Christopher Duston's Home at PSU
Astronomy and Astrophysics Department
443 Davey Lab
cduston@astro.psu.edu
I am a second year graduate student in the Penn State Astronomy and Astrophysics department. I got my undergraduate degree from UMASS, Amherst in Astrophysics, with minors in Physics, Math, and Music. My primary research interests (and reasons for coming to Penn State) are X-ray astronomy, galaxy dynamics and gravitational theory. On this page you will find links to the Astronomy Lab I teach here, my undergraduate research thesis, and other interesting astronomy (and non-astronomy) related topics. Also, here is my (fairly empty) CV.
I am currently (Spring '07) teaching two sections of Astro 011, the introductory astronomy lab. The syllabi and some general information are availible below. I will also include any interesting links I find that may be of use during the class.
Telescope Status All students of Astro 011 must complete an observing project, part of which involves using the telescopes on the top of Davey Lab. This link will give you information about the telescopes and tell you if they are going to be open so you can check before you head up.State College Clear Sky Clock A very cool site that tells you in-depth information about the weather conditions for the next two days, from an astronomical perspective. Very useful information, good for including on your semester observing project...
Astro 011; Section 8 Syllabus Meets Tuesdays 4:40-6:35. Astro 011; Section 9 Syllabus Meets Tuesdays 2:30-4:25. Naked Eye Observation Template Main Astro 011 Page.While I was at UMASS I was in the UMASS High Energy Astrophysics Group. I used data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to statistically analyze the population characteristics of ~800 point source in the Galactic Center. A webpage for this project can be found here.
PNLF of NGC 5128: Observation and Modeling A talk I gave recently regarding my current research.UMASS Astronomy Department Home Page.
Penn State Astronomy and Astrophysics Department Home Page.
Harvard Abstract Service Query form for Astrophysics Data Service.
Los Alamos "Preprint Server" Searchable database of articles submitted to peer-reviewed journals.
Spaced Penguin! Help get Kevin back to his spaceship! AWESOME flash game based on orbital mechanics.
Hyper Physics Good online physics reference.
Mathworld Excellent reference for all things math. I use to look up integrals and Bessel functions, but whatever your need is, it will be here.
A Party of Physicists One day, all the famous physicists get together for a tea luncheon...
Pigs In Space Amusing photoshoping.
Parallel Transport of Vectors in a Surface Cool little flash applet that shows you how vectors parallel transport on a curved surface.
The Schwarzschild Solution from Kepler's 3rd Law A page describing how to find the Schwarzschild solution of general relativity from Kepler's 3rd law.
The Field of a Moving Point Change Cool little applet that shows you what the electric field of a moving point charge looks like. Whoa.
Online Gravitational Waves Course from Caltech Taught by Kip Thorne, videos and some lecture notes online.
Journal Club Presentation, 2006 I presented a pair of papers in the spring of 2006 - General Relativity Resolves Galactic Rotation Without Exotic Dark Matter, and Perspectives on Galactic Dynamics via General Relativity, both by F.I. Cooperstock and S. Tieu
Soft Gamma Repeaters and Anamolous X-ray Pulsars: Magneters Presentation I did about Magnetars, Fall 2006.
Galaxy Clusters Presentation I did about X-rays from Galaxy Clusters, Fall 2006
FARAD The Futurama As a Replacement for Arrested Development project I have been involved in with H. Flohic (submitted to ApJ, 2006). An "Anonymous" Review of FARAD A List of Famous Scientists' BirthdaysSick of everyone ELSE taking all those "holidays"? Pssssstttt.... Math Love Song! Atomic Force Microscopy Manual
12 oz Mouse Interview with creater Matt Maiellaro.
I Hate Macs "Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centers for adults".
iPods are the devil. How true it is. Check it.
The iPhone is a piece of shit, and so is your face. More iHatred.
Peeps Research Ever wondered what kinds of Peep-related research there is out there?
This is not normal. Watch out for Rodney Branigan.
Spinner Disk I love this guy!
