Lumos Maxima

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zSAfJrEw3Y

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1snJSayLf1PZ-kuNO6vBqX0Q9mLdSgtiR/view?usp=sharing

Problem and Purpose:

The amount of light emitted by the Trojan Asteroids is insufficient to allow us to see their shapes. However, one of the few clues through which we can realize their shapes is their light curves, and as a result, an effective, practical, and simple-to-use tool to explore how an asteroid's shape affects its light curve has been developed. previous systems are extremely complex, and their user interfaces are extremely difficult to use. As a result, we created the ideal tool for understanding the light curves of asteroids and unraveling the mystery of the Trojan asteroids in order to help researchers discover more about the origins of our solar system.

What does our project do?

In this project, we provide the potential users with an interactive tool through which they can understand how light curves change when changing the shape of an asteroid (or a celestial body in general). Our tool gives the user a chance to choose a model of an asteroid from a variety of models provided by us and generate a light curve of this 3-Dimensional asteroid model and see how it is generated while passing through different phases as it rotates around its axis. Through noticing the differences of light curves of different shapes, the user could get a sense of the process and understand the light curves better. The tool also informs the user of the different factors that should be taken into consideration that also contribute to the light curve of the asteroid, including but not limited to surface texture, albedo (reflectance of the surface), and rotation rate. The tool also gives the user the chance to deform and edit the 3D model, generate its light curve, and/or make changes in the other factors such as the rotation speed and the albedo. The interface is straightforward and easy to use. 

The idea of operation:

Our project is mainly built using the Unity engine, we begin by extracting an image of every frame, combining the grayscale pixel values then sending these values to a text file to be graphed in python using the mat plot library. However, this solution proved too slow and the curve did not update in time resulting in a jagged line graph. We then opted to take these values and use them as position coordinates for an empty object with a trail component. This object is then visible to a separate graph camera that finally takes it and projects it into a render texture.

We use a simple implementation of the inverse square law for the deformation mechanism. Each vertex is given a velocity in its normal direction then the vertex starts being displaced until the damping reaches a maximum.

Application File:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17kL6ubn7iUbnivxUtGIZrilfl4tX1ImO/view?fbclid=IwAR02qu9G-40_55KbmlHR97FUy6FtQzzZqWSNBx1EPssAo5wJA4fPh-BB9U4

How did we use the space agency data?

Starting our journey with a topic background check, sources indexed 1, 2, 3, and 5 helped us formulate a general idea about the nature and characteristics of Light Curves, the stars of our project. 

We then needed to know more about asteroids and what are the specific needs and reasons for scientists to study them. We referred to [4].

To create a light curves modeling tool, we had to understand what light curves are[6].

Getting down to the execution phase, [7] aided in finalizing our tool and delivering it with the best quality.

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lucy/overview/index  

[2]https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/how-were-the-trojan-asteroids-discovered-and-named 

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57aLfX3ZX2I  

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSXIOxFhLiM

[5]https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-begins-launch-preparations-for-first-mission-to-the-trojan-asteroids

[6] https://www.nasa.gov/content/asteroid-grand-challenge/characterize/light-curve-analysis

[7] NASA provided 3D models:

https://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/shapes/shapes.html 

https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models

Nasa Space Apps journey was pleasant to us. It didn't only give us entertainment, it was helpful to understand and discover different space and environmental issues. It was an excellent opportunity for us to gather information and to use it in constructing a project that would help researchers and scientists in the future. Nasa space apps experience helped us to bring out our creativity, and through the competition, we gained a better understanding of how to deal with conflicting opinions and ideas.

Our group worked on the When Light Curves Throw us Curve Balls challenge. We chose this challenge because we found that working on such a project would provide the potential users with a tool to discover more about the origins of our solar system and reveal its mysteries. We utilized the Engineering Design Process in developing our project. We started by gathering information from the Nasa database. Then, we divided the tasks of the project among the group according to our roles. Throughout the hackathon, we faced a lot of technical and non-technical challenges and problems; however, we dealt with these challenges very smoothly. For instance, whenever one of our group members encountered a problem, we met virtually to face the problem together. 

We give all the thanks and praises to Allah and special thanks to Nasa Space Apps Cairo for providing us with that opportunity and for supporting us.

Background, Data, and Resources:

[1] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lucy/overview/index  

[2]https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/how-were-the-trojan-asteroids-discovered-and-named  

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57aLfX3ZX2I  

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSXIOxFhLiM 

[5]https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-begins-launch-preparations-for-first-mission-to-the-trojan-asteroids

[6] https://www.nasa.gov/content/asteroid-grand-challenge/characterize/light-curve-analysis

[7] https://lco.global/education/activities/plotting-an-asteroid-light-curve

Tools:

[8] NASA provided 3D models:

https://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/shapes/shapes.html 

https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/models

[9] Unity Engine

[10] Vpython Library

[11] Matlab Plot Library

#Asteroids #LucyMission #LightCurves #Lumos #UnityEngine #Coding #Cairo #Interactive

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.