Gravitational Lens Catalog (GL Catalog)
A Searchable Database of Gravitational Lenses
GL Catalog is an independent astrophysics project combining my physics background, database engineering skills, and interest in strong gravitational lensing. The goal is simple: create a clean, searchable, public-facing catalog of confirmed gravitational lenses with consistent metadata and accessible images.
The system is built on a custom WordPress + MySQL backend with a structured schema that supports lens names, alternative designations, positional data, metadata fields, and JSON-encoded image sets. The project includes:
- A custom database design for lens metadata and multi-name cross-identifiers
- WordPress admin tools for adding, editing, and validating lens entries
- Bulk upload pipelines using TSV preprocessing, PHP validation, and MySQL
- Automated scripts for pulling survey images (DECaLS, SDSS, etc.) and attaching them to records
- Front-end search and display for viewing details and browsing the catalog
The project keeps me connected to astrophysics research and also scratches the engineering itch of building something concrete, useful, and technically clean.
The catalog is a work in progress at glcatalog.n390.com
Planck Rays: A Speculative Exploration
A Numerical Coincidence Between Planck-Scale Wavelengths and the CMB
This project grew out of my interest in cosmology, fundamental scales, and the structure of early-universe physics. Planck Rays is a short speculative paper that examines an interesting numerical coincidence: when Planck-scale wavelengths are stretched by cosmological expansion, the resulting scale coincidentally aligns near the peak of the modern CMB spectrum.
The paper is not intended as a new physical theory. Instead, it’s a disciplined exercise in scientific writing, cosmological reasoning, and mathematical clarity—treating the idea as a thought experiment while remaining explicit about its speculative nature. The work includes:
- A careful walkthrough of the relevant Planck-scale quantities
- Expansion factors from the early universe to today
- Simple scaling arguments and wavelength comparisons
- Context from standard cosmology and the Planck 2018 parameters
- A discussion of interpretation, limits, and why the coincidence is interesting but not predictive
This project represents my personal process of learning to write research-style papers: clear framing, methodological transparency, and respect for established physics.
The resulting paper was published on Zenodo.org
Unreal Tournament 2004 Dedicated Linux Server
This project documents a complete build of an unattended Unreal Tournament 2004 dedicated server running on Linux. I walk through the full setup process—from base system preparation and package installation to game server configuration, service management, and automation.
The site at antares.n390.com includes:
- Step-by-step installation and configuration instructions
- Example configuration files and startup scripts
- Notes on security, updates, and running the server long-term
The goal is to provide a clean, reproducible setup for anyone who wants to host a stable, headless UT2004 server on modern Linux systems.