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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

  • [student:] I don't think "real astronomy" can be simply classified. I now know that astronomy covers an incredibly wide field of research, from finding active galactic nuclei to finding baby stars to sorting out the mysteries of the universe. "Real astronomy" can't be set in a box. I was semi-surprised that scientific research was so circular. In every science class I have been given a set of instructions and told to follow them. There were no instructions here, and it's so imperative to teach others that.
  • Astronomy is always depicted as a single person looking through a telescope. I was aware that modern astronomy is collecting and analyzing data, but I did not have a clear understanding of the massive amount of data available and the steps required to reduce it in order to make an analysis. I was also unaware that astronomy is very collaborative.
  • [student:] I was confused a great deal during the process! I honestly think that it is EXTRAORDINARILY hard to NOT get confused/frustrated during this! With the help of my teammates, I did work through it in a timely manner. Honestly, I loved being confused. I knew that finding the answer to the question that plagued me would help farther along. I got more than enough support! I liked being able to ask questions, and, yes, I could definitely still use the support!
  • [student:] I've always thought that astronomy involved looking through telescopes in some manner, and was almost completely blindsided when we spent all of our time in front of a computer. I was pleasantly surprised!!
  • Real astronomy is being part mathematician, part computer hacker, part communicator, and a lot detective - putting the pieces together. It is messy, with results that may not be clearly interpreted. It involves looking from multiple angles with every tool you can find, looking for patterns and learning from lessons learned looking at other objects. Real astronomy involves focusing on a part of the astronomical processes, counting on other astronomers to do the same, so that all of the pieces can be put together to tell an ever improving story.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2017 - CephC:LABS