I present the results of six papers related the formation and evolution of planets and planetary systems, all of which are based on high-resolution, ground-based, mid-infrared observations.The first three chapters are studies of T Tauri binaries. T Tauri stars are young, low mass stars, whose disks form the building blocks of extrasolar planets. The first chapter is a study of the 0.68"/0.12" triple system, T Tauri. Our spatially resolved N-band photometry reveals silicate absorption towards one component, T Tau Sa, indicating the presence of an edge-on disk, which is in contrast to the other components. The second chapter is an adaptive optics fed N-band spectroscopy study of the 0.88" binary, UY Aur. We find that the dust grains around UY Aur A are ISM-like, while the mineralogy of the dust around UY Aur B is more uncertain, due to self-extinction. The third chapter presents a survey of spatially resolved silicate spectroscopy for nine T Tauri binaries. We find with 90\%-95\% confidence that the silicate features of the binaries are more similar than those of randomly paired single stars. This implies that a shared binary property, such as age or composition, is an important parameter in dust grain evolution.The fourth chapter is a study of the planetary system, 2MASS 1207. We explore the source of 2MASS 1207 b's under-luminosity, which has typically been explained as the result of an edge-on disk of large, grey-extincting dust grains. We find that the edge-on disk theory is incompatible with several lines of evidence, and suggest that 2MASS 1207 b's appearance can be explained by a thick cloudy atmosphere, which might be typical among young, planetary systems.The fifth chapter is a study of the white dwarf, Sirius B, which in the context of this thesis is being studied as a post-planetary system. Our N-band imaging demonstrates that Sirius B does not have an infrared excess, in contrast to previous results.The sixth chapter is a study of mid-infrared atmospheric dispersion, which in the context of this thesis is being studied as an effect that will limit the ability of ELTs to image planetary systems. We measure mid-infrared atmospheric dispersion, for the first time, and use our results to confirm theoretical models.

The peak of the star formation rate (SFR) of the Universe is widely accepted to be at 1 < z < 3, after which the SFR declined by more than an order of magnitude to the present level. The mechanisms resulting in the decline and the nature of individual star-forming galaxies at the peak of galaxy evolution, however, are poorly understood. This thesis summarizes an effort to understand both the statistical properties of star-forming galaxies and the physical conditions in individual galaxies at 0 < z < 3. I have studied the star formation (SF) sizes of local and high-z ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) using Pa-alpha, 24 micron and radio continuum observations and discovered that high-z ULIRGs have extended SF regions over 3-10 kpc, similar to local lower LIR SF galaxies, but with a scaled-up star formation rate surface density, ∑(SFR). Local ULIRGs, in contrast, are compact and invariably merger-triggered starbursts. A major implication to galaxy evolution is that there is a route besides major mergers to trigger very high levels of SF activity at z ~ 2, a conclusion further supported by our morphological study. I also find star formation rate surface density to be a good indicator of the IR galaxy spectral energy distribution universally and use this fact to develop a new SFR estimator using single-band 24 micron observations. The resulting indicator predicts IR luminosity and SFR within 0.15 dex of the values measured with far-IR photometry. This affords the deepest unobscured probe of SF at 0 < z < 3. According to my separate study, the spread of extinction values of SF galaxies is larger than previously known from optical observations and also indicates a large variety of dust distribution scenarios, from a uniform mixture that resembles the extinction screen assumption to inhomogeneous mixtures, which could undermine the assumptions commonly used to correct for extinction at high-z and necessitates the use of unobscured SF tracers. Lastly, I present the luminosity functions of galaxies and their evolution measured from IR observations out to z = 1.2.

The Magellan Adaptive Optics system will achieve first light in November of 2012. This AO system contains several subsystems including the 585-actuator concave adaptive secondary mirror, the Calibration Return Optic (CRO) alignment and calibration system, the CLIO 1-5 μm IR science camera, the movable guider camera and active optics assembly, and the W-Unit, which contains both the Pyramid Wavefront Sensor (PWFS) and the VisAO visible science camera. In this dissertation, we present details of the design, fabrication, assembly, alignment, and laboratory performance of the VisAO camera and its optical components. Many of these components required a custom design, such as the Spectral Differential Imaging Wollaston prisms and filters and the coronagraphic spots. One component, the Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector (ADC), required a unique triplet design that had until now never been fabricated and tested on sky. We present the design, laboratory, and on-sky results for our triplet ADC. We also present details of the CRO test setup and alignment. Because Magellan is a Gregorian telescope, the ASM is a concave ellipsoidal mirror. By simulating a star with a white light point source at the far conjugate, we can create a double-pass test of the whole system without the need for a real on-sky star. This allows us to test the AO system closed loop in the Arcetri test tower at its nominal design focal length and optical conjugates. The CRO test will also allow us to calibrate and verify the system off-sky at the Magellan telescope during commissioning and periodically thereafter. We present a design for a possible future upgrade path for a new visible Integral Field Spectrograph. By integrating a fiber array bundle at the VisAO focal plane, we can send light to a pre-existing facility spectrograph, such as LDSS3, which will allow 20 mas spatial sampling and R~1,800 spectra over the band 0.6-1.05 μm. This would be the highest spatial resolution IFU to date, either from the ground or in space.

In this dissertation, I measure the structure and composition of circumstellar debris disks to probe the underlying planetary systems. In Chapter 1, I provide an introduction to the field of debris disks. I highlight our current observational and theoretical understanding of the field, rather than providing a detailed history. This is intended to give the reader context and motivation for the subsequent chapters. I also describe important developments in debris disk science that are not the focus of this dissertation, but are nevertheless vital for a complete overview. In Chapter 2, I describe my analysis of a large sample of cold (≲130 K) debris disks seen in Spitzer/IRS data. Previous work had suggested a common temperature for these disk components, regardless of spectral type. I find that there is trend with spectral type and argue that the locations of cold disks are not set by snow lines, but more likely by the formation/evolution of planets. This work was published in Ballering et al. (2013). In Chapter 3, I turn my focus to the warm (~190 K) debris components identified in Chapter 2---specifically those exhibiting silicate emission features. I show that these features arise from exozodiacal dust in the habitable zones around these stars. This was published in Ballering et al. (2014). In Chapter 4, I examine the remainder of the warm disks to investigate what mechanism sets their location. I find that for many systems, the locations trace the water snow line in the primordial protoplanetary disk, rather than the current snow line. This favors the interpretation that warm debris components arise from asteroid belts in these systems. This study will be published soon. In Chapter 5, I analyze images of the debris disk around beta Pictoris at five different wavelengths, including in thermal emission and scattered light. I find that matching the disk brightness at all wavelengths constrains the composition of the dust, with a mixture of astronomical silicates and organic refractory material fitting the data well. This was published in Ballering et al. (2016). In Chapter 6, I conclude with a summary of this dissertation and prospects for future progress in these areas.

Measurements of neutron-star properties provide a natural way to test models of cold dense matter and theories of gravity. In order to correctly interpret these measurements, accurate models taking into account the special and general relativistic effects arising from the strong gravity and fast spin of these sources are necessary. Moreover, for some observables the effects of the rapid spin can dominate the measurement. In this thesis, I develop a ray-tracing algorithm using the Hartle-Thorne metric that allows me to determine the effects of gravity on several observables. I use this algorithm to calculate the bias introduced when observations are interpreted under the common assumption that the source is slowly spinning or not spinning at all. I show that this assumption can lead to errors in mass and radius measurements that are larger than the accuracy needed to distinguish between different models for the equation of state.

<p> In this thesis, we will explore approaches to faculty instructional change in astronomy and physics. We primarily focus on professional development (PD) workshops, which are a central mechanism used within our community to help faculty improve their teaching. Although workshops serve a critical role for promoting more equitable instruction, we rarely assess them through careful consideration of how they engage faculty. To encourage a shift towards more reflective, research-informed PD, we developed the Real-Time Professional Development Observation Tool (R-PDOT), to document the form and focus of faculty's engagement during workshops. We then analyze video-recordings of faculty's interactions during the Physics and Astronomy New Faculty Workshop, focusing on instances where faculty might engage in pedagogical sense-making. Finally, we consider insights gained from our own local, team-based effort to improve a course sequence for astronomy majors. We conclude with recommendations for PD leaders and researchers.</p>

Dust is a critical component of the universe, affecting energy flow and the dynamics of star and planetary disk evolution. The light we measure when observing the universe is absorbed and scattered (extinguished) by dust. Studies indicate that active formation of high mass stars modifies the ultraviolet (UV) dust extinction curve, removing the characteristic bump at 2175 Å. For a half century, the source of this bump has not been positively identified. Dust grain models suggest that a leading contender is polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The spiral galaxy M101 is an ideal laboratory, with many HII regions, plus steep metallicity and ionization gradients. The role of environment in this enigmatic "bump-less'' extinction was investigated in M101 with observations from both a sounding rocket mission and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The Interstellar Absorption Gradient Experiment Rocket (IMAGER) mission was designed to probe the correlations between dust extinction and environment through photometric observations of the apparent strengths of the 2175 Å bump and UV continuum in M101. IMAGER flew and collected data on November 21, 2012. Although in-flight anomalies caused significant cross-talk, the mission demonstrated the feasibility of simultaneous imaging in three medium-width UV bands. With angular resolution poorer than one arcminute in all bands, and inadequate signal in the field-of-view, these data proved unsuitable for aperture photometry. This analysis method cannot be used with these data to draw conclusions about the correlations between environment and ultraviolet extinction. Spectroscopic observations were performed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instrument aboard the HST. With additional data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and radiative transfer and stellar evolution models, the correlation between the bump and the aromatic features was probed across HII regions spanning wide ranges of metallicity and radiation field hardness. A correlation between the strengths of the aromatic features and the 2175 Å feature was not found-- the statistics preclude a definitive statement regarding the origin of the bump. Many models of dust extinction are consistent with the data, implying a need for more observations of the feature and possibly a significant modification of the source of 2175 Å extinction in dust models.

This thesis is comprised of work carried out during the commissioning phase of Project 1640, a combined coronagraph--integral field spectrograph for Palomar Observatory's adaptive optics-equipped 200'' Hale Telescope. I have divided my investigations into three chapters. First, I describe the data reduction pipeline software, which solves a number of data extraction and calibration challenges unique to this kind of instrument. In the second chapter, I demonstrate a novel method for faint companion discovery which takes advantage of the high-precision relative astrometry enabled by a pupil plane reticle grid. This tool, in combination with the spectrophotometric capability of the integral field spectrograph, reveal that the A5V star Alcor has a heretofore unknown M-dwarf companion. In my third chapter, I explore the suitability of combining the non-redundant aperture mask interferometry technique with an integral field spectrograph. In the proof-of-concept observation of the spectroscopic binary star Beta CrB, I retrieve the first near-infrared spectrum of its F-dwarf companion.

Void galaxies, residing within the deepest underdensities of the Cosmic Web, present an ideal population for the study of galaxy formation and evolution in an environment undisturbed by the complex processes modifying galaxies in clusters and groups, and provide an observational test for theories of cosmological structure formation. We investigate the neutral hydrogen properties (i.e. content, morphology, kinematics) of void galaxies, both individually and systematically, using a combination of observations and simulations, to form a more complete understanding of the nature of these systems. We investigate in detail the H I morphology and kinematics of two void galaxies. One is an isolated polar disk galaxy in a diffuse cosmological wall situated between two voids. The considerable gas mass and apparent lack of stars in the polar disk, coupled with the general underdensity of the environment, supports recent theories of cold flow accretion as an alternate formation mechanism for polar disk galaxies. We also examine KK 246, the only confirmed galaxy located within the nearby Tully Void. It is a dwarf galaxy with an extremely extended H I disk and signs of an H I cloud with anomalous velocity. It also exhibits clear misalignment between the kinematical major and minor axes, and a general misalignment between the H I and optical major axes. The relative isolation and extreme underdense environment make these both very interesting cases for examining the role of gas accretion in galaxy evolution. To study void galaxies as a population, we have carefully selected a sample of 60 galaxies that reside in the deepest underdensities of geometrically identified voids within the SDSS. We have imaged this new Void Galaxy Survey in H I at the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope with a typical resolution of 8 kpc, probing a volume of 1.2 Mpc and 12,000 km s^-1 surrounding each galaxy. We reach H I mass limits of 2 x 10^8 M_sun and column density sensitivities of 5 x 10^19 cm^-2. We find that the void galaxies are generally gas rich, low luminosity, blue disk galaxies, but identify three as early type galaxies. The void galaxy optical and H I properties are not unusual for their luminosity and morphology. The small scale clustering in the void is similar to that in higher density regions, and we identify 18 H I rich neighboring galaxies in the voids. Two of these are systems of three galaxies linearly aligned and joined by a H I bridge, suggestive of filamentary formation within the void. We find no population of H I rich low luminosity galaxies within the observed voids that are not close companions of the targeted sample. Finally, to put these observations in a theoretical context, we analyze a (120 h^-1 Mpc)^3 adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamic simulation that contains a high resolution subvolume centered on a ~30 Mpc diameter void. We construct mock observations with ~1 kpc resolution of the stellar and gas properties of these systems which reproduce the range of colors and luminosities observed in the SDSS for nearby galaxies, however we find no strong trends with density. We also make predictions for a significant population of low luminosity (M_r = -14) dwarf galaxies that is preferentially located in low density regions and specifically in the void center.

In this dissertation, I explore the subject of short-period binary millisecond pulsars discovered by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and radio follow-up teams, and present observations of fields containing eight recently discovered short-period (Porb < 1 d) binary millisecond pulsars using the telescopes at MDM Observatory. The goal of these observations was to detect the optical counterparts of the binaries and, for the best-suited counterparts detected, to observe the photometric variation of the companion that happens over the course of the orbit in various filters. The hope was to then use the light curves to model the systems and obtain constraints on the mass of the neutron stars which are likely to be some of the most massive neutron stars in the galaxy. Optical counterparts to four of these systems are detected, one of which, PSR J2214+3000, is a novel detection. Additionally, I present the fully orbital phase-resolved B, V , and R light curves of the optical counterparts to two objects, PSR J1810+1744 and PSR J2215+5135, for which I employ the ELC model of Orosz & Hauschildt (2000) to measure the unknown system parameters. For PSR J1810+1744 I find that the system parameters cannot be fit even assuming that 100% of the spin-down luminosity of the pulsar is irradiating the secondary, and so radial velocity measurements of this object will be required for the complete solution. However, PSR J2215+5135 exhibits light curves that are extremely well constrained using the ELC model and we find that the mass of the neutron star is constrained by these and the radio observations to be MNS > 1.75 solar masses; at the 3-sigma level. I also find a discrepancy between the model temperature and the measured colors of this object which I interpret as possible evidence for an additional high-temperature source such as a quiescent disk. Given this and the fact that PSR J2215+5135 contains a relatively high mass companion (Mc > 0.1 solar masses), I propose that similar to the binary pulsar systems PSR J1023+0038 and IGR J18245-2452, the pulsar may transition between accretion- and rotation-powered modes.