Summer Visit - 2022 - SNAG490

Quotes

• [student:] The most surprising thing to me was how collaborative it was and how equal I felt. During the zoom meetings, I had felt more like an observer than a participant. However, during this week, we were all in it together, learning, asking questions, sometimes struggling. As a student, I felt like a true member in the group, participating in all things just as the students and the other teachers did. I was also surprised by how collaborative astronomy can be. Collaborating and engaging in tasks as a group allowed me to truly gain a better understanding of what we were doing. I was also surprised by the amount of complex math and coding Luisa did to create our SEDs, plots, etc. I (naively) didn’t realize how much math was involved in Astronomy. Additionally, I was surprised by how much fun I had and how much I laughed. I expected it to be a very serious trip. We were very focused and got a lot of work done, but we also had a ton of fun and made lots of jokes along the way, which I wasn’t expecting. I was also a little surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I didn’t really know what to expect going into this week, but I had an amazing time. Actually starting to analyze our YSO candidates was SO COOL. I kept getting super excited every time I was able to apply what we learned in concept these past few months, or even that morning, into practice as I analyzed SEDs, images, plots, and light curve data.
• Astronomy is not really what I thought it would be. It is much more computer programming and data analysis than I realized. It is still interesting, just not what I expected at all. Which is good, actually, because I am really learning a lot.
• [The qualities you need to be an astronomer include] The understanding of how the details you pay attention to makes you an expert in a small part that fits into a bigger picture. No one is an expert in every aspect of the whole field of astronomy! It is collaborative, so working on a team is of utmost importance.
• It was surprising to learn how much programming and data analysis are currently dominating the astronomy field. It seems like today’s astronomy is primarily data analysis, no one is actually looking at any stars. I get it, because we’ve pretty much exhausted the visual part of the spectrum, but I had never really thought about it before.
• [student:] I didn't realize astronomy was so much coding and tech. It makes sense now that I have experienced it, but for some reason I thought it would be a lot more looking at pictures.

Related Teams

• SNAG490/Rebull