Sundstrom, Rebecca; Jensen, Joseph B. (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Jensen, Joseph (Utah Valley University, Physics)
We will measure Surface Brightness Fluctuations (SBF) in three galaxies (ESO137-G006, NGC 3309, and NGC 5128) using images from two cameras: the GeMS Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) system and the FLAMINGOS-2 (F-2) near-infrared imaging spectrograph, at the 8-meter Gemini South Telescope in Chile. To make an accurate measurement we need to first determine a photometric calibration for the MCAO system by comparing flux, or captured light, from both detectors. This is necessary because MCAO collects crisp, sharp images but omits some of the total incoming flux from the stars in the galaxies. F-2 takes broader images but includes more measurable flux. By finding the ratio of the flux collected by MCAO to the flux collected by F-2 we can take this "missing" light into account without compromising the crisp, sharp resolution MCAO provides.