Data Mining Workshop
The focus of this workshop (run by Colin Littlefield) will be using TESS to refine the classifications of short-period variables in VSX (with a heavy emphasis on eclipsing binaries, Delta Scutis, RR Lyrae stars, and other similar star types). By the end of the workshop, participants will have learned:
o about the TESS mission, the light curves that it acquires, and how TESS advances the study of
variable stars,
o how to search for and retrieve TESS observations using lightkurve,
o how to analyze these light curves in VStar, and
o how to interpret the results, with an eye towards refining VSX entries for understudied variable
stars.
Schedule
Session 1: 15:00–17:00 UT
Will discuss TESS and how to extract light curves from its data archives. We will cover:
- the TESS spacecraft, its mission and science impact, and how its observations can be used to study variable stars
- how to determine whether TESS has observed, or will observe, a particular object of interest
- how to use free and open-source Python software known as Lightkurve to download a TESS dataset and to interactively extract a light curve from it
- Q & A
Session 2: 18:00–20:00 UT
Focuses on usinging TESS data to refine periods and classifications of VSX variable stars. It will cover:
- a practical, non-technical introduction to power spectral analysis
- how to measure the period(s) in a TESS light curve using the AAVSO's VStar software
- variable star classifications with TESS
- how to recognize and address common systematics in TESS data
- Q & A