Star Hunters

https://www.figma.com/proto/vJfGwfIC9a7hAPa2mi6Ryy/Star-Hunters-Prototype?node-id=247%3A3419&scaling=scale-down&page-id=0%3A1&starting-point-node-id=240%3A2047&show-proto-sidebar=1

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFN66rzjxk/cQeGjQqz_h-m-X_nC41NHA/view?utm_content=DAFN66rzjxk&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Star Hunters is a mobile application that is expected to be coded in Kotlin. The link to the project we provided is the prototype of the application, which was created using Figma. This is our first version of it, and there is a lot of place for improvement. We still need to add some pictures, information, and functionalities so that one can navigate freely through it. If you have any problems with the Figma link, here is a pdf with pictures of the different frames of the app.

The research project we talked about on the application is the SuperWASP Variable Stars project. As they say on their webpage:

"As well as allowing searches for transiting exoplanets, SuperWASP lightcurves can reveal many variable stars. These include stars displaying pulsations or outbursts, as well as eclipsing binary stars or stars displaying rotational modulation. A period-search has identified >1.5 million possible periods in around 750,000 objects. The purpose of this project is to identify and classify the folded lightcurves of all objects with measured periods as either eclipsing binary stars, pulsating stars, rotationally modulated stars, or simply junk."

We thought about including information about this project in our application because it is a good way to show people that they can get involved and help in scientific research, plus it adds an extra motivation to keep learning about variable stars. There are still lots of light curves left to classify, and we want to help by adding more volunteers to reach the project's goal.

The "learn" section of the application condenses and organizes information found on the internet. It was hard for us to find a single place where we could learn about variable stars and we often felt lost, so we think that, by using this application, people will have access to information in a single place to learn. We intend to include (with the authors' authorization, if needed) images, videos, and animations to explain all the concepts in a clear and interactive way.

For the "play" section we intend to use already classified lightcurves from VeSPA: The SuperWASP Variable Star Photometry Archive. The game will include different light curves for the user to classify, plus other questions about variable stars to test the user's knowledge.

The application will be available in different languages so that it is accessible to anyone. It was hard for us to find a lot of information about variable stars in our native language (Spanish), so we want that non-English speakers can use the application as well.

• NASA resources (used to learn and design the "learn" section of our application):
• Cepheid Variables
• Introduction to Light Curves

• European Space Agency Data (used to learn and design the "learn" section of our application):
• ESA Science & Technology - Variable stars in Hubble's sky

Although we have participated in some Hackathons before, this one was different because of many reasons. It was our first international Hackathon, and we had to design our project in a language that is not ours. However, we are happy for all the hard work we did and inspired to develop our application in the future. Thanks to Space Apps Challenge we learned A LOT about variable stars, how to prototype an application, and to work in teams. We are all passionate about stars and the sky, and we became very curious when we heard about variable stars. However, when we wanted to search for more information to learn, we realized that there wasn't a learning source that had a lot of information explained in a clear way to non-experts, and we felt lost. That's why we were inspired to choose this challenge: we wanted to create a fun and easy-to-use learning tool so that more people can learn about what passionates us. "Star Hunters" is the place where all our curiosity and hard work meet; we hope to spread our enthusiasm to all the users!

Resources:

• SuperWASP lightcurves for periodic variable stars that have been classified by Citizen Scientists using the SuperWASP Variable Stars Zooniverse project - https://www.superwasp.org/vespa/ (used to make questions for our "play" section).
• Cepheid Variables
• Introduction to Light Curves
• ESA Science & Technology - Variable stars in Hubble's sky
• Image about eclipsing binary stars
• SuperWASP Variable Stars at Zooniverse project

Tools:

• Figma
• Canva

#stars, #space, #game, #application, #app, #learn, #research, #variablestars