Denison University student Jane Bright ’18 was the lead author on a recently published paper in the “Astrophysical Journal.” The paper, titled “Absolute Dimensions of the F-type Eclipsing Binary V2154 Cygni,” reports spectroscopic observations of the stars named in the title. Bright, a physics and mathematics major from Boulder, Colo., did this work as part of a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) last summer.

About her research, Bright noted, “I worked with Dr. Guillermo Torres, co-author of the paper, studying a triple star system to determine the characteristics of the stars such as mass, radius, and temperature, and used these numbers to compare with models of stellar evolution.”

“The CfA is one of the best places in the world to study astrophysics, and Jane made the most of her opportunity,” said Denison Professor Dan Homan. “The Astrophysical Journal is one of the leading journals in Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Jane's publication as a lead author of a peer-reviewed paper at such an early stage in her career is a wonderful accomplishment.”