Imad P
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at Yale University
Expertise
Astronomy: Galaxies, Astronomy:Machine Learning, Astronomy:Data Analysis
Bio
I am a 6th year PhD student at Yale University, studying the astrophysics of galaxies in the universe. My research focuses on the challenging task of actually observing distant galaxies with the world's most massive telescopes, and in successfully extracting science from those observations so that we can learn how our universe was born, evolved, and came to be how it is now. In particular, I am interested in all the processes that bring gas -- the fuel for stars, planets, and life -- into galaxies, and those which expel them out. In my spare time, I love listening to and playing music, watching movies, and rock climbing (outdoors or at our local climbing gym). I am also a Dungeon Master for a few long-standing D&D games, which is both a creative outlet and source of great fun with my friends. I love mentoring and working with students, and am looking forward to seeing what you will accomplish!Project ideas
Predicting Galaxy Properties with Machine Learning
Taking images of galaxies is relatively straightforward, but determining a galaxy's properties from images is challenging for many reasons. Using a synthetic "galaxy image creator", we will create mock galaxies for which we know the intrinsic properties, and train a machine learning model to accurately predict those properties.
Emission Lines in Nearby Galaxies
Learn data reduction techniques and data analysis skills using a unique set of spectroscopic observations of galaxies taken with the 5m Palomar Telescope. Using these observations, we can detect emission lines in the spectra of these galaxies to learn about their star formation processes.