Today began the last full week of the program. Now equipped with all the knowledge necessary to complete our research project, we started our day with lectures on enrichment topics. We spent the first 3 hour lecture period working in groups to solve a set of problems guiding us towards estimating the characteristics of stars. The simplifications we learned made the math elegantly simple, yet complex enough to blacken my hand with erased white board marker.
After a break for lunch, we had another lecture about the long term fate of the universe. It was admittedly depressing to discuss whether the universe would end with a crunch or a freeze, but also somewhat comforting to be working with timescales well beyond ten to the power of twenty years out.
Once our lectures were complete, it was time to start the week-long crunch to complete our Method of Gauss code, astrometry, photometry, and Minor Planet Center report. A great deal of us stayed in the computer lab past midnight working on our illusive MoG code. While this may not sound like a whole lot of fun, much like our walk back to the dorms in the rain at 1:00 am, the support and laughter of a great group of people made every moment of it enjoyable.
I’m Sean, a rising senior from Long Island, New York. My primary academic interest is engineering, although I also enjoy physics and astronomy. In my free time I enjoy working out, playing tennis, and biking with friends.
