• 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

  • [...]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.
  • [student:] The first time getting to use the IRSA Viewer software along with DS9 really opened my eyes to the professional realm of astronomy. Having understood and interacted with such advanced programs blew away my expectations. As a student I am conditioned to always expect a modified version of data or curriculum fitted to accommodate a learning situation, but the NITARP program gave me that taste of what it all leads to at the end of my educational career.
  • 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.
  • [As a result of NITARP,] I spend more time talking about diligence, persistence, resiliency and collaboration as being as essential as knowledge and skill. I am also just more excited than ever to bring real world data and research processes into my classroom.
  • [student:] This experience has taught me to feel okay to not know what the result will be when conducting a science experiment.

Related Teams

We're back from the Jan 2026 AAS and we had a grand time!