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Motivation
WhenIappliedforthesummerresearchinternship,thetitleoftheprojectwasThemanycoloursofnearbygalaxiesanthedescriptionwas
Thedifferentpopulationsofstarsinagalaxycarrytherecordofitspaststarformationhistory,andalsoaffectitsfuture.TheprojectinvolvesanalyzingHubbleSpaceTelescopesimagesofnearbygalaxiesofdifferenttypes.Bymeasuringthebrightnessandcoloursofmillionsofstars,wecanunderstandtheagesandcompositionsofthestars,andlearnhowthegalaxyformedstarsinthepast.Theradiationemittedbystarsaffectsthegasinagalaxy,andthushowitwillformstarsinthefuture.Wewillusemulti-colourimagesofgalaxiestogainnewinsightsintoboththeirpastandfuture.
So,asanengineerwithoutanyastrophysicsbackgroundIthougthIwouldbedoingimageprocessingappliedtoastronomyandIendedupdoingsomuchmore,buthey!Youneverknowwhatyouwillendupdoing.BeforecommingtoCanada,PaulineandIexchangedsomeemailswhereshesharedmesomeinterestingpapers,webpagesandanastronomyonlinecoursewhichlaterIdidtake,mainlytheinformationwasaboutageneralintroductiontoastronomyandhowastronomyimagesare,yes,astronomyimagesarecompletelydifferentasanyothernormalimages,theyaremadeofpurelysciencedataandeveryimagehasvaluableknowledgeyoucanlearnfrom,andheyyouwillforgetsoonaboutpixelsandstarttalkingaboutskycoordinates.So,inafewwordsIhadnoideaofwhatIwasgoingtodo(still),IrealizedIdidn’thaveanyidea,andtheonlythingIundestoodwashowCCDdetectorswork.Ididn’tknowIhadaresearchadventureawaitingforme.