University of Sharjah confers first MS in Astronomy, Space Sciences
Fatima Al-Khateri’s thesis is on spectral classification of Stellar X-ray sources
Sharjah: Fatima Al-Khateri became the first female Emirati student to receive a Master’s Degree in Astronomy and Space Sciences from the University of Sharjah (UoS). The degree was conferred in collaboration with the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology (SAASST).
Al-Khateri successfully defended her thesis, Spectral Classification of Selected Stellar X-ray sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud.
According to a statement by UoS on Thursday, “Al-Khateri presented a spectral classification of several X-ray sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), that are selected with Chandra X-ray Observatory, pointing out that the project is evident in the ability to obtain sufficient statistics in different regions of the SMC, in order to establish and compare the donor-mass distribution in various populations for the very first time.”
Al-Khateri explained her academic work: “We follow up a spectroscopic campaign with the Visible Multi-Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) instrument on the 8.2m Very large Telescope (VLT) telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. This allows us to identify and characterise the optical counterpart of the Be X-ray Binaries (Be-XRBs) population through a conducted survey of representative regions of the SMC and X-ray luminosities down to ∼ 4 × 10^32 erg/s. Consequently, the most complete census of BeXRBs outside our Galaxy in regions with different star-formation histories will be obtained. As a result, the spectral type of the donor stars along with the mass distribution in these systems within the SMC will be determined.”
Examining committee
The examining committee was chaired by the coordinator of the programme Prof. Mashhoor Al-Wardat, professor of Astrophysics; as well as Prof. Ilias Fernini, director of Space Sciences Department, SAASST; Prof. Andreas Zezas from University of Crete and Institute of Astronomy at Foundation of Research and Technology, Greece, and Dr. Antonios Manousakis, assistant professor, Department of Applied Physics, and Astronomy and thesis supervisor.
Al-Wardat said the programme is the first of its kind in the UAE and it was approved by the Ministry of Education three years ago, in implementation of the vision of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, “to prepare highly qualified human cadres capable of advancing in astronomy and space sciences projects.”