Zooniverse Project

[Synchronicity]

Hi All

This project is being pushed by my OU course chairperson and since it is astro related I thought I'd post a link here.

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ajnorton/superwasp-variable-stars/about/research

Overview:

SuperWASP Variable Stars

Stars are the building blocks of the Universe and determining stellar parameters is a cornerstone of astrophysics. Variable stars are the key to this, as their time domain signal may be used to probe the dynamics or structure of a stellar system. The first step in such research is to identify and classify samples of variable stars, and that is the purpose of this project.

Classification of periodic variable stars based on the shape of the photometric variability displayed in their folded lightcurves is not always a conclusive way of uniquely determining their type. However, it can at least give a good indication of the possible type and identify candidates that are suitable for follow-up investigations, often involving spectroscopy.

SuperWASP is the Wide Angle Search for Planets, but the results it obtains also comprise a unique data set for exploring stellar variability. The SuperWASP stellar photometry archive is distinctive in two key ways. First, it is an all-sky survey (excluding only the Galactic plane) and so covers a homogenous sample of bright stars. Second, the lightcurves have both high cadence (many observations per night) and long baseline (spanning many years), so can be used to search for variability on all timescales from hours to years.

The purpose of identifying and classifying periodic variable stars in the SuperWASP data is also twofold. The first purpose is to identify large catalogues of objects of a similar type which can then be studied en masse to determine characteristics of the population; and the second purpose is to identify rare objects displaying unusual behaviour, which can offer unique insights into stellar structure and evolution.

All the best

Michael

[Demonperformer]

Looks interesting. Thanks for posting.