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Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS

The summer visit to Caltech is 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 CephC-LABS team came to visit in June 2017. The core team educators attended, plus 5 students.

Quotes

  • Astronomy is rad. The way that astronomers use light to understand the universe is clever and math-y. The deepest truths about the universe are earned through patient, creative, sometimes tedious, skeptical scrutiny of data.
  • [student:] The best part of the trip was working with a real research team and helping each other figure things out that we didn't even have the answers to. Another fantastic part was learning so much, so fast. I enjoyed the fast pace because it kept the work interesting.
  • [student:] The most important thing I learned was how to accept that I didn't, and wouldn't, understand exactly what I was doing. This was an entirely new experience for me, as I have always been able to grasp some part of a concept I was learning. This was quickly undermined, as I had no idea what I was doing! One of the most interesting things I saw was the complexity of the data we were working with. I LOVED getting to see how the process of genuine science went!
  • [student:] Everything could not have been done online, since we were able to be together we could much more easily help one another and actually trust one another. The group became much closer after spending a week together and I feel like we became very good friends.
  • Real astronomy is looking at data, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. Real astronomers collaborate with other astronomers to verify their findings. Everything we did on this trip was scientific research; looking at data, analyzing data using different tools, collaboration, and drawing conclusions.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS