cannot figure out how to get rid of them.

Week 6

Day 1. I tried to work on a least squared fit for our data. We are now going work on figuring out the completeness. We need to figure out how to use code for binning. I am using a boolean statement to check if there is cluster membership. This allows me to only plot the members of the cluster. We tried to work on the code that will allow us to fit nicely.

Day 2. We attempted to debug a binning code. I keep working through the errors. I checked line by line to find out where I was going wrong. I tried to work on some sample data but ended up having to do some more debugging.

Day 3. I worked on fitting the binning to my data for the local clusters. I was able to call the other file into my code. I was also able to get a histogram which we are no certain of its correctness. All but one of the bars have a height of one. We think this might be because of the completeness equation. Error bars are going to have to be placed but for now this is what we have.

Week 5

Day 1. We worked on creating a webpage for the ALFAFA conference that we have to go to on Wednesday. We had to discuss briefly what we have done so far and what we will be working on in the future.

Day 2. We were told where we have to go to the conference on Wednesday and what time we need to leave by. We have to move our information to another website and edit it futher. After the website is made, we have to practice what we are going to say because we only have five minutes.

Day 3. We have the ALFAFA conference at Union College in Schenectady. Throughout the day there are speakers talking about the research that they are doing. I learned that many ALFAFA galaxies have bluer gas which means that there are young stars. This is often correlated with star formation. I learned that Leo P is a very small galaxy with no other galaxies nearby which makes it an interesting topic to study. Then all of the students discuss their research. We were informed of places that we may need to fix on our graphs. We were also given a suggestion of how to possibly fix the graphs.

Day 4. Rose suggests that we try a new method to fit chi-squared. We were able to log the function and it made our best fit for the Schechter Function even better. I then tried to fit a graph for velocity versus radial distance. The first try looked like the image below.

This is of the Coma cluster. I have since fixed the graph so that there are now just points and not a bunch of random lines.

Day 5. I looked at Amy McCann's poster so that I can begin getting ideas for the poster that I am going to have to make. I then spent the rest of my time trying to figure out the new chi squared fitting method.

Week Four in Review

Day 1. I was able to work on my graphs for the local clusters. I was able to put on error bars and a legend. We then worked on fitting the information to sample data. We discussed some information that we should look up for the meeting that we have to attend next week. I learned that H-alpha line is created by hydrogen. It emits a wavelength of 656.28nm. This is given off when the hydrogen goes from the 3rd energy level to the 2nd energy level. We worked more with the Schechter function. I then tried to fit it to my local cluster graphs. My graphs were not in log form so it was not working. End Day 1.

Day 2. We went back to fitting the Schecter function to the sample data. We are putting in values in for alpha log l sun and log phi sun. I am attempting to work with a least squared function but am having difficulties because the log l sun is not standing alone as a variable and I cannot get it out easily. Alissa tried to explain chisquared fitting again to me. It is slowly beginning to make sense. End Day 2

Day 3. Rose explains chisquared fitting to us and helps us understand how we would go about coding something using chisquared. Turns out what I was attempting to do was very close to what has to be done. We also get tasks that can be done for the remainder of the week. After some trials we are able to get our bins to the proper sizing. The values however do not agree, but there is a relationship between the values that give us infinity and the values that give us is all the same. I try to write a loop to get that out but cannot find out where the error is coming from. End Day 3

Day 4. I found my syntax error that I was having yesterday. John then explains to us chisquared and finds that we were putting the wrong values in for some of our variables. After lunch we were able to debug and got a best fitting Schecter Luminosity function. I then put the code to the other data blocks Rose gave us. The one set ran but did not fit perfectly. The second file could not be found. End Day 4

Day 5. I realized that my bins were sized oddly and thus the data that I was trying to fit at the end of the day was not working great. Once that was done Alissa and I cross referenced our values for loglsun logphisun and alpha and found that even though our code was different we were now getting the same values. I spent the rest of the day looking up Monte Carlo Simulation, bootstrap resampling and maximum likelihood. Dr. Bellis came in to explain a way to do chisquared fitting. He showed us that there is another way to write that code. I also learned that getting a graph from the brute force way like we did is a way to get the variables by retesting points.

Week Three in Review

Day 1.  I worked on summaries for a good amount of time. I was able to read three papers and write summaries for two of the papers. End Day 1

Day 2. I wrote the article summary for the paper that I did not write one for yesterday. I then worked on the final two that I was assigned. The summary for the final article was a team effort. After lunch I attempted to figure out what a Schechter luminosity function was. I was able to find an equation. We then learned about chi squared. We then waited for sample to attempt to run a luminosity function. End Day 2

Day 3. I tried to put my histograms on the same graphs. . I then took notes on the on what the Luminosity function. Luminosity functions is the easiest way to measure clusters of galaxies. The Schecter Luminosity function is an approximation to the Luminosity function. I learned that exp stands for the natural log. We then worked on fitting a function to recreate the Luminosity function that was in the powerpoint but we kept getting the following image.

 End Day 3

Day 4. We figure out what was wrong with our graphs from yesterday and figured out what had to be negated to get the proper graphs. I tried to look up what poisson error was. I found that it comes for Poisson distribution and it is expressed by lambda. We worked with the data set were given in order to create error bars for the luminosity function. I took some debugging but we were able to get it to work in the end. End Day 4

Day 5. I attempted to fit error bars for the Luminosity function that I have for the local clusters. I ran into difficulties because I have a loop that runs through the file to check for the cluster name. It kept only showing me the error for the last cluster in the array. With the help of Dr. Bellis we were able to figure it out. We created a dummy axis to send my info from the histograms to and the info from the error bars went to another figure. After lunch, I attempted to label the axes but I kept getting errors. Rose was able to help me find a temporary fix to the problem. Hopefully next week we can find something better than a temporary fix. End Day 5 

Week Two in Review

Day 1. I was faced with multiple roadblocks. When I arrived, x term was no responding so I worked on code academy until the professors arrived and could figure out what was wrong with the code. After lunch we had a learning session. We learned how to find redshift using wavelengths. We also learned how to find the redshift if we had recession velocity. We learned that the Hubble Constant was attained by taking the recession velocity(km/s) and dividing it by the distance(Mpc). We learned where a parsec comes from. It is the distance from the Sun that creates an angle of one arc sec with the Earth. The distance between the Sun and Earth is 1AU. We learned that there are different filters that galaxies can be observed in; they are "F","N","u","g","r","i","z". The "u","g","r","i","z" data comes from the SDSS. I spent the afternoon working on plotting the absolute magnitude in the g-band vs the number of  galaxies. After I get the first one on I begin to work on sub-plotting the images. I found that subplots meant that multiple graphs will appear in the one figure. I look up many different ways to make sub plots but am having a difficult time applying it to my graphs. By the end of the afternoon I was beginning to get close to what needed to be plotted but something was just a hair off. End Day 1

Day 2. I was having difficulties logging into x term so I worked on code academy. We then decided how we were going to split up who was going to read what paper. I have nine articles to read. It is a slow and tedious process to read these papers because the words and equations that are being used are often more advanced than what I know. I was able to get help with my x term so I was able to get a subplot of Coma, MKW11, and MKW8 to work. I then worked on the first of many papers that I have to read.  End Day 2

Day 3.   I worked on changing the y axis of my plot a log but kept finding difficulty when I tried to run the code on MKW8. Brendan Mike and myself then worked on figuring out how to send something to github. After we successfully figured that out, I began to continue working on the article from yesterday. I find that it takes me about 3 reads through the intro and conclusion to understand what exactly the scientific motivation, goals, results, data, and comparison to others works are. After lunch I work on my second article. I also found what the nine clusters that I will be working with are, MKW11, MKW8, Coma, Hercules, NGC6107, AWM4, A1367, A2052, and A2063. End Day 3

Day 4. I wrote the summary for the article that I read yesterday afternoon. Then I begin to work on plotting all of the clusters in my Mg vs number of galaxies subplot. I was able to get the log working on MKW8. Mike Brendan and I then attempt to figure out how we can go from absolute magnitude to luminosity. We finally find an equation that gives us enough constants and will allow us to solve for the luminosity of the galaxies in the cluster. When we figure that out we attempt to write a program that allows us to graph luminosity. The graph seems off but we are getting a graph for the local cluster survey. I finish the afternoon reading an article and writing a summary. I will wait until tomorrow so that I can ask questions about what is wrong with my graph. End Day 4

Day 5. I was going to work on an article but then I was able to ask for help about my graphs. We found out that we had worked the absolute magnitude luminosity equation too much. So now I attempt to fix the code. This correction when it finally works not only makes my code simpler but it also is an easier equation to run. Alyssa then assisted me in starting to write a loop so that I do not need to hard code each cluster for any function. After I got my loop to function properly, I was able to begin labeling my axes. I was able to put a legend onto the graphs so that you are able to pick out which cluster went with each graph. With Mike's help I was able to figure out how to put a sun into my axis for my graphs. At the end of the week, this is the graphs that I was able to produce.

Week One in Review
Its Friday meaning its time to review what has been accomplished this week. The first morning we worked on organizing the room that we will be working in over the next several weeks. We then had a team lunch and got the notebooks that we will be using to take notes on our research. That first afternoon we learned how to log on to the computers. We then learned some basic controls on the x terminal. We worked on some code academy in an attempt to become better equipped for the summer. End day 1

The next morning, I returned to do some more research on the cluster that I was using to become familiar with the sites ADS and NED. I learned that clusters are often given multiple names based off of who is looking at them and how they are being viewed. I learned what RA and DEC stood for.  I learned that when I write an abstract it is more helpful to write a more detailed one so other people can figure out how to use it. I then created the blog that way I'd be able to do this later.  I learned the proper way to log off of coma and did more code academy. After lunch we had a group meet and were given our assignments for the summer. I will be working with the local clusters. I learned apparent magnitude is how bright it appears and absolute magnitude is how bright it really is. The negative magnitudes are the brightest.  I learned a luminosity function uses the number of galaxies on the y axis and brightness is on the x axis.   I did some blackbody tutorial from the NAAP labs. We did some work with topcat and found an equation to solve the problem that was assigned. I found that I could use Wien's displacement law to find the temperature in kelvin. I finished the day with code academy.  End day 2

Thursday I began to read about galaxies from an introduction to modern physics.  I then did some reading on clusters and learned that clusters can be classified as poor or rich, regular or irregular. I learned a super-cluster is a cluster of clusters and a regular cluster has its galaxies focused at the center. I then began to do some searching on the clusters, Coma, MKW11,MKW8,Abell1367,Abell2063,Abell2052,NGC6107,and AWM4. I was able to find out some information on most of them but it was a struggle. I read through the unix tutorials and took down the important functions to know. I finished by working on more code academy. End day 3

Friday a day filled with much frustration I arrived and began to work on python and struggled so I began to type out the unix tutorial. Then I had difficulty with the copying the file so went back to python. Then we went to the other room to run through git and pylab. I was able to get it all to work in there but when I got back after lunch and attempted to re-run it all, I could not get the graph to appear at all. Therefore I could not make the histogram because I could not see what was going on. I also ran into difficulty logging into coma. I needed to log out of the computer in order to sign into coma. Then I kept getting errors. So I began to blog. I am going to finish the afternoon working on code academy because I cannot figure out what to do and neither can anyone else. End day 4