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Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS

The summer visit to Caltech is 4 days long and is the only time during the year of work when all the participants on the team come together in person to work intensively on the data. Generally, each educator may bring up to two students to the summer visit that are paid for by NITARP, and they may raise funds to bring two more. The teams work at Caltech; the summer visit typically includes a half-day tour of JPL, which is a favorite site for group photos. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The CephC-LABS team came to visit in June 2017. The core team educators attended, plus 5 students.

Quotes

  • Real astronomy is being part mathematician, part computer hacker, part communicator, and a lot detective - putting the pieces together. It is messy, with results that may not be clearly interpreted. It involves looking from multiple angles with every tool you can find, looking for patterns and learning from lessons learned looking at other objects. Real astronomy involves focusing on a part of the astronomical processes, counting on other astronomers to do the same, so that all of the pieces can be put together to tell an ever improving story.
  • In order to be an astronomer (or any scientist) you have to be able to accept the fact that there are mistakes which must be worked through. An astronomer must have the stamina to work through things to solve problems. Also, astronomers must be highly creative in order to devise solutions to very unique problems.
  • [student:] I don't think "real astronomy" can be simply classified. I now know that astronomy covers an incredibly wide field of research, from finding active galactic nuclei to finding baby stars to sorting out the mysteries of the universe. "Real astronomy" can't be set in a box. I was semi-surprised that scientific research was so circular. In every science class I have been given a set of instructions and told to follow them. There were no instructions here, and it's so imperative to teach others that.
  • As a teacher who loves doing projects with students, I was in a much different role this time. I have been taught to give quick help, activate students then move away as they engage. When I often want to complete the task and do it for them, that wasn’t what the students needed for growth. This time, I needed to stay engaged in the activity. This might seem subtle, but it was not for me. And usually, my personal projects are self-contrived.
  • Real astronomy is looking at data, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. Real astronomers collaborate with other astronomers to verify their findings. Everything we did on this trip was scientific research; looking at data, analyzing data using different tools, collaboration, and drawing conclusions.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS