MARS
MARS is a repository service of Mason Publishing and the Digital Scholarship Center (DiSC) at the George Mason University Libraries. MARS provides enduring, stable, well-indexed access to a wide range of scholarship from the Mason community, such as Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), articles, presentations, reports, and creative work. Learn more about publishing, sharing, and preserving research data with the George Mason University Institutional Dataverse, and our other repository services.
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Recent Submissions
The complete mitochondrial genome of Meller’s mongoose (Rhynchogale melleri)
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-03-14) Sosale, Medhini S.
Meller’s mongoose (Rhynchogale melleri) is a member of the family Herpestidae (Mammalia: Carnivora) and the sole species in the genus Rhynchogale. It is primarily found in savannas and open woodlands of eastern sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we report the first complete mitochondrial genome for a female Meller’s mongoose collected in Tanzania, generated using a genome-skimming approach. The mitogenome had a final length of 16,644 bp and a total of 37 annotated genes. Phylogenetic analysis validated the placement of this species in the herpestid subfamily Herpestinae. Ultimately, the outcomes of this research offer a genetic foundation for future studies of Meller’s mongoose.
Ground based light curve follow up confirmation of the planetary nature of TOI 3506.1
(George Mason University, 2023-10) Kanigicherla, Aarushi; Plavchan, Peter
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission gathers data for thousands of candidate exoplanets and their host stars (Zhang et al., 2022). In this paper we present research on candidate exoplanet TOI 3506.01, which orbits host star TOI 3506.01. The goal of this paper is to provide a ground based follow up of the planetary nature of TOI 3506.01. We took 249 exposures with the GMU 0.8 m telescope and reduced them, then we conducted ground based multi aperture photometry using AstroImageJ to generate a light curve. In addition, we plotted residuals and the fluxes of our target stars and adjusted trends within the data. We confirmed the planetary nature of TOI 3506.01, due to the visible transit on the ground based light curve.
Ground based light curve follow up observations and false positive testing for TESS Object of Interest 3553.01
(George Mason University, 2023-10) Kanigicherla, Aarushi; Plavchan, Peter; Collins, Kevin
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission gathers data for thousands of candidate exoplanets and their host stars (Zhang et al., 2022). In this paper we present research of TOI 3553, which is orbited by candidate exoplanet TOI 3553.01. The goal of this paper is to provide a ground based follow up of the planetary nature of TOI 3553.01. We also will confirm if TOI 3553 is a near eclipsing binary (NEB). We took 303 exposures with the GMU 0.8 m telescope and reduced them, then we conducted ground based multi aperture photometry using AstroImageJ to generate a light curve. Lastly, we conducted an NEB analysis on TOI 3553. We determined that TOI 3553.01 is not a near eclipsing binary. Due to the fact that the transit did not happen during the expected time, we did not confirm the planetary nature of TOI 3553.01.
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation Observations of TESS Object of Interest TOI 3792.01
(George Mason University, 2023-10) Ellis, Abigael; Plavchan, Peter
The goal of this study was to further confirm, characterize, and classify TESS Object of Interest (TOI) 3792.01. This was done by analyzing the stellar light curve of this object. We remotely obtained ground based data from the Observatory at George Mason University. The data was visualized using the software AstroImageJ. Although the data was skewed due to a fluctuating thin cloud cover and an 8 hour uncertainty period when observed by TESS, we found that by using less obscured reference stars and the WIDTH_T1 Detrending Parameter, we were able to find data clear enough to work with. However, this data still retained a scatter percentage (RMS) of 1.8%. While comparing the estimated light curve to the data collected, we found that the RMS dropped suddenly to 1.28% during an 8 hour period. However, this is obviously still imperfect. Therefore, the results for this study are inconclusive but suggestive. Though no direct conclusion can be reached at this time, more data should be collected to compare to the current data in order to confirm TOI 3792.01 as a transit.
Ground-Based Light Curve Follow-Up Validation Observations of TESS Object of Interest 5691.01
(George Mason University, 2023-10) Tong, Adam; Plavchan, Peter; Kriel, Aiden
Context. Transiting planets around host stars is crucial to understanding the formation and evolution of planetary systems. Through TESS, TOI-5691.01 was identified around a host star, TOI-5691.
Aims. The focus of this paper is on validating the transiting method leading to the identification of TOI-5691.01. We present the characterization and possible confirmation of a transiting exoplanet around a host star
Methods. Using the software Lightkurve, we create TESS light curves. Through transit photometry, we also created a ground-based light curve and performed analysis using the software AstroImageJ to validate the transit of our candidate exoplanet. Due to the limited scope of our research, we did not perform other detection methods such as radial velocity measurement using a high-resolution spectrograph, and false-positive analysis using Vespa.