| The NSF-sponsored Undergraduate ALFALFA Team program promotes undergraduate research within the ALFALFA project. |
Nearby groups of galaxies provide interesting laboratories for studies of the impact of environment on gas content, morphology, nuclear activity, etc. Some members of the Undergrad ALFALFA team are pursuing a collaborative study of selected groups of galaxies included in the ALFALFA volume. Using ALFALFA and complementary data available in the literature or from digital databases like SDSS, trends in stellar mass, gas content, location within the group, etc will be investigated. By pooling together the work undertaken by different institutions within the UAT, we will be able to compare results for groups of different richness, morphological type mix, X-ray luminosity, velocity dispersion, etc. This project involves undergraduates at the participating institutions, forms the basis of several senior thesis/research projects and serves to foster the continuing engagement of members of the Undergraduate ALFALFA team.
| Institution | Faculty lead | Students | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colgate | Tom Balonek | Brian Walsh '06, Peter Shiveley '08 et al. | Zw1400+09 = NGC 5416 |
| Cornell | Martha Haynes | Katie Hamren '11 | NGC 3166/9 |
| Georgia Southern | Sarah Higdon | coming | WBL 226 region |
| St. Lawrence | Aileen O'Dononghue | Jamie Lomax '07, Shawn Golley '08 & Tristan Wolfe '08 | 1148+13 grid |
| Siena | Rose Finn | Trevor Quirk '09, Patti Carroll '09 & Kevin Risolo '10 | MKW 10 |
| Siena/Colgate | Rose Finn/Tom Balonek | Trevor Quirk '09 | 1004,1012 +13,+15 grids
WBL251 = NRGs076 |
| Skidmore | Mary Crone Odekon | Scott Manglitz '09, Paul Russell '11 & Jake Turner '11 | NGC 5171 = MKW 11 |
| Union | Becky Koopmann | coming | NGC 5846 region |
| University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point | Katie Jore | coming | WBL 404/408 region |