STEM Program

Computational Astrophysics: Determination of the Structure and Motion of Star Clusters and Galaxies

Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Austin

Note: This is a special program with 6 more group sessions with the Faculty Advisor and a smaller cohort of only 3 students. Tuition is also different than the regular Group Research Practicum.

Research Program Introduction

Humans have observed the stars, planets, and galaxies for centuries to learn more about our place in the cosmos. As technology advances, we now have access to massive astronomical databases containing data collected by professional observatories, enabling us to study the universe better.

For this program, students will learn the foundations of Astronomy and Data Science. We will use data from professional astronomical databases, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), NASA Extragalactic Database (NED), SIMBAD, and Gaia. Our projects will mainly focus on the structure and motion of star clusters or clusters of galaxies. We will also examine the distribution of quasars.

You will define the final project by searching for astronomical literature. You will collect data from the databases mentioned above using SQL. You then will analyze and visualize the data using the data science tools in Python like Jupyter Notebook, Numpy, Pandas, and Matplotlib. 

Throughout the project, you will be asked to identify the potential scientific value of your work and how it contributes to scholarship in astronomy. You will also learn general and subject-specific research and academic writing methods used in universities and scholarly publications. Students will focus on individual topics and generate individual research papers that can be submitted to reputable student science journals upon program completion.

Project Topics

  • Obtain the 3-D structure of a cluster of galaxies and determine the mass of the cluster.

  • Determine the distance of a cluster of stars using the main-sequence fitting technique. 

  • Plot the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of a cluster of stars.

  • Draw the color-color diagram of quasars at various redshifts.

  • Calculate the percentage of spirals and ellipticals in clusters of galaxies at different redshifts.

Project Structure and Details

  • 12 group meetings with Faculty Advisor

  • 3 recorded research method and citation courses

  • 6 meetings 1-on-1 with Teaching Assistant 

  • Thesis writing, revisions, and publication guidance

  • Cohort size: 3 students

  • Duration: 12 weeks

  • Workload: Around 5 to 7 hours per week (including class and homework time)

  • Target students: 9 to 12th graders interested in astronomy, physics, computer science, and/or interdisciplinary STEM fields. 

  • Prerequisites: Students must have a basic foundation in physics, a strong foundation in math (algebra, geometry, trigonometry), and a strong programming background. Python is preferred, but Java and C++ will be acceptable. Knowledge of calculus is desirable but not required.