Undergraduate Research on Lauryn E. Williams

Stellar Companion Astrometry

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Identifying Dynamical Masses of Long Period Companions Using Orbit Fitting code with HGCA Astrometry

Background

The Hipparcos-Gaia Catalog of Accelerations contains a subset of stars that appeared to be accelerating during a cross calibration between the High Precision PARallax Collecting Satellite (HIPPARCOS) catalog and Gaia. ( Brandt 2021)

Solar Physics

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My first external research experience (circa Summer 2020)

Background

One of the primary open questions about the solar corona is why or how its structures remain so smooth and well-organized. They are rooted in the photosphere, where turbulent motions introduce twisting and other complexities. By observing the fast and coherent motions we can provide insight into the mechanisms that smooth out the corona, therefore high-speed, sensitive imaging is needed.

Galaxy Morphology

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My first research experience, circa 2019

Background

Understanding the formation and evolution of young galaxies in the early universe is a pivotal goal in cosmology. These galaxies reveal clues on how large galaxies, like our own Milky Way, were formed and evolved. In this project, we used data from the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS)to study the physical properties of distant extremely young galaxies. CANDELS, one of the largest programs of the Hubble Space Telescope, imaged over 250,000 distant galaxies in multiple wavelengths in optical and near-infrared.