• NASA
  • IPAC

AAS - 2024

The Winter American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting is the largest meeting of professional astronomers in the world. NITARP educators attend an AAS first to meet their team, then they go home and work remotely for much of the year, and then attend an AAS to present their results.  At any given AAS, then, we could have two NITARP classes attending - those finishing up, and those getting started. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The 2023 and 2024 NITARP teams are attending the 2024 January AAS meeting in New Orleans, LA. The 2023 class was presenting results and the 2024 class was starting up. We had alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 50 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the press release on NITARP from the AAS, and the special online article about NITARP at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here. (In addition to the iPoster sessions as listed here, the physical versions of the 2023 teams' posters were up at the IPAC booth all day Tuesday.)

2023 teams:

Alumni:

  • 167.01 Sperling et al., Student-Led High Altitude Ballooning into Solar Eclipses (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 171.03 Rebull et al., NITARP Lesson Plans: Bite-Size Pieces of Authentic Science Research Experiences (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 171.06 Newland, Using Google Colab to Teach Hubble-Lemaitre's Law with BOSS Data (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 176.02 Rebull et al., Young Stellar Object Candidates in IC 417 (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 203.03 Wojciak et al., Exploring Color-Magnitude Relationships Among Quasars with z between 1.5-1.75 (Tuesday 9-10)
  • 458.21 Jones & Rutherford, The Three-Dimensional Structure of IC 2391 (Thursday 1-2)

Quotes

  • I hope to shift more from the “survive” to “thrive” mode in implementing what I’ve learned and experienced in NITARP. While “authentic scientific research” may not always be practical in my 41-minute high school science classroom, I still want to bring along and model the same wonder, curiosity, optimism for self-improvement and self-actualization, and sense of community that I experienced in NITARP.
  • [student:] I have experienced so many unique things that I literally blew my mind and created a spark in me. I now know that I want to be in the field of astronomy. I have learned so many research, time management, and teamwork skills that will still be with me for my whole life. Overall, NITARP has changed the way I look at the world in terms of science and lit a fire inside of me. It has been an experience that I will stick with forever.
  • For me, the uncertainty associated with some of the data was surprising. In a chemistry context, where the researcher has control of the sample the data is much more direct, associating peaks in spectra with structure in the molecules is very direct. The idea that we are starting a project with a catalog of AGN, but are only 90% sure that the objects are AGN (R90) surprised me as I usually think of astronomy as much more mathematical and underestimate the differences in how data is collected compared to chemistry.
  • I have SUCH high standards now for any research-based PD. I also am looking for more opportunities that are unique like NITARP and have more follow-through and continued learning.
  • This experience gave me exactly what I was hoping for, which was a clearer idea of the “steps” of doing a research project and the confidence to lead new students in one on my own.

Related Teams

AAS - 2024