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Summer Visit - 2012 - HR4AGN

The summer visit to Caltech is 3-4 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 HR4AGN team came to visit in August 2012. The core team educators attended, plus 12 students, and one additional scientist.  The scientist mentor is Dr. Varoujan Gorjian. IPAC staff member Jacob Llamas (SSC) assisted, as did Dr. Jean-Christophe Mauduit (SSC).

Quotes

  • I hadn't realized astronomers spent so much time analyzing data (thought it was more automated) but after analyzing the data myself, I feel I have a better understanding of the analysis job, what it entails, and why humans must do it.
  • The most surprising thing [was that] I realized that the work that most of the astronomers do can be done by civilians who have the knowledge and know how to access data on the internet. It's fascinating that the internet offers such a rich database that most people don't know about.
  • [student:] The best thing about my experience at IPAC was getting to meet people from all around the country and seeing what it is like to work on a real research project in astronomy as I believe that is a career path I would like to pursue.
  • The "real astronomy" we conducted was a process that included the exchange of ideas and mutual cooperation of others toward a common goal.
  • [My advice to future participants is that] you will pick [up] the information faster than you think and before you know it you'll be talking like a scientist on the subject.

Related Teams

Summer Visit - 2012 - HR4AGN