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Summer Visit - 2023 - SCHARP

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 SCHARP team came to visit in June 2023. The 5 core team educators attended, plus 10 students.

Quotes

  • "Real astronomy" is using real data to analyze and make conclusions. Research is an iterative process in the sense that we get some answers that generate more questions. And we did that!
  • Qualities that are important to be an astronomer are perseverance and a willingness to learn from mistakes. Astronomers also have to be effective communicators in order to discuss their findings.
  • [student:] The most important thing I learned was that it is okay to ask for help and ask questions I may have thought were rather “dumb.”
  • [The best thing about the trip was] I felt like an actual researcher, and it was incredible seeing our results in real time.
  • The least surprising thing about the summer meeting at Caltech was the rich, immersive environment that allowed the teachers and students to learn a large amount of content in a short period of time and apply it immediately.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2023 - SCHARP