White dwarfs and Red Giants spin for Ridgewood team's research
Five astronomy students at Ridgewood High School, in Norridge, set their sights on the stars last fall. They embarked on a study of cataclysmic variables, sometimes called "POLARS," or interacting binary stars.
The primary stars they studied are white dwarfs - relatively small, dense, magnetic and bright. The secondary stars they focused on are Red Giants - bigger, less dense and less bright. The smaller stars rotate around the larger.
"They're very fast," said student Maggie Czajka. "One star we studied rotated around the other in 171 minutes. It takes us roughly 365 days to orbit the sun.
"They're very close to each other, too. They look like a single point in the sky."
As the stars rotate around each other, fuel builds up on the surface of the Red Giants and "accretes" to the poles of the white dwarfs. When enough fuel accumulates, it erupts in explosions that can be seen with professional quality telescopes.
"When you take a picture of a person," said student Natalia Ostrowski, "you want to record their eyes, hair, height and such. We wanted 'pictures' of POLARS - their light curves, orbital mechanics, radii, masses and accretion processes."
But POLARS aren't visible to the naked eye. They can't be seen with ordinary 8-inch or 10-inch telescopes either. To get a good look at POLARS, the students needed to use professional equipment - specifically, the 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak, in Arizona.
In fall 2004, they wrote a research proposal and submitted it to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education program. Then, they prepared for a telephone interview with the panel of professional astronomers who would determine if their proposal would be accepted.
Glogowski lined up Ridgewood's toughest staffers to act as interrogators - District 234 Superintendent Robert Lupo, Principal Kevin O'Mara, Business Manager Cheryl Flinn and Librarian Bruce Nelson. One by one, they grilled Czajka and Ostrowski on the sorts of technical questions the astronomers were likely to ask.
"The students were impressive - very impressive," Nelson reported.
The panel in Arizona agreed. In November 2004, Ostrowski and Czajka traveled to Kitt Peak for two nights of observation using the observatory's 0.9-meter telescope. Their travel expenses and telescope time were paid with a grant from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and the National Science Foundation.
On the flight to Arizona, they learned a noted astronomer had just published a paper on one of the three POLARS they planned to study.
"He stole our stars," Czajka said. "But we got lucky. The replacements we picked actually yielded the most data for us."
Weather at Kitt Peak was at its clearest for the students' two scheduled nights of observations.
They had a plan, and they used every minute of their allotted time.
"It poured rain the next day for the next group," Ostrowski said.
"But we were able to bring lots of data back to Ridgewood. That telescope is enormous."
Back in class, the rest of the team - Barbara Gembis, Michael Johnson and Marisa Dyrcz - rolled up their sleeves and joined the fun.
"I wish we could have taken the whole team," Glogowski lamented, "but the grant only paid for two students."
Together, the five teammates crunched the numbers and prepared a research paper to submit to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for publication. If it's accepted, the students will travel to San Francisco to present their findings.
Already, they've appeared at the Adler Planetarium, discussing the accretion process and orbital mechanics of their POLARS under the auspices of the Chicago Astronomical Society.
Glogowski is the organization's current president.
The students have prepared a special edition of Ridgewood's talk show, "The Scoop," for broadcast on Comcast Cable, too. WRHS Television airs on channel 19 on Thursdays from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The date this episode will air will be announced in the fall of 2005.
When they begin college in fall, Czajka plans to major in astronomy or marine biology. Gembis is undecided. Johnson will study physics and astronomy.
And although Ostrowski plans a future as a 'polyglot' linguist, she'll keep her eyes on the stars.
"I'm learning to use my new telescope," she said.
Written by Wynn Koebel Foster, Staff Writer for the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News, and published in the April 21, 2005 edition and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/no/04-21-05-563740.html.
Telescope use was rare opportunity
The Kitt Peak National Observatory is located southwest of Tucson, Arizona, on an Indian reservation in the Sonoran Desert. It boasts the world's largest number of optical telescopes.
More than 500 visiting astronomers use the facility's telescopes for research each year.
Ridgewood High School students Maggie Czajka and Natalia Ostrowski were chosen to represent their astronomy team, which includes Barbara Gembis, Michael Johnson and Marisa Dyrcz, partly because they had prior experience. In summer 2004, Czajka and Ostrowski took part in an annual trip to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, sponsored by their astronomy teacher, Walter Glogowski.
In November 2004, they used Kitt Peak's smallest telescope - a 0.9-meter instrument - for their project. Its capabilities far exceed anything available locally.
An appointment on the 0.9-meter telescope's calendar is a rare and costly privilege - $14,000 a night, the students said. Being awarded two consecutive nights to work with the instrument was a prize professional astronomers might envy.
"This was a rare opportunity for high-school students to use a telescope of such incredibly high quality as this," said Glogowski. "The students have accomplished something that many university students majoring in astronomy and astrophysics only dream of doing."
Czajka's, Ostrowski's and Glogowski's working visit to the Kitt Peak facility and their travel expenses were paid for by a grant from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.
Written by Wynn Koebel Foster, Staff Writer for the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News, and published in the April 21, 2005 edition and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/no/04-21-05-563056.html.
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Angelica Moczydlowska, a freshman at Ridgewood High School, watches the model bridge she designed hold up under the stress of the weights she applies.
Ridgewood physics teacher Brian Eppley (left) measures the dimensions of Karina Velazquez's wood bridge to ensure it meets the requirements for the Illinois Institute of Illinois competition last Monday. Students built miniature bridges and then tested their designs by applying weights until they collapsed.
Ridgewood High School students Natalia Sznalik, Maciej Wachala, Demetri Nikoloulis, Jovan Borjan, Erika Schermer, Brian Freese, Sal Perna, Sam Pinka, Chris Hilton, Kati Lawler, Meredith Bruns, Jennifer Speaker, Amani Atallah and Anete Radon clean up Grove 8 Saturday at Schiller Forest Preserve. 
Kevin Szaflik climbed on the roof while the solar panels were being installed to get this photo.
(Kevin Szaflik/For Ridgewood High School)
