Published: June 15, 2008
This is my first year working with the Spitzer program. I first learned about Cataclysmic Binaries during the summer of 2007 at the ARBSE workshop at Kitt Peak. We spent several nights observing and making light curves for WZ Sagittae. I shared this exciting research with my Astronomy students the following school year.
I spent the summer learning about Z Cha. When school resumed this August, I had a new group of students. They are currently studying Z Cha as well as the Spitzer Space Telescope. I will be taking two of my best students to CalTech at the end of September to work on data reduction with the team.
We plan on doing a presentation to the Idaho Science Teachers conference immediately after we return. The students will be participating in the presentation showing how students can become involved in real research. They will also be presenting to the local school board.
The students who are going to Caltech are committed to working on the research project through January and perhaps presenting at the AAS meetings. They will be using this as their senior project and making another presentation to the community in the spring.