Aaron Steffen
University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire
I performed UBVRI photometry on the Supernova (SN) 1997ej which was observed at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). SN 1997ej was located in the elliptical galaxy IC2060. The galaxy light profile was modeled and subsequently subtracted using a task in the Space Telescope Science Data Analysis System (STSDAS), which is a package in the IRAF reduction program. PSF photometry was then performed on the galaxy-subtracted images using DAOPHOT, a program created by Peter B. Stetson of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. Landolt standards taken on 9 photometric nights were used to calibrate local standard stars in the images. Photometry on 11 nights of non-photometric data was then performed using these local standards.
Results of this 10-week REU program project were discussed in two poster papers. One was presented at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire's Undergraduate Research Day. The other poster was presented at the June 1998 meeting of the American Astronomical Society --- (Steffan et al. 1998, BAAS, 192, #06.09). A paper will be written and submitted to an astronomical journal in the following months.