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Dr. Siobahn M. Morgan
Professor of Astronomy
Office: 108 Latham
Phone: 319-273-2389 (3-2389 on campus)
e-mail: morgans@uni.edu

Associate Dean, College of Natural Sciences
Office: 50 BRC
Phone: same as above

Liberal Arts Core Coordinator
Office: 117B ITTC
Phone: 319-273-2633 (3-2633 on campus)

Astronomy Course Homepage

Courses - Fall 2009

870:010Astronomy
Sec. 22:00 - 2:50 PMMWFLAT 125
Sec. 3arrarrWebCT
870:011Astronomy Laboratory
Sec. 1arrarrWebCT
870:154gObservational Astronomy
Sec. 16:00 - 6:50 PMWLAT 101/208
+8:00 - 9:50 PMW

Education

  • Ph. D. Astronomy (1991), University of Washington
  • M. S. Astronomy (1989), University of Washington
  • B. S. Astrophysics (1986), University of Minnesota

Research Interests

Studies the behavior of pulsating stars found in our galaxy and others and the evolution of stars, particularly massive stars. In addition, she provides on-line databases of pulsating star data for other researchers and WWW-based educational packages for K-12 and higher education astronomy courses (AJJAR Website).

Publications

Books, Journal articles, and Review Papers

Abstracts and Conference Proceedings

  • "Polaris' Pulsational Mass", Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., vol. 38, p. 1197, 2006.
  • "A Pulsational Study of V823 Cas", (with Jennifer Wahl), Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., vol. 38, p. 1198, 2006.
  • "Modeling the Stellar Evolution of V725 Sgr", (with Holly Kagy), Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., vol. 38, p. 1197, 2006.
  • "[Fe/H] - phi31 - Period relation for c-type RR Lyrae Variables", (with Jennifer N. Wahl and Rachel M. Wieckhorst), Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., vol. 37, p. 495, 2005.
  • "Cepheid Masses based upon Fourier Coefficient Resonances", Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., vol. 37, p. 496, 2005.
  • "WWW-Based Fourier coefficient database - A status report", in Variable Stars in the Local Group, ed. Donald W. Kurtz, and Karen R. Pollard, ASP conference series 310, p. 176, 2004
  • "WWW Archive of Fourier Coefficients", in Radial and Nonradial Pulsations as Probes of Stellar Physics, ed. C. Aerts, T. Bedding and J. Christensen- Dalsgaard, ASP Conference series, p. 168, 2002
  • "AJJAR - Astronomical Javascript/Java Applet Resources", report for the Iowa Space Grant Consortium and Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium Conference, 2001
  • "Fourier Coefficients of OGLE Variables", (with Melanie Simet, Stephanie Bargenquast and Chris Dickerson), in The Impact of Large-Scale Surveys on Pulsating Star Research, ed. L. Szabados, and D. Kurtz, ASP Conference Series, #203, p. 275, 2000
  • "Pulsational Characteristics of Galactic and Extragalactic Cepheids" in A Half Century of Stellar Pulsation Interpretations: A Tribute to Arthur N. Cox, ed. P. A. Bradley and J. A. Guzik, ASP Conference Series, #135, p. 270, 1998.
  • "The Dynamical and Beat Masses of the Beat Cepheid Y Carinae", (with E. Bohm-Vitense, N. R. Evans, K. Carpenter, B. Beck-Winchatz and R. Robinson) in A Half Century of Stellar Pulsation Interpretations: A Tribute to Arthur N. Cox, ed. P. A. Bradley and J. A. Guzik, ASP Conference Series, #135, p. 280, 1998.
  • "Beat Cepheid Period Ratios from OPAL Opacities", (with Douglas Welch), Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., vol. 28, no. 2, p. 918, 1996.
  • "Topographic Comparison of Artemis Chasma, Venus, to Terrestrial Subduction Zones", (with Kari A. Lundeen, and Kenneth J. De Nault) in The Sixth Annual Iowa Space Conference, Proceedings of the 1996 Iowa Space Grant Consortium Conference, 1996.
  • "Fourier Decomposition of OGLE Variable Stars", (with Stephanie Bargenquast) in The Sixth Annual Iowa Space Conference, Proceedings of the 1996 Iowa Space Grant Consortium Conference, 1996.
  • "Theoretical Pulsations of Luminous Blue Variables", (with A. N. Cox, J. A. Guzik, and M. S. Soukup) in Astrophysical Applications of Stellar Pulsation, IAU Colloquium no. 155, p. 192, 1995.
  • "Volcanic Features of Artemis Corona, Venus", (with Kari A. Lundeen, and Kenneth J. De Nault) in The Fifth Annual Iowa Space Conference, Proceedings of the 1995 Iowa Space Grant Consortium Conference, p. 15, 1995.
  • "Volcanism in the Atalanta Planitia Region, Venus", (with Melissa Harbaugh-Adams, Kenneth J. De Nault, and Laura Snyder) in The Fifth Annual Iowa Space Conference, Proceedings of the 1995 Iowa Space Grant Consortium Conference, p. 7, 1995.
  • "Different Types of Cepheids", in Stellar and Circumstellar Astrophysics, ed. G. Wallerstein and A. Noriega-Crespo, Astron. Society of the Pacific Conference Series, vol. 57, 1994, p. 145.
  • "Predicted Nonradial Pulsations of Luminous Blue Variables", (with Arthur N. Cox, Michael S. Soukup, and Joyce A. Guzik), in Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 1994, 25, no.4.
  • "Numerical Fits to Stellar Opacity Tables", (with Jeffrey Hines), in Space: The Future Begins Today, Proceedings of the Third Annual Iowa Space Grant Conference, Ames Iowa, 1994, p. 3.
  • "Correlation of Martian Polygonal Pattern Sizes and Shapes with Respect to Latitude" (with Tina Kurtz, Jennifer Weber and James Walters), in Space: The Future Begins Today, Proceedings of the Third Annual Iowa Space Grant Conference, Ames Iowa, 1994, p. 25. Also in Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 1994, 26, no. 2, p. 862.
  • "A New Method for the Definition of s-Cepheids" in Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 1994, 26, no. 2, p. 949.
  • "The Theoretical Instability Strip for Luminous Blue Variables", (with Michael S. Soukup, Arthur N. Cox and Joyce A. Guzik) in Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 1994, 26, no. 2, p. 907.
  • "Source of Venusian Lava Flows in the Lavinia Planitia Region", (with Jennifer Weber, Kenneth J. De Nault) in The Fourth Annual Iowa Space Conference, Proceedings of the 1994 Iowa Space Grant Consortium Conference, p. 127, 1994.
  • "Pulsation Modes of SMC Cepheids", (with Wayne J. Parker) in Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 1994, 26, no. 2, p. 949. and in The Fourth Annual Iowa Space Conference, Proceedings of the 1994 Iowa Space Grant Consortium Conference, p. 101, 1994.
  • "Cepheid Envelope Models", Dissertation Abstract, in Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, 105, p. 123, January, 1993.
  • "The Cepheid Instability 'Wedge'", in New Perspectives on Stellar Pulsation and Pulsating Variable Stars, IAU Colloquium #139, p. 307, 1993.
  • "Time Dependent Convection and the Pulsations of Polaris'', (with Arthur N. Cox), in New Perspectives on Stellar Pulsation and Pulsating Variable Stars, IAU Colloquium #139, p. 308, 1993.
  • "The Effects of Metal Enhancement on the Period Ratio of Double Mode Cepheids", (with Arthur N. Cox) in The Use of Pulsating Stars in Fundamental Problems of Astronomy, Proceedings of IAU Colloquium 111, p. 278, 1990.
  • "Problems with the Baade-Wesselink Method", (with E. Bohm-Vitense, P. Garnavich, M. Lawler, J. Mena-Werth, E. Peterson & S. Temple), in The Use of Pulsating Stars in Fundamental Problems of Astronomy, Proceedings of IAU Colloquium 111, p. 250, 1990.
  • "Time Dependent Convection and the Pulsations of Polaris", (with Arthur N. Cox), Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., 22, no. 4., p. 1234, December 1990.
  • "Cepheid Masses for Models with Enhanced Opacities", (with Arthur N. Cox), in Confrontation between Stellar Pulsation and Evolution, Stellar Pulsation conference proceedings from May 1990, p. 447, 1990.
  • "Pulsations of B Star Models by an Opacity Mechanism", (with Arthur N. Cox), in Confrontation between Stellar Pulsation and Evolution, Stellar Pulsation conference proceedings from May 1990, p. 393, 1990.
  • "An Opacity Mechanism for the Pulsations of B Stars", (with Arthur N. Cox), Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., 21, no. 4, p. 1095, December 1989.
  • "ISM Chemical Abundances along the Line of sight to SN 1987A", (with Erika Bohm-Vitense) in A Decade of UV Astronomy with IUE, Symposium proceedings, 2, p. 207, June 1988.
  • "Pulsars as Spiral Arm Tracers", Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., 20, no. 4, p. 1049, December 1988.
Since you want to know all about me, here are a few tidbits......
  • Born: Nov. 15 1960-something (making me really old and a scorpion)
  • Born at: Watertown Minnesota, U.S. of A.
  • Gender: F
  • Height: 1.7272x1010 Angstroms
  • Weight: Sorry, don't own a scale
  • Eyes: Two
  • Eye color: Blue (both of them are actually blue)
  • Hair color: reddish/brownish - with a random gray hair thrown in for good measure.
  • Marital Status: Single, and quite happy, thank you.
  • Nicknames: Shabang, The Banger, The Bangmeister, Shaboom, The-NOT-Professor, Ace
  • Geek Ranking: 51.47929% - Super Geek (according to the Geek Test)
  • Pets: Never on a first date.
  • Pets that I own: Millie, a small yappy dog, who was named before I got her, so don't blame me!
  • Current Position: Sitting
  • Current Occupation: Professor of Astronomy
  • Current Address: Department of Earth Sciences,
    University of Northern Iowa,
    Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0335
  • E-mail Address: morgans@uni.edu
And for those who really have nothing to do, here's some more tedious information.....
  • Current TV Shows I watch/tape: Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures, Family Guy, Cold Cases, American Dad, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, House, Boston Legal, Medium, Criminal Minds, The Shield, Rescue Me, NUMB3RS, 24, Adult Swim (non-anime), South Park, Law and Order (all flavors), CSI (all flavors), The Simpsons, The Daily Show
  • Favorite TV Shows that have passed away: X-files, Mystery Science Theatre 3000, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek (all flavors)
  • Fav. Movies: Generally Sci-Fi, or black and white films. Death before colorization.
  • Current Most Favoriate Movies: South Park and the Lord of the Ring films - yes, I am one twisted puppy
  • Fav. Foods: Anything that allows me to put tabasco sauce on it, and spicy food.
  • Fav. Drink: Ice cold skim milk
  • Books: Generally Sci-Fi, but who has time to read now a days?
  • Comics: Okay, so I have time to read these.... Batman, Robin, Birds of Prey, DC (Detective Comics), Nightwing, Catwoman, (pretty much anything Batman), many other DC titles, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, various Vertigo titles, Simpsons, The Boys, and other books that the owner of the store convinces me that I just have to read.
  • Current Books: Still trying to catch up on all the Dr. Who New Adventures.
  • Current Projects:
    • Publish astronomy papers
    • Write WWW astronomy lab projects
    • Do observing (photometry) of a couple of Cepheids
    • Make more computer models
    • Maintain my Doctor Who homepage
    • Maintain the Doctor Who FAQ
    • Get a life

Click here to go to my world famous Doctor Who homepage

Obligatory page for pet - my dog.

Siobahn Morgan's Facebook profile


The infamous Degenerate Dwarfs softball team, from 1987. This is basically all I did during graduate school, well not really - this was just the fun bit.