Student Research

In a recent AAVSO Communications email, there was an article written by a high-school student about data collection and research he did on the suspected variable star Ross 114 entitled "Observations of the Suspected Variable Ross 114 (NSV 13523)".  Here is a link to the paper, but what I want to highlight is the last paragraph of the paper, which I quote below:

"Finally, we offer the following comments on the educational aspects of this project. The lead author undertook this research as part of Yerkes Observatory’s McQuown Scholars program for high school students. He feels a research project such this one can be of tremendous value for a student exploring an interest in astronomy. The opportunity to work one-on-one with a professional astronomer and to learn about and see first hand the need to collect and analyze data over an extended period of time as well as the effort that goes into writing and publishing a scientific paper clearly showed the nature of astronomical work. It was incredibly satisfying at the end to find our plate and CCD variations were in agreement. Being able to obtain CCD observations during the time period that was lost (2016 June–August) would have greatly helped in determining the light curve and its period, but this unexpected problem probably also illustrated a feature of observational astronomy work.  Overall, he sees this project as certainly one of the most valuable experiences he had in high school."

I've made bold that last sentence.

This statement, I hope, will inspire other students to consider using astronomical data in their next science project.  Please consider Wayaway Observatory as your data source!