SIGNATURE EVENTS AND PROGRAMS
The Villanova One Sky Center aims to become a central resource for astrophysics exploration and learning in the community, offering colloquia and programming.
STUDENT WORKSHOPS
Villanova One Sky Center hosts educational events for Villanova undergrad students and undergrad students from local colleges/universities.
Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) Presents Data Workshop for Students
From NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to Exoplanets
Friday, September 19, 2025 | 10am – 4:30pm | Villanova University
In this hands-on workshop, students will learn to analyze real astronomical data, focusing on exoplanet discoveries using observations from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). This beginner-friendly workshop is perfect for students interested in astronomy and data science.
The workshop will start with an introduction to Python—the de facto programming language for astronomy—covering essential coding skills. Then, using TIKE, a browser-based tool developed by the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), students will learn how to access and analyze light curves from TESS directly in a web browser.
With the help of the lightkurve Python package, students will search for transiting exoplanets. In the second half of the workshop, students will delve deeper into data extraction and analysis, including accessing datasets from other missions hosted by MAST, interpreting Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) files, and applying tools to examine and interpret time-series data.
Registration for the MAST workshop is now closed. Please keep an eye on our website for future opportunities!
Contact: kelly.prsa@villanova.edu