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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

  • 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:] The best part of the trip was working with a real research team and helping each other figure things out that we didn't even have the answers to. Another fantastic part was learning so much, so fast. I enjoyed the fast pace because it kept the work interesting.
  • Astronomy is rad. The way that astronomers use light to understand the universe is clever and math-y. The deepest truths about the universe are earned through patient, creative, sometimes tedious, skeptical scrutiny of data.
  • I really enjoyed the role of the artists and computer savvy in communicating the science. Astronomers have done a great job of improving the communication and education through various visual representations.
  • [student:] The most surprising thing I experienced was the technicality and tediousness of calculating and entering the data.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS