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AAS - 2015

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 2014 and 2015 NITARP teams attended the 2015 January AAS meeting in Seattle, WA. The 2014 class was presenting results and the 2015 class was starting up. We had many alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 50 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the special article on NITARP at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:

Quotes

  • In the past, I had never tried to use raw astronomical data (such as .fits files at various wavelengths) for stars or open clusters because I didn’t know how to analyze it or where to find it. Now that I know both, I have already begun to create and test lesson plans that teach my students how to do such things as create representative color images from IR data, chart SEDs, or even do photometry or more advanced analyses. Now my students can do real science, and hopefully take the next step of getting our own telescope and camera and taking our own photos at chosen wavelengths, reducing the images, and analyzing the results.
  • It surprises me how ‘approachable’ everyone was; I assumed since I don’t have a PhD that I would be talked down to but that didn’t happen at all.
  • [student:] I would [tell Congress] that students cannot have a more privileged opportunity. I have heard the possibility of this program shutting down, and it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart to think that others might not have the opportunities I’ve had, that others might not know what astronomy feels like, what TRUE science feels like. They may never get that hand that pulls them through the door and into that magical world of curiosity, of discovery, of innovation and revolution. 6 letters that changed my life. I would assert that Congress do everything in its power to divert more money to education focused specifically on astounding projects like this one.
  • [What did I learn about] Astronomers… well let’s just say the personalities of the Big Bang crew can be found throughout. I was shocked when I heard one astronomer present something and the next start off by saying everything you just heard, I am about to debunk.
  • [student:] I learned about new resources that I didn’t even know existed. Almost like finding a new continent, vast and ready to be explored. The scientist helped us get familiar with what the buttons did and how to understand what the buttons did, but we were the ones who decided which buttons to press, and we ended up being excellent and ambitious button-pressers.

Related Teams

AAS - 2015