Determining the Temperature of Stars through Spectral Synthesis

For one of the experiments of the "Spectroscopy of stars" Physics course, held at AIfA, students use the 50-cm telescope available on the Institute's roof to acquire spectra of several stars of different spectral type, from K- up to O-type. The students' project requires the knowledge of the effective temperature of the observed stars, which can be very roughly estimated from the spectral type, but the available spectra would allow one to determine a much more precise value. The goal of the Bachelor thesis project is to determine, with modern spectroscopic tools, the effective temperature of all observed stars. The Bachelor student will learn the basics of stellar atmosphere modelling, spectral synthesis and stellar spectroscopy. The Bachelor student will also learn how to calculate and use state-of-the-art model atmosphere and spectral synthesis codes to derive the effective temperature of stars of various nature.

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