Expected Student Preparation

This class assumes that students have knowledge of calculus-based mechanics and astronomical methods and experience with basic programming concepts (e.g., data types, arrays, functions, loops and conditional statements), but not with numerical methods or statistical theory. Homework/lab assignments will make use of the Julia programming language, but no prior experience with Julia is expected. During the first half of the semester, examples or starter code will be provided so that students can focus on concepts rather than implementation details. During the second half of the semester, students will create a dashboard for analyzing and visualizing data from one exoplanet survey. This will require synthesizing lessons on exoplanet detection techniques with Data Science skills built throughout the semester.

Formally, the prerequisites for the class are:

• ( ASTRO 291 OR (ASTRO 401 AND ASTRO 402W) ) AND

• ( CMPSC 121 OR CMPSC 131 OR CMPSC 201 ) AND

• ( MATH 230 OR MATH 231) AND

• ( PHYS 211 )

Any student who is interested in the class and has not completed the above, should consult with the instructor before starting the class.