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GSoC 2025 Stingray Shanice Mack: Interactive Database for X‐ray Observations
Name:Shanice Mack
Email:Shanice.mack99@gmail.com
Time-zone:Eastern
Slack Handle:https://stingraysoftware.slack.com/team/U08KMJJSQMS
Github username:ShaniceM9
PR links:https://github.com/StingraySoftware/notebooks/pull/121
I am a recent graduate from Georgia State University with my Bachelor's in Physics & Astronomy. I've accumulated many different skills by completing class projects and research projects. I'm most proud of my research on Active Galactic Nuclei and studying the relationship between its global covering fraction and luminosity. I worked on this project for about two(2) years, received a fellowship, and presented this project at two conferences. In order to complete this project, I've had to learn how to code in Linux C++, as well as complete data analysis through excel. It's safe to say I'm proficient in my programming skills in both Python and C++. I've gained my python programming skills through numerous projects during my degree, such as studying the kinematics of the Orion Nebula. I enjoy doing research and making any contributions to the team I'm working with. I also enjoy learning. No matter what the information is, I enjoy being open to always learn something new. I believe this trait makes not only a good teammate, but also a great researcher.
I'm interested in Open Astronomy because of my interest in studying and researching astronomy. I love how this organization allows for those who'd like to contribute and collaborate with other astrophysicists and open source astronomy coders. I believe I would be a great contribution to the team, by bringing along my programming skills, knowledge in astrophysics, and being an overall team player.
I'm particularly interested in this project because I have experience with studying Black Holes. I understand that black hole research is extremely complicated and scientists all over the world are trying to find ways to gather more information of these complex objects. I believe with my experience in researching black holes, knowledge in astrophysics, and experience with coding makes me a great candidate for this project.
- First, we must familiarize ourselves with different types of Xray telescopes and products we will produce. More specifically, we will be looking at telescopes such as RXTE, NICER, NuSTAR, XMM-Newton, Chandra, HXMT, and INTEGRAL.
- After we familiarize ourselves with observations and products, we will start creating the database and graphic interface that will interact with the database. Our database will consist of clean files first, then creating secondary products: energy, spectra, and light curves. This deliverable is expected to be completed by the first evaluation.
- Lastly, we must classify the observations based on their products. We plan to use machine learning techniques to complete this step. This deliverable is expected to be met by the final evaluation.
Community Bonding period (May 8 - June 1): This time (about 3 weeks) should be used to complete the first milestone. We will ensure our programming environment is downloaded, up to date and we have everything we need to work on this project. We will also begin with getting familiar with the different Xray telescopes we will potentially use data from.
Week 1(June 2): We will begin setting up our environment for data reduction through NICER. This process involves multiple steps such as accessing and downloading our data we will work with, download key components used for data reduction and ensure we have all the necessary components for pipeline processing in NICER.
Weeks 2-4(June 9 -June 23): Clean files will have been created and we start creating and analyzing our secondary products. This will include completing spectra and light curve analysis through NICER.
Weeks 5-8(June 30-July 21): We will complete background estimation and filter our data. July 18 : Midterm Evaluation
Weeks 9-10(July 28-August 4): Data analysis and calibration will begin. Weeks 11-13(August 11-August 25): These final weeks will be used to classify our products and introduce our machine learning techniques to complete this step. Final week(August 21-28): In the final week, our work will be finalized and prepared for the final evaluation.
#GSoC ##Have you ever participated previously in GSoC? When? With which project? NO
NO
I'm a new mother, my baby will be about 6-8 months old during this program. I have a planned trip out of town for my baby's baptism, this will be in June during a weekend. Other than this, I'm fully available complete. to this project.
I understand that being a new mother comes with a lot of responsibilities, even taking up time, but I'm confident I'm fully capable of completing this project within the timeline guidelines. I'm passionate about contributing to the organization for the experience and mentorship. I believe I would bring a lot to the team and we will make great accomplishments together.