PEP151LAB2
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School
Stevens Institute Of Technology *
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Course
151
Subject
Mathematics
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
Pages
2
Uploaded by MasterUniverse13913
PEP 151 Lab 2 Report Distance Determination from Cepheid Variable Stars Name: John Nugent I pledge my honor that I have abided by the Stevens Honor System. In this lab, the purpose was to measure the distance between Earth and the Cepheid variable star “delta Cephei.” In order to accomplish this, two sets of data were utilized. These data sets were for the Delta Cephei Light Curve and the calibrated luminosity period for the type of Cepheids. This data was then combined and translated into excel graphs, which allowed for the apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude to be determined. Once these values were obtained, the distance was able to be calculated with the formula m - M = 2.5 log
10
[(d/10)
2
]. II. Plots Light Curve: Luminosity-period: 3.4
3.6
3.8
4
4.2
4.4
0
20
40
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80
100
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140
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Apparent Magnitude m
Time (hours)
Light Curve of Delta Cephei
III. Results As shown in the graph of the light curve, the pulsation period is 128 hours, or 5.33333 days. The light graph also assisted in determining the average apparent magnitude to be 3.91. The luminosity period relation graph was utilized to estimate the absolute magnitude to be -3.3. With the apparent and absolute magnitude found, the distance was determined to be 276.69 parsecs using the formula m - M = 2.5 log
10
[(d/10)
2
]. Looking up resources online "
Delta Cephei.” Wikipedia
, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Apr. 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Cephei. The established value for the distance to “delta Cephei” is 271.986
parsec. -7
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
10
20
30
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50
60
70
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Absolute magnitude M
Period (days)
Luminosity-period Relation
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