• NASA
  • IPAC

AAS - 2021

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.  This year, the pandemic forced the Jan 2021 meeting online, and meant that we didn't select a new class for 2021, so only one class is attending the online AAS. 

The 2020 NITARP teams attended the 2021 January AAS. We sent about 30 people to the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here:

2020 Teams:

Also see video "turbo talks" from ORMA team : science and education.

 

Quotes

  • [student:] [This project] showed me the importance of not only performing authentic research, but also by communicating it and involving interested parties that are not professional astronomers.
  • [...]one of the greatest lessons I think I learned about professional scientists… they are drowning in challenges but keep smiling, keep questioning, and keep persisting. Building in the necessity of that kind of resiliency can’t be faked.
  • This experience definitely gave me a better understanding for what goes into Astronomical research. It opened my eyes to all of the different areas of study, the level of research and amount of collaboration that goes into it. It also helped me understand the sheer quantity of astronomical tools that are used.
  • The most interesting thing I did over the whole year was seeing the entire process of how [we] thought of [the] research question, then how we would gather the data to explore it (using IRSA) and then learning the software (Topcat) that made sense of the data. The reality of the experience matched my expectations. It was a bumpy process, with points where we needed to pivot.
  • [From NITARP,] Teachers learn what it is to be overwhelmed by new material that the presenters have long ago mastered. This humbling experience is profound and deepens empathy with students, and leads to better teaching.

Related Teams

The 2027 NITARP application is now available! Go here for the instructions. Applications are due by 3pm Pacific time, Tuesday Sep 15, 2026. (NOTE: contingent on availability of funds!)