• NASA
  • IPAC

AAS - 2024

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.  At any given AAS, then, we could have two NITARP classes attending - those finishing up, and those getting started. Reload to see a different set of quotes.

The 2023 and 2024 NITARP teams attended the 2024 January AAS meeting in New Orleans, LA. The 2023 class was presenting results and the 2024 class was starting up. We had alumni raise money to come back as well. We sent about 50 people to the AAS and had a grand time. Please see the press release on NITARP from the AAS, and the special online article about NITARP at the AAS. All of the posters we presented are here. (In addition to the iPoster sessions as listed here, the physical versions of the 2023 teams' posters were up at the IPAC booth all day Tuesday.)

2023 teams:

Alumni:

  • 167.01 Sperling et al., Student-Led High Altitude Ballooning into Solar Eclipses (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 171.03 Rebull et al., NITARP Lesson Plans: Bite-Size Pieces of Authentic Science Research Experiences (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 171.06 Newland, Using Google Colab to Teach Hubble-Lemaitre's Law with BOSS Data (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 176.02 Rebull et al., Young Stellar Object Candidates in IC 417 (Monday 5:30-6:30)
  • 203.03 Wojciak et al., Exploring Color-Magnitude Relationships Among Quasars with z between 1.5-1.75 (Tuesday 9-10)
  • 458.21 Jones & Rutherford, The Three-Dimensional Structure of IC 2391 (Thursday 1-2)

Quotes

  • I could not believe the amount of research being done regarding [my topic]. I do my best to read up on some astronomical findings but was simply floored by the number of things I had no knowledge of.
  • I have SUCH high standards now for any research-based PD. I also am looking for more opportunities that are unique like NITARP and have more follow-through and continued learning.
  • I realized being an expert in one field doesn’t necessarily make you an expert in all astro fields. I realized that each subfield had a community of astronomers who were familiar with each other’s work. And I began to see the small but vibrant community of NITARPers out there, doing their thing and helping each other out, as well as helping the next generation of teachers and students alike. I hope that I may grow into that.
  • [student:] The most interesting thing I learned over the whole year of the research was the way how astronomers conduct their research. Before coming into this program, I pictured astronomers to be observers of the night skies most of the time. I didn't realize that data analysis and programming were such huge components of the task. This experience has definitely changed my perspective and my expectations of what I picture an astronomer to be doing.
  • Giving highly motivated teachers a community to build their skills is a critical component of professional development that isn’t always an option, especially in small districts or specialized areas. NITARP gives an opportunity for teachers from smaller or more rural communities to find colleagues to collaborate and provide opportunities for students they would not otherwise have.

Related Teams

AAS - 2024