Thesis (M.S.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Todd Henry, committee chair; David Wingert, Harold McAlister, committee members. Electronic text (156 p. : ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed June 3, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-97).

Thesis (M.S.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Todd J. Henry, committee chair; Douglas R. Gies, Harold A. McAlister, committee members. Electronic text (110 p. : ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 2, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-69).

Photometric data on the Kron-Cousins photometric system have been obtained for 118 new late K to middle M-type stars with known distances. These data have been used to obtain absolute red magnitudes, to construct a color-magnitude diagram, and to compute a polynomial function for disk dwarf stars in the color range 1.5 ≤ R-I < 2.0, which can be used to compute absolute red magnitudes to be used for photometric parallaxes. Such photometric parallaxes allow new stellar distance estimations that are essential when modeling the spatial distribution of stars in our Galaxy. This is especially important for M-type stars, as they make up more than half of the mass of the Milky Way. Intermediate-band CaH observations have also been obtained in an ongoing effort to distinguish stellar luminosity classes and populations; R-L and R-I colors are used to identify possible subdwarf stars. A total of seven possible new subdwarfs and three previously known subdwarfs have been identified with this method. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

This investigation in the 24 Kapteyn Selected Areas along the celestial equator examined 21 red dwarf stars identified in an objective-prism survey. These stars were classified as red dwarf stars using light at wavelengths between 5800 A and 6800 A. Using calcium-hydride-based luminosity classification, this study found 13 of these stars to be red giant stars, and only 6 stars were found to be red dwarfs. One star was determined to be warm star. One star was not clearly distinguishable as a dwarf or giant. Distance calculations for the red dwarf stars found that these stars lie within 40 parsecs of the sun. / Department of Physics and Astronomy