.. _p15-star-formation.spirals:

P15: Star Formation in Spirals
==============================

Observing Goals:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your goal is to observe :math:`{\rm H_{\alpha}}` line emission, associated with star formation, and where it occurs in Spiral Galaxies. You need to observe in the narrow band, and also the broad :math:`{\rm R}` band, so that you can separate the continuum and line emission.
Useful Background and References:


Observation Planning:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    * Observation Time

        * You will be observing HALF a night.

    * Target Selection

        * You should find spiral galaxies that you can observe during your designated observing time, they should also be on a scale that fits nicely within the field of view available on our CCD.
        * Spiral galaxies where the arms look blobby or "interesting" are most likely to give you good results!

    * Observations

        * You should observe in the :math:`{\rm R}` and :math:`{\rm H_{\alpha}}` bands -- note that H_alpha is much narrower that :math:`{\rm R}` so requires a lot more observing time. (You may also want other filters to construct multi-colour images)
        * You should observe continuum sources (e.g. stars) so that you can remove the continuum emission from the narrow filter. This could be by observing a standard star field with plenty of stars in it (remember some stars will have significant :math:`{\rm H_{\alpha}}` absorption, and in some wierdd cases, emission, so you need enough stars to make a solid average). 

Data Analysis:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


    * Data Reduction Basic Steps

        *  Visit the page :ref:`data-reduction`
        * Reduce your data to remove the instrumental effects

    * Further for this project

        * You need to stack your images to get the highest signal to noise possible in each filter for both the galaxy and standard star fields

    * Further Analysis for this project

        * See R3: Line Emission from Narrow Band Observations for steps to measure and map the :math:`{\rm H_{\alpha}}` flux

Results: 
^^^^^^^^^

Can you answer these questions with your work?

    * Q1: Where in your observed galay/galaxies is star formation taking place?
    * Q2: Are there other :math:`{\rm H_{\alpha}}` sources that you don't attribute to star formation? why?
    * Q3: In your calibrated measurements, can you make an estimate of the star formation rate? or at least the rate from place to place?
    * Q4: Can you map and describe the star formation in the galaxy? Is there overall star formation? Does it just occur in "knots"? What story can you tell?

Presenting your results:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

   - :ref:`a1-poster`
   - :ref:`a2-talk`