Penn State Sophomore Helping to Develop Software for Swift Satellite

Adam Morgan, a Penn State astronomy student in the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State, is helping to develop a computer program that will contribute to the completion of the Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer, a NASA space observatory. Morgan, a sophomore from Dallas, Pennsylvania, has been working for the past year on a special scheduling program for the project with John Nousek, professor of astronomy and astrophysics and head of the Swift project at Penn State.

Based at Penn State though a contract with NASA, "Swift's main purpose is to study the origin and effects of mysterious and distant celestial events that astronomers call gamma-ray bursts, which are extremely intense and extremely brief flashes of light created by powerful, violent explosions," Morgan said. "These bursts are difficult to study because the flashes last only a fraction of a second, and they occur at unpredictable intervals and in unpredictable locations in space." he explained. Though they are not visible from the ground because the Earth's atmosphere absorbs most gamma radiation, the explosions give off so much of this radiation that they briefly outshine every other object in the universe. Gamma-ray bursts can only be studied by their resulting afterglows as they quickly dim. Nousek said, "Swift should make some exciting discoveries by following these afterglows, both to explain the origin of gamma-ray bursts and to probe the ancient universe when the very first stars were formed."

The name "Swift" refers to the observatory's ability to detect new gamma-ray bursts and then quickly respond to focus on them so that several wavelengths of emitted radiation can be studied simultaneously. "Swift is a satellite that houses three telescopes," Morgan said. "The burst-alert telescope, or BAT, has a large field of view to detect gamma-ray bursts all around the sky. When a burst is detected, Swift triggers the other two telescopes to point in that direction and rapidly focus on the area of the afterglow. One of these telescopes studies X-ray wavelengths and the other studies ultraviolet and optical wavelengths." Swift, which is about half the size of a school bus, also will have the capability to communicate with other orbiting and ground-based telescopes around the world.

Morgan said, "After its launch, which is tentatively set for September 2004, Swift's operations will be self-automated, according to settings controlled by scientists at the project's Mission Operations Center," located in a business park across the street from an apple orchard near the University Park campus. "I have been working on a scheduling program called TAKO, or task-assembler keyword-oriented, that will be used to schedule the activities of the Swift satellite when it is in orbit," he said. "Every morning, the scientists will review what needs to be done and what needs to be targeted, and they will enter that information into TAKO, so the satellite will know what its objectives are."

Morgan has been the TAKO program's primary user since he started working with Nousek last year. Morgan said, "It's a bare-bones program right now. We're trying to tweak it and optimize the scheduling. We need it to be really quick because it has to do its job every day."

Nousek said, "TAKO was written by a team of professional software engineers, but using it and getting it to create schedules that meet our needs requires a complex grasp of the constraints of an orbiting satellite and a thorough understanding of the software. Adam has demonstrated such a complete and flexible grasp of the program that he has become our team's leading expert in creating scientific schedules for Swift."

Morgan, who plans to graduate in Spring 2006 and then attend graduate school to study astronomy, said his participation in the Swift project has offered him a different kind of education from what he receives in his classes. "It has been a great experience, especially being involved in a NASA mission," he said.

Morgan is a recipient of the Schreyer Honors College Academic Excellence Scholarship, and he also received a President's Freshman Award for attaining a 4.0 grade point average during his freshman year. Morgan actually attended Penn State as a freshman full-time for the 2002-2003 academic year, during which he began his work on the Swift project, even though he did not graduate from Dallas High School until June 2003. Because he had completed most of his high school requirements by the end of his junior year, he was allowed to enroll in college classes instead of staying in high school for another year, and then to graduate with the rest of his high school class at the end of the year. Nousek said, "It is amazing that all of Adam's work here last year was done before he had even graduated from high school."

Morgan is a member of the Penn State Science Lions, an outreach group that travels to local public schools to spark younger students' interest in science. He enjoys backpacking, hiking, and camping, and he has been involved in Outing Club activities and environmental volunteer projects at Penn State. He is the son of Kathleen Nolan, of Exton, Pennsylvania, and Glen Morgan, of Rockville, Maryland.

CONTACTS:

Adam Morgan
anm136@psu.edu
814-862-2422

John Nousek
nousek@astro.psu.edu
814-863-1937