Summer "Visit" - 2020 - OIRMA

Quotes

• Working together was super powerful because with many eyes on the same problem it takes less time to find new avenues and catch missteps.
• [student:] I was surprised that despite humanity’s extensive mapping of the sky, astronomers still might not have all the resources that they need, and that often they must creatively make do with what they have. To the surprise of everyone, the [...] catalog ended up being insufficient for our needs and we needed to expand our search. But even though the workflow of the project was not progressing in the way we expected, the team did not skip a beat in accepting it and moving forward.
• [student:] “Real astronomy” is being curious, and wanting to turn that curiosity into answers. This means articulating your problem, then coming up with a way to solve that problem, even if it means taking a detour from what you originally thought you would have to do to reach your solution. I loved that things weren’t set in stone, and that we often adapted our methods on the spot in order to suit our needs. This entire experience taught me that, as I had expected, not everything is sunshine and roses, and that sometimes, you have to do a bit of unexpected grunt work in order to achieve a goal.
• [student:] Through technical and scientific issues, it turns out that astronomers (and scientists as a whole) are team players more than soloists. Their goal is on completion rather than competition. Furthermore, astronomy as a field rewards patience and perseverance rather than serendipity.
• The best thing about the week was being able to contribute to a real project where we don’t know the answer. [...] It was refreshing to have the chance to explore and analyze.

Related Teams

• OIRMA/Gorjian