Projects

Here are some past projects which I've been a part of!

Precise Calibration with Artificial Light Sources

During the summer of 2023, I worked with Dr. Justin Albert at the University of Victoria for 4 months on paid research relating to the idea of calibrating ground-based optical telescopes using artificial, precisely engineered light sources in low-earth-orbit (LEO). This is in contrast to typical techniques, where the brightness of a star or similar natural source is used. The brightness of these sources can vary appreciably with time, and so care has to be taken to monitor them closely. During this research, I wrote a Python package, 'Streaktools', which allows users to simulate the addition of realistic light-streaks, which would be caused by flashing artificial light sources in orbit, into real astronomical images. The code also allows for these simulated streaks, and real streaks, to be used for photometric calibration. In a first-author paper, currently in the final process of review and recommended for publishing, I explore Light-streak photometry and present Streaktools:

PREPRINT: Light Streak Photometry and Streaktools

ALMA Primer Series

For 8 months over 2021 and 2022, I worked as part of a working group creating tutorial videos, specifically about radio interferometry, intended for other astronomers. I worked as the sole video editor, as a narrator, and increasingly, as my knowledge grew, as a scriptwriter and editor. The videos I helped create are now featured on the science website of the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA), one of the world's foremost observatories, and the associated youtube channel has over 11,000 views.

Interferometric Imaging of Circumstellar Disks

During my honours year (2022-2023) of my undergraduate degree, I did my honours thesis research. This grew out of my work on the ALMA Primer Series, and was supervised by Dr. Brenda Matthews (University of Victoria, NRC Herzberg Institute). I created a suite of ideal interferometric images of circumstellar debris disks around nearby stars using existing ALMA data, resolving the thermal glow created by the fine dust orbiting the star. This was done to help Dr. Matthews' PhD student, Katie Crotts, search for signatures of otherwise undetectable planets around these stars, since their gravity can affect the shape of the disk. Through this project I got significant experience in the handling and imaging of interferometric data.