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Summer Visit - 2016 - HIPS AGN

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 HIPS AGN team came to visit in June 2016. The core team educators attended, plus 8 students.

Quotes

  • [student:] I was surprised about how our procedure veered off from its original course[...]
  • [student: What qualities do you think are important to be an astronomer?] I think an ability to collaborate with others by sharing your own ideas clearly and being resourceful with others' time and skills is essential. I also think creativity in order to think past unexpected obstacles is important, as well as an ability to make connections (in order to interpret data or draw conclusions). Finally, lots of patience and persistence!
  • Real astronomy is done in data analysis. This is not what the public sees or imagines. I think that this is one of the great values of the program, particularly for students, but for teachers as well. Participating in research projects is always eye-opening and exciting, but it involves a great deal of hard work and creativity. This last aspect, creativity, is an area where scientists typically receive little credit, but it is where they truly excel. Science, including astronomy, seems like a stodgy and non-creative endeavor on the outside, particularly with the focus on STEM as separate from the arts, which are considered creative.
  • [student:] I was least surprised at the amount of trial and error and patience that was required as we began to delve into our data. It’s most definitely not a quick process!
  • [student:] Messing up is a huge part of being anything in the sciences. There might be times where you will get it the first time, but that only means you are lucky.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2016 - HIPS AGN