Learner profile of an

Observational Astronomer

John is an observational astronomer who primarily uses HST and Subaru data. Over his time as a researcher, he has acquired a set of skills and knowledge he uses regularly, such as:

  • Accessing MAST
  • Reducing HST CCD data
  • Reducing Subaru data using a legacy pipeline
  • Maintaining and reading legacy code 
  • Using SExtractor 
  • Using IRAF to model galaxy light profiles
    • Creating masks
    • Measuring profiles of point sources
    • Creating completeness measurements
  • Using APT (aperture photometry tool) to look at individual point sources
  • Using DS9
    • Displaying images
    • Layering images
    • Creating region files/overlays
    • Sanity checking outputs
    • Visually inspecting areas/point sources of interest/conflict
  • Writing Python code with powerful libraries:

    • NumPy
    • pandas
    • SciPy
    • Astropy
    • Astroquery
    • Scikit-learn
    • pandas
    • AstroML
  • Planning and executing observations with ground-based telescopes