CATA Center for Astrophysics simultaneously connects more than 300 schools over 4,300 kilometers with the help of Microsoft Teams

The Centro de Excelencia en Astrofísica y Tecnologías Afines (CATA) is an entity dedicated to the research and development of technologies linked to astronomy in Chile, made up of these universities: University of Chile, Católica, Concepción, Diego Portales, and Andrés Bello.

CATA is made up of over 60 researchers distributed throughout the country, along with many young researchers and postgraduate students between master's and doctoral levels. Inside, seven lines of scientific research are developed, two focused on technology and one on dissemination and education.

Live science over 4,300 kilometers

With the intention of celebrating Astronomy Day—celebrated every March 21 in Chile—the CATA decided to carry out a project that involved a large number of students throughout the country. The experiment consisted of measuring the planet's radius using the Eratosthenes method. To do this, it was necessary for students in different locations to place a bar under the sun and to measure the shadow it cast at the same time. This activity had two major challenges: massive and simultaneous connectivity, and the collection of the data obtained at each establishment.

To meet both challenges, digital tools were needed. This is how CATA, which already had Microsoft technology to support its research, turned to the company for help to carry out the program the way they had planned.

Rodrigo Herrera Camus, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Concepción and promoter of the activity, mentions that this experiment had already been carried out in Chile, although on a smaller scale, due to the difficulty of coordinating it. "Thanks to Microsoft Teams technology, we were able to connect 300 schools over 4,300 kilometers and see the different measurements as they occurred," he remarks.

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration and communication application that enables a team of people to be informed, organized, and connected, all in one place. Through this tool and its Teams Live Events feature—which allows direct streaming of videos and interaction between participants—schools from north to south became part of this experience.

Information collection

The second big challenge for CATA in their project was how to gather the data they had obtained from the different establishments and show it in a visually appealing way so that students could perform an analysis and reach their own conclusions. In this case, Power Apps Portals was used, which is an application that provides business functionality to individuals. Through this, CATA was able to unify the data through automated flows, allowing users to interact with them in real time, from anywhere, with a responsive and customizable design.

Science and collaboration

For Herrera, technology made the collaborative nature of science possible. "This experiment was only possible since many schools did the measurement at the same time; if they had only been in the same location there would have been no results."

On the other hand, Ezequiel Treister, Deputy Director of the CATA and Academic Director of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Catholic University of Chile, states that the use of the tools allowed them to democratize the project, since all schools—public, private, rural, and city—had the possibility to participate. "Technology allowed us to break down barriers and reach many more students that we otherwise would not have been able to reach."

Approximately 3,000 students participated in this activity. The radius obtained as a final measurement was 6,147 kilometers, while the radius accepted by NASA is 6,378 kilometers. "Having been so close to the actual value was a great achievement," Herrera mentions happily.

One more step towards scientific dissemination

By carrying out this activity, CATA noticed great interest from the community in participating. The goal for the following year is to repeat the massive and synchronous measurement across the Americas, in cities such as Arequipa, Caracas, Santo Domingo, Port-au-Prince, New York, Boston, and Montreal.

"We have a lot of room to grow," says Herrera. "Thanks to Microsoft, we went from 100 to 1,000 measurements. We want to do more astronomy-based citizen science projects and make them impact society." He also emphasizes that, even though scientific dissemination talks are important, these kinds of participatory experiences serve to educate the data scientists and analysts of the future.