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Summer Visit - 2013 - CM4Sy

The summer visit to Caltech is 3-4 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 CM4Sy team came to visit in July 2013. The core team educators attended, plus 11 students.

Quotes

  • I also learned that modern astronomy research is often conducted using vast databases of archived data collected years previously. When my past students did astronomy research projects, they used data that they themselves collected[..]. After working at Caltech with the group, though, I have come to realize that what my students have been doing previously were small projects compared to our AGN study—they were really just glorified lab activities. I have been giving a lot of thought to this since I returned home and am planning major changes in the sort of projects that my research students will be working on in the future.
  • [The best thing was] Working with everyone. It was a great experience to work with the whole team from around the country in conjunction with the astronomer. The team working, collaboration and excitement was contagious and motivating. We had such an amazing experience working together. This has truly been on of the most amazing trips simply because we had an amazing group of students, teachers and astronomer to work with.
  • [Before this,] I had two visions of astronomy: telescopes and massive equations/data tables. This trip really emphasized that its not just telescopes and equations, but tangible data and analytical skills. It was really rewarding for my high school students and I to analyze this real data. It was also very interesting to learn that the data is public and anyone can use the data to learn science.
  • [student:] I have a deeper appreciation and understanding of astronomy and the astronomers because of this project. I have also found that I find astronomy incredibly interesting and fascinating. If I didn’t have the opportunity to go on this trip then I never would have found out that I am really interested in astronomy.
  • I knew that astronomers conducted most of their research with computers accessing data from distant telescopes and spacecraft, but I didn’t realize how much of it is available to the general public and how readily available it is to amateur astronomers and other interested folks.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2013 - CM4Sy