Aaron M. Geller
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Astronomy
475 N. Charter St.
Madison, WI 53706

Office: 5533 Sterling Hall
Phone: (608)262-2965

Email:

I am currently a third year astronomy graduate student at the UW, working with the WOCS group. I would consider myself an observational astronomer who is keenly interested in theoretical simulations. My primary telescope is the WIYN 3.5m on Kitt Peak, where I observe open clusters. I also have experience working with N-body style models, and intend to incorporate this technique into my thesis. My current research interests are explained below.

I graduated from the University of Iowa in 2004 with majors in Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics. While in Iowa I worked with Dr. Steve Spangler on a project aimed at characterizing the solar wind and corona.

In my spare time, I also delve in website design. In addition to this page, I created the layout and much of the content to our new Graduate School portion of our UW Astronomy website, as well as the WOCS group homepage. I've also been working on my personal webpage. Check them out.

My current research is focused on the interplay between stellar dynamics and evolution within an open cluster enviornment. Our highly precise observations of open clusters have revealed stars which cannot be explained through the traditional single-star evolutionary theory. These observations have also revealed binary stars whose characteristics are very difficult to explain through isolated binary star dynamics. It has therefore become clear that these branches of stellar theory are affected by the open cluster environment. As a member of the WIYN Open Cluster Study (WOCS) group, I have unique access to a database of such anomalous stars and star systems. Moreover, only now are we able to incorporate stellar evolution and complex binary star dynamics into our dynamical calculations in hopes of creating these anomalous stars. These stars and star systems trace the interface between cluster dynamics, stellar evolution, and binary star dynamics.

RV Cookbook

1. Geller, A. M., Mathieu, R. D., Harris, H. C., & McClure, R. D., "WIYN Open Cluster Study. XXXII. Stellar Radial Velocity in the Old Open Cluster NGC 188", 2008, AJ, 135, 2264

2. Geller, A. M., Mathieu, R. D., Harris, H. C., & McClure, R. D., "Dynamics of the Open Cluster NGC 188: A Compariosn to and N-body Simulation of M67", 2008. IAUS, 246, 111, ed. E. Vespreini, M. Giersz, & A. Sills

3. Stassun, K. G., Mathieu, R. D., Cargile, P. A., Aarnio, A. N., Stempels, E., & Geller, A., "Surprising Dissimilarities in a Newwly Formed Pair of 'Identical Twin' Stars", 2008, 453, 1079

In the fall of 2004, I was a Teaching Assistant for Astronomy 104. I have also helped mentor our summer REU students as well as the UW undergraduates working with our research group.

You can find a list of helpful links that I compiled to help our undergraduate researchers here.

Click here to view my CV.