2023 SAGI Observational Astronomy School
in Collaboration with Cardiff University
Funded by SAGI, VinIF, Cardiff University and supported by ICISE, Explora, Tay Nguyen University
Date & Location: 17 – 28 July, 2023, Quy Nhon Observatory, Vietnam
Introduction
We are excited to announce a two-week summer school that brings together astronomers and students to work on observational aspects of astronomy. The program, hosted by SAGI and the Quy Nhon Observatory in collaboration with Cardiff University, focuses on practical skills in observation, operation, and instrumentation development. Our goal is to demonstrate how astronomy is not only an interesting subject, but also critical for both technological and scientific development. We aim to address commonly asked questions about the relevance of astronomy, such as “Why should we study it, or why should the government invest in it?”
Throughout the program, students will learn about astronomy and astrophysics while working on observational projects that focus on fundamental questions, both scientifically and experimentally. They will learn how to operate telescopes, design and test scientific instruments, and conduct observations like professional astronomers. Students will experience the full spectrum of the observational process, from the frustration of operating the telescope to the joy of capturing celestial images, the confusion of the data, and the power of analytical thinking and data analysis.
The school will cover a range of topics, including telescope optics and practical astronomy, and observations of fundamental astronomy. We look forward to providing students with a comprehensive learning experience that will equip them with practical skills and knowledge to pursue their passion in astronomy and astrophysics. To enhance the students’ learning experience, they will also have the opportunity to visit the Explora Science Museum and the planetarium located on campus at any time during the program. This will provide an additional avenue for students to explore and deepen their understanding of astronomy and astrophysics beyond what is covered in the classroom and during observational sessions.
Contact & Registration
Students are responsible for the fee for the summer school, which includes shared accommodation, meals, and transport to and from the airports. Limited scholarships are available for students who require financial assistance.
We welcome 10 students from Cardiff University, 10 students from Vietnamese universities, and a small number of students from other countries. Vietnamese students who are looking for a place to host their thesis are also welcome and are encouraged to discuss with the organizers/lecturers first.
If you are a student from Cardiff who is interested in this program, please send an email with your resume and a motivation letter to nicolas.peretto@astro.cf.ac.uk to register.
If you are a student from Vietnam or any other country, please fill out this registration form before the deadline of May 31, 2023.
If you have question, please email qnguyen@aup.edu
Scientific Organising Committee
Nguyễn Lương Quang (American University of Paris, France)
Nicolas Peretto (Cardiff University, UK)
Nguyễn Trọng Hiền (NASA JPL, United States)
Yoichi Itoh (NHAO, University of Hyogo, Japan)
Kazuhito Dobashi (Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan)
Thierry Montmerle (IAP, FR)
Jungjoo Sohn (Korea National University of Education, KR)
Local Organising Committee
Trần Thanh Sơn (IFIRSE/ICISE, VN)
Nguyễn Hữu Hà (Quy Nhơn Observatory, VN)
Lê Quang Thuỷ (Quy Nhơn Observatory, VN)
IFIRSE/SAGI and Explora Staffs
Lecturers
Nguyễn Lương Quang (American University of Paris/CEA Paris-Saclay, FR)
Nguyễn Trọng Hiền (NASA JPL, US)
Lê Ngọc Trẫm (Max Plank Institute for Radio Astronomy, DE)
Hoàng Kim Đỉnh (University of California, Berkeley, US)
Đinh Văn Trung (Institute of Physics, VN)
Hoàng Ngọc Duy (Hamburg Observatory, GE)
Mikio Kurita (Kyoto University, JP)
Kazuhito Dobashi (Tokyo University of Education, JP)
Nguyễn Thi Thảo (Nha Trang observatory, VN)
Lê Minh Tân (Tây Nguyên University, VN)
Yoichi Itoh (NHAO, University of Hyogo, Japan)
Yuya Hirano (NHAO, University of Hyogo, Japan)
Nguyen Tung Lam (Paris Observatory)
Nguyen Binh (University of Washington, US)
Tran Quang Vinh (MIT, US)
Students
The list is updated as new students are accepted.
Harvy Davies (Cardiff University, UK)
Ethan McCormick (Cardiff University, UK)
Nicole Bates (Cardiff University, UK)
Amy Matthews (Cardiff University, UK)
Bonnie Collins (Cardiff University, UK)
Jacob Allington (Cardiff University, UK)
Felix Wood (Cardiff University, UK)
Kira Ward (Cardiff University, UK)
Joel Buckeridge (Cardiff University, UK)
Thomas Grandy (Cardiff University, UK)
Pham Nhat Thuyet (Nha Trang Observatory)
Vo Tran Thanh Mai (Ho Chi Minh City University of Education)
Ngo Ngoc Hai (University of Science)
Nguyễn Đức Nguyên (University of Science and Technology of Hanoi)
Trịnh Lê Mỹ (TÂY NGUYÊN UNIVERSITY)
Khăm Trần Anh Quân (TÂY NGUYÊN UNIVERSITY)
Fu Sato (Tokyo Gakugei University)
Satoshi Horiguchi (Tokyo Gakugei University)
Yugo Arai (Tokyo Gakugei University)
Ho Huy Ngoc Khue (Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City)
Nguyễn Khánh An (Ho Chi Minh City International University)
Nguyễn Văn Tuệ (ExploraScience Quy Nhơn)
Mai Nhật Tân (University of Science and Technology of Hanoi)
Nguyễn Trương Mỹ Duyên (Quy Nhon University)
Lê Thị Mỹ Nhi (Trường Đại Học Quy Nhơn)
Nguyen Thai Duy (Nguyen Binh Khiem High School for the gifted)
Vũ Quang Minh (University of Science and Technology of Hanoi)
Tran Thanh Hoang (Nhatrang University)
Nguyễn Tất Thắng (University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH))
Trần Quang Anh (University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH))
Huỳnh Duy Hoàng (Quy Nhơn UNIVERSITY)
Etsegenet Alemu (Space Science and Geo-Spatial Institute)
Guillaume Cheikel (American University of Paris)
Location
https://explorascience.vn/?lang=en Quy Nhon, Vietnam
Travel
It is better to book the international and domestic portions separately. There are two main international airports in Vietnam : Hanoi (Noi Bai airport : HAN) and Ho Chi Minh (Tan Son Nhut airport : SGN). After SGN or HAN, you can fly to Quy Nhon by domestic flights or take trains.
We will arrange the pickup from airport to hotel, the drive is about 45mins. In order to welcome you and organize your transfer from Quy Nhon airport to the conference hotel, please inform us of your flight number as well as the date and the arrival time in Quy nhon.
Vietnamese Visa: Please note that you might need a visa to enter Vietnam. Please check the Vietnamese embassy page of your home country (where you have a passport from), or Vietnamese embassy in the UK and North Ireland, or this official govermental website. In case you need a visa, citizens of some countries can apply for an electronic visa (E-visa) online. Vietnam E-visa is valid for maximum of 30 days, single entry. Please apply it yourself here, if you need help, please let us know.
Accommodation
Will be arranged in shared rooms at the institute dormitory or hotels. Actually, we all stay at ANYA hotel.
Date & Program
17 – 28 July, 2023
Students will attend common lectures, work in groups of five students under our supervision, and present their progress in the two Friday’s afternoons. The tentative program can be changed.
Lectures and Project Slides Folder
Lecture Schedule
| Date/Time | Time | Topics | Location |
| Monday 17/07/2023 | 11.30 AM | – Bus pickup in front of ANYA Hotel for going to lunch | ANYA |
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | – Registration – Introduction – Observational Astronomy (Mikio Kurita, Kyoto University) – Development of Seimei 3.8m Segmented Telescope (Mikio Kurita, Kyoto University) | ICISE | |
| 5.30 PM- 6.30 PM | – Dinner at ICISE | ICISE | |
| 6.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – 1st student group gathering – Tour to the astronomy instrumentation lab – Observation at QNO – Bus will leave around 8 PM because the weather is bad – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation (if weather permits) | QNO | |
| Tuesday 18/07/2023 | 8.00 AM | – Bus pickup in front of ANYA Hotel for going to ICISE – Take your swimming suit with you if you want to swim at lunch time, before dinner time. There is shower at ICISE. | ANYA |
| 8.30 AM- 11.30 AM | – Registration (part 2) – Spectroscopic observations of stars and planetary atmosphere (Dinh Van Trung, Institute of Physics) – Molecules in stars and planets (Dinh Van Trung, Institute of Physics) | ICISE | |
| 11.30AM- 1.30 PM | – Lunch at ICISE | ICISE | |
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | – Introduction to QNO, Explora Science Museum, and planetarium (Nguyen Huu Ha, Director of Explora) – Tour to QNO, Science Museum, and planetarium – 3.30 pm till sunset: Sun (4) group will do observation. Students from other groups can watch the Sun group or meet with your own group and supervisor. – Sun (good data) | QNO | |
| 5.30 PM- 6.30 PM | – Dinner at ICISE | ICISE | |
| 6.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – 3rd student group gathering – Observation at QNO – 18.30 – ~21.00: Cluster (7) groups will do observation. Students from other groups can stay to watch. If weather is bad, the plan is cancelled. – 21.00 – ~03.00: Asteroid (3) group will do observation. Students from other groups can stay to watch. If weather is bad, the plan is cancelled. – WASP-3 b 21:47-26:33 (good data) – WASP-135 b 22:25-26:06 – WASP-80 b 24:06-28:15 – 03.00 – ~06.00: Earth (1) group will do observation. Students from other groups can stay to watch. If weather is bad, the plan is cancelled. – Vega (good data) – M39 (good data) -Bus will leave around 6.30 PM in front of ICISE for those who will not observe to QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation. Your supervisor will be responsible for the taxi. | QNO | |
| Wednesday 19/07/2023 | 8.30 AM- 11.30 AM | – Python and Optimisation Algorithms Crash Course (Tran Quang Vinh, MIT) – Google Colab Intro (Tran Quang Vinh, MIT) – Please fill in this form https://forms.gle/ys9uwEaYUCZucQtAA | ICISE |
| 11.30 AM- 1.30 PM | – Lunch at ICISE | ICISE | |
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | – JWST and How to prepare a JWST proposal (Nguyen Tung Lam) – Super Star Cluster (Nguyen Tung Lam) | ICISE | |
| 5.30 PM- 6.30 PM | – Dinner at ICISE | ICISE | |
| 6.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – Student group meeting – Observation at QNO – 18.30 – ~22.00: Exoplanet (5), ISM (6) and Cluster (7) and Galaxy (8) groups will do observation. Students from other groups can stay to watch. If weather is bad, the plan is cancelled. – ISM (6): M17 (Eagle Nebula) – Cluster (7): W43 (Resolved super star cluster in the Milky Way) and IC 5283 (Unresolved SSCs in other galaxy) – Galaxy (8): M106 – 22.00 – ~03.00: Earth (1) group will do observation. Students from other groups can stay to watch. If weather is bad, the plan is cancelled. -Bus will leave around 6.30 PM in front of ICISE for those who will not observe to QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation. Your supervisor will be responsible for the taxi. | QNO | |
| Thursday 20/07/2023 | 8.00 AM | – Bus pickup in front of ANYA Hotel for going to ICISE – Take your swimming suit with you if you want to swim at lunch time, before dinner time. There is shower at ICISE. – We will depart from ICISE to an excursion site without stopping at the hotel. Dinner will be served at a historical place, the first printing house in Vietnam. | |
| 8.30 AM- 11.30 AM | – Asteroids and exoplanets (Yoichi Itoh – NHAO, Univ. of Hyogo) – Observations of Exoplanet Transits (Yuya Hirano, NHAO, Univ. of Hyogo) | ICISE | |
| 1.30 PM- 3.00 PM | – Lunch and Free time | ICISE | |
| 3.00 PM- 9.30 PM | We will depart from ICISE to an excursion site without stopping at the hotel. Dinner will be served at a historical place, the first printing house in Vietnam. | Lang Song | |
| 9.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – Student group meeting – Observation at QNO -Bus will leave around 6.30 PM in front of ICISE for those who will not observe to QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation. Your supervisor will be responsible for the taxi. | QNO | |
| Friday 21/07/2023 | 8.30 AM- 11.30 AM | Free | |
| 11.30 AM | – Bus pickup in front of ANYA Hotel for going to lunch | ANYA | |
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | – Machine learning application in classifying exoplanets/gamma-ray images (John Hoang, Berkeley) – Cherenkov Telescopes: high energies gamma-ray astronomy and beyond (John Hoang, Berkeley) – SETI: how to scientifically hunt for aliens? (John Hoang, Berkeley) | ICISE | |
| 5.30 PM- 6.30 PM | – Dinner at ICISE | ICISE | |
| 6.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – 5th student group gathering – Observation at QNO – Bus will leave around 6.30 PM for those who will not observe to QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation (if weather permits) | QNO | |
| Saturday 22/07/2023 | 8.00 AM | Bus leaves for road trip to Yok Don National Park | |
| Sunday 23/07/2023 | 8.00 AM- 01.00 AM | Excursion and nigh sky observation at the Yok Don National Park | |
| Monday 24/07/2023 | 8.00 AM– 4 PM | Bus leaves from Yok Don back to Quy Nhon | |
| 6.30 PM- 5 AM | – student group working at ANYA (optional) – Observation at QNO – Taxi for those who will not come to observe at QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation (if weather permits) | ANYA QNO | |
| Tuesday 25/07/2023 | 8.30 AM- 11.30 | – student group meeting at ANYA (optional) | ANYA |
| 11.30 AM | – Bus pickup in front of ANYA Hotel for going to lunch | ANYA | |
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | Interstellar Dust: Measurement of Extinction by Star Count (Dobashi, Tokyo Gakugei University) | ICISE | |
| 5.30 PM- 6.30 PM | – Dinner at ICISE | ICISE | |
| 6.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – student group meeting – Observation at QNO – Bus will leave around 6.30 PM for those who will not observe to QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation (if weather permits) | QNO | |
| Wednesday 26/07/2023 | 8.30 AM- 11.30 | – student group meeting at ANYA (optional) | ANYA |
| 11.30 AM | – Bus pickup in front of ANYA Hotel for going to lunch | ANYA | |
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | – Observing techniques: photometry and spectroscopy (Nguyen Thi Thao (Nha Trang Observatory) – Solar activity and its effects on the ionosphere and VLF array (Le Minh Tan, Tay Nguyen University) | ICISE | |
| 5.30 PM- 6.30 PM | Dinner | ||
| 6.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – group meeting – Observation at QNO – Bus will leave around 6.30 PM for those who will not observe to QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation (if weather permits) | QNO | |
| Thursday 27/07/2023 | 8.30 AM- 11.30 | – student group meeting at ANYA (optional) | ANYA |
| 11.30 AM | – Bus pickup in front of ANYA Hotel for going to lunch | ANYA | |
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | – Spectroscopy for Photon Dominated Regions (Le Ngoc Tram (Max-Plank Institute for Radio Astronomy) – Grain Alignment and Magnetic Field in Star-Forming Regions | ICISE | |
| 5.30 PM- 6.30 PM | Dinner | ||
| 6.30 PM- 5.00 AM | – group meeting – Observation at QNO – Bus will leave around 6.30 PM for those who will not observe to QNO – Taxi will be arranged for small group who stays for late observation (if weather permits) | QNO | |
| Friday 28/07/2023 | 8.30 AM- 11.30 | – Definition of galaxies (Binh Nguyen, University of Washington) – A brief introduction to radio interferometry: from visibility to sky brightness (Hoang Ngoc Duy, Hamburg Observatory) – A low-frequency view of galaxy clusters (Hoang Ngoc Duy, Hamburg Observatory) | |
| 11.30 AM | Lunch at ICISE | ||
| 1.30 PM- 5.30 PM | Student group presentations School Closing |
Student Projects
Each group will have 2 to 3 observation nights to conduct observations with telescopes at QNO. The project will be led by tutors who are available for the duration of the schools.
| Code | Name | Topic | 1st Supervisor | 2nd Supervisor /Assistant | Google Colab |
| 1 | Earth | Illuminating the night: probing atmospheric extinction and night sky brightness of Quy Nhon | Nguyen Thi Thao | Tran Quang Vinh | |
| 2 | Moon | Attempt to take a stereo-image of the Moon using two telescopes in Quy Nhon and Tokyo | Kazuhito Dobashi | ||
| 3 | Exoplanet | First observations of Exoplanet transit in Vietnam | Yoichi Itoh | Yuya Hirano | |
| 4 | Sun | Observing the Sun using the telescopes and VLF instruments | Le Minh Tan | Binh Nguyen | |
| 5 | Satellite | Hunting Satellites with QNO’s telescopes | John Hoang | Duong Tuan Anh | |
| 6 | ISM | Spectroscopy for Photon Dominated Regions of the M17 HII region | Le Ngoc Tram | ||
| 7 | Cluster | Analysis of super star cluster with JWST images and Simulation of JWST MIRI observation with MIRISim | Nguyen Tung Lam | ||
| 8 | Galaxy | Multi-wavelength observations of a nearby radio galaxy M106 | Duy Hoang | Nguyen Luong Quang | |
Observation preparation
Source Visibility Plot https://www.not.iac.es/observing/forms/visibility/
Exoplanet Transit Finder https://astro.swarthmore.edu/transits/transits.cgi
StarFinder https://www.oas.inaf.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/starfinder_manual.pdf
Python tutorials
- https://numpy.org/doc/stable/user/quickstart.html
- https://matplotlib.org/stable/tutorials/introductory/quick_start.html
- https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Z10WGTOynTf4tQHzgCx7tmt9IVOwPpnP?usp=sharing
- https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1BO-TfzCnTKbh_mE7CTdJBT5hEhVLqPzZ?usp=sharing
60 cm telescope
Portable telescopes
Coronado 40mm with H-alpha narrow (0,1nm) band filter
LRGB, Ha, Sii, Oiii (QNO)
Polarizing filter (SAGI/QNO)
R, B, V Jonhson filters (borrow from Quy Nhon Observatory)