1. Tour de OAAR
Abstract: As the name suggests, we visit the Observatory located in the Airstrip, conduct night sky observations and take images using the 14’’ telescope of the Observatory. OAAR stands for Observatory Automation for Astronomical Research, i.e., aiming to fully automate the Observatory, being able to operate that from the clubroom itself, using our PCs, which is also the long-term goal of the project. To achieve the objectives, we learn basic introduction to telescope handling and understanding the stellar movements, capturing deep sky objects (Astrophotography) from the observatory telescope as well as with our own phones, understand the function of the various circuits and sensors present in the Observatory using softwares like Arduino (even making our own raindrop sensor!), discovering weather mointoring using APIs and Jupyter Notebooks, learning and understanding the functions of various softwares (PHD2 Guiding, ASCOM Standard, FocusMax, Celestron CPWI, Autofocuser) used in the Observatory and how they control the hardware like the 14’’ telescope, starshoot autoguider, monoculars etc., simulate star systems using Universal Sandbox and MATLAB, making simulation models and doing a comparative study from the observational data (vs simulated data).
Expected Workload: 7 hr/week
Mentors: Abhinav Singhal, Kislay Aditya, Vaishnavi Singh
Github Repository Link: astroclubiitk/Tour de OAAR
2. Optical Odyssey
Abstract: The main aim of the project is to build our own James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) twin. For this purpose, we get a basic intro to the working of various land and space telescopes and understand the working of different equipments and processing dataset from JWST. We then learn multiple mirror optics and conditions in space by building a light collector similar to that of the primary mirror of the JWST. The light collector is illuminated using a heat lamp, and the intensity of light reflected from the mirrors is measured from behind a protective “sunshield”. The observations are recorded and the data is analysed. Then, we construct a set up similar to the JWST (Mini-JWST Twin) and from the data we take from this set up, we are able to calculate the efficiency of sunshield.
Expected Workload: 6 hr/week
Mentors: Anushree Shukla, Princy Chauhan, Shreya Rajak
Github Repository Link: astroclubiitk/Optical Odysssey
3. CosmoCode
Abstract: This project demonstrates how Observational Astronomy and Computational Astronomy go hand in hand. We observe the space using the Horn Antennas that we construct in Space Science and Astronomy Lab. We then process the obtained data using Signal Processing Techniques and also use ML models to help us along the journey. Some of the objectives of the project include: signal processing of radio waves; Fourier Transform theory, corrections, filters, and RTL-SDR devices; Astropy, Scipy, and machine learning models for radio signals classification; collecting observations from RTL-SDR Horn Antenna; combining radio signals from 2 different horn antennas and applying signal processing techniques.
Expected Workload: 6 hr/week
Mentors: Arpit Anand, Shrilakshmi S K, Suryansh Gaur
Github Repository Link: astroclubiitk/CosmoCode
4. Stellar Odyssey
Abstract: This project mainly focuses on the Astrophysics aspect of Science, contrary to the other projects offered by the club during Summers 2023, which are computational and based on hands-on experience. This project aims to ensure that students get enthusiastic in the field of Astronomy by applying concepts of Physics and understanding and analyzing raw data of official resources like NASA and ISRO and understanding the fate of stars through this Summer project. This project will also include the usage of the Observatory located in the Flight Laboratory to give the students an experience of locating star structures and learning Image processing as a collab with the other summer projects offered by the club. The project’s theme is the life cycle of a star and its entire fate, considering various classifications. This project mainly expects students who are deeply interested in Science and want to pursue research in the future. They will definitely have exposure to research, meeting deadlines, interacting with mentors and mentees by discussing Science of the Universe, and actually applying them (using the Observatory).
Expected Workload: 6 hr/week
Mentors: Arnav, Gaurav Jha
Github Repository Link: astroclubiitk/XStellar Odyssey