SimSpin – a web application

CI: – Dr. K. Harborne

The aim of this project is to develop a web application for SimSpin – a software tool that generates mock observations of simulated galaxies. We are looking to design a product that enables a broad range of users to take advantage of this code in an accessible and friendly way. If successful, this web application will encourage communication between observers and theorists, promoting consistent comparisons to advance of the study of galaxy evolution.
We will be collaborating with the MAGPI survey and the Optical Data Centre throughout this project. The output mock observations from this web application will be stored and made compatible with existing tools developed for browsing results from other integral field spectroscopy surveys. Exploring data from simulations in this way, complementary to existing observational data sets, will enable a new generation of consistent comparisons.
This web application will be written using Django, replacing an old version of the app hosted on Nimbus, with outputs stored within the MAGPI data storage space at DataCentral. In the short term, a publishable deliverable from this project will be a release of Theory Data products that match the specifications of MAGPI observations. In the longer term, this web application will be massively customizable and, hence, applicable to a broad range of different surveys and simulations from all over the world.