Category: News

For the second consecutive year, the Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA for High School Students (REACH) program welcomed a record number of participants from around the world to Northwestern for the summer. Running in parallel was the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program. Supported by countless CIERA members from a range of career levels, CIERA’s slate of summer initiatives fostered a thriving cross-generational community united by a love for astrophysics and STEM education.

REACH is a highly-interactive 3-week program, with an optional 3-week extension, that offers high school students experience with real astronomy research. Students receive astronomy lessons from CIERA scientists and learn Python computer programming using the REACHpy GitHub tutorial and Google Colab. At the end of the 3-week core program, students give an astronomy research presentation to their peers. 51 total students participated in the 2024 Core REACH program; 15 of those also participated in REACH Further, the one-on-one mentorship extension.

“I was really impressed with this year’s cohort in their drive to create a community with their peers, even across sessions,” noted CIERA Education and Outreach Coordinator James Schottelkotte. “The students from the first Core session actively sought to connect with students from the second Core session.”

The program saw 59% participation from women and non-binary students and 20% from underrepresented minorities in STEM. CIERA was able to provide full or partial tuition waivers to 17 students, totaling near $45,000, thanks to the support of The Brinson Foundation, IMC Trading and friends of CIERA.

“It was such a privilege to work with the next generation of problem solvers in astronomy!” said REACH Programs Coordinator and CIERA graduate student Nathalie Jones. “I loved seeing the students learn about something completely new to them, connect the dots with previous knowledge, and ask so many follow up questions. Or watch them work together to tackle coding problems or brainstorm the most innovative, unique way to present their projects. They reminded me why I do astronomy: to share knowledge and passion, solve big problems collaboratively, and inspire others to get involved in STEM.”

“REACH Further was an amazing opportunity and I had so much fun in this program,” shared a student. “The content of my project was challenging but I enjoyed it even more because of this. I am so glad to have participated in this program!”

Learning alongside the REACH students, 4 local educators participated in the 2024 RET program. All 4 participants this year teach at schools with high populations of low-income households and racial minorities. During the program, the educators engaged in cutting-edge astronomy research, received coding tutorials, and worked in teams of two on independent research projects. Through intensive curriculum-development workshops led by experts at the Baxter Center for Science Education, RET participants were trained how to take the lessons they learned during the program back into their own classrooms and curricula. The program culminated with the teachers presenting their research to their peers and CIERA members. RET participants received a stipend for their work thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation.

“I loved this program!” shared a 2024 RET participant. “It changed my life and my view on teaching, and I cannot wait to stay in touch and update everyone about the work that I am doing and learn how it is going for everyone else.”

Congratulations to all the students and teachers who contributed to 2024 REACH and RET programming and thank you to all the CIERA members who made it all possible!

Program staff

REACH

James Schottelkotte, Michael Stroh, Kierstin Sorensen, Nathalie Jones, Jonathan Roberts, and Christine Ross

RET

Fulya Kiroğlu, Jennifer Richards, James Schottelkotte, and Chase Kimball

Mentors

REACH

Juan Barrera López, Deepika Bollimpalli, Alice Cai, Alexa Gordon, Emma Kaufman, Fulya Kiroğlu, Andrew Marszewski, Miguel Martinez, Ilia Qato, Kierstin Sorensen, Michael Stroh, Hailin Wang, Xinfeng Xu

RET

Sanaea Rose and Bryan Scott

Additional instructors/helpers

REACH

Dany Atallah, Juan Barrera Lopez, Deepika Bollimpalli, Amanda Chavez, Erin Cox, Rodrigo Ferrer-Chavez, Kari Frank, Mark Gorski, Peggy Guo, Goni Halevi, Saarah Hall, Beryl Hovis-Afflerbach, Ben Hyatt, Pavani Jairim, Emma Kaufman, Charlie Kilpatrick, Fulya Kıroğlu, Nathalie Korhonen Cuestas, Dean Kousiounelos, Andrew Marszewski, Miguel Martinez, Gideon McFarland, Ethan Rengifo, Sanaea Rose, Imran Sultan, Asad Ukani, Caroline von Raesfeld, Nycole Wenner, Nastasha Wijers, Xinfeng Xu, the CIERA Staff team

RET

Aaron Geller and the CIERA Staff team

Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA for High School Students (REACH), a highly interactive, 3-week program (with an optional 3-week extension) offers high school students experience with real astronomy research in an atmosphere of team-style learning, hands-on training, and mentorship from professional scientists. Along the way, participants discover a whole group of new people who share the same interests.

The 2023 sessions wrapped up last month with greater than ever participation, up nearly 50% from 2022 in both the core REACH program and the REACH Further extension. The

program also saw an increase in students who identify as an underrepresented minority in STEM (27%), or as women or non-binary (63%). The Brinson Foundation provided over $40,000 in tuition assistance, benefiting 16 participants.

This summer 41 high school students from around the world and 34 CIERA members took part in this 2-session program from June 12th to August 18th. Students participated in astronomy lessons covering topics from cosmology and exoplanets to science communication and astronomy-powered career paths, while also learning Python computer programming using the REACHpy GitHub tutorial and Google Colab. A record 17 of these students went on to take part in REACH Further, a 3-week extension where they worked one-on-one with a CIERA astronomer mentor on an independent research project, culminating in a presentation of their work. Students reported large gains in their python programming skills, research ability, and confidence in pursuing a STEM-related field.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the summer research program and thank you to all of the graduate students, faculty, and staff who helped make this program possible!

Quotes from Students

• “This was so fun and this work is so important to the lives, futures, and careers of the newest generation! Please never forget the impact that this work can have on our lives beyond just three weeks.”
• “Thank you so much for organizing this amazing program and for allowing me the opportunity to learn so much about coding, astronomy, and what a future in STEM research might look like!”
• “Meeting and learning from new people was my favorite part of the program. I loved hearing about the CIERA researchers’ experiences and making new friends.”

Program Staff

• Michael Stroh – Co-Director, Computational Lead
• James Schottelkotte – Co-Director
• Fulya Kiroglu – Brinson Mentor, Computation Lesson Development and Instruction
• Elena González – Brinson Mentor, Reach Further Mentor Lead
• Nycole Wenner – Programs Coordinator
• Kari Frank – CIERA Director of Operations
• Christine Ross – Program Assistant

Mentors

• Darsan Swaroop Bellie
• Anna Childs
• Shinjan Dutta
• Saarah Hall
• Ben Hyatt
• Emma Kaufman
• Fulya Kiroglu
• Chang Liu
• Miguel Martinez
• Liam O’Connor
• Jillian Rastinejad
• Jonathan Roberts
• Kyle Rocha
• Huei Sears
• Philipp Srivastava
• Elizabeth Teng
• Rachel Zhang

Additional instructors/helpers

• Daniel Campos
• Erin Cox
• Alexa Gordon
• Nathalie Jones
• Charlie Kilpatrick
• Dean Kousiounelos
• Shane Larson
• Dennis Lee
• Caroline von Raesfeld
• Ethan Rengifo
• Pedro Rodríguez
• Imran Sultan
• Jason Wang
• Caitlin Witt

Longest time-lapse footage of an exoplanet to date was assembled from real data

A Northwestern University astrophysicist has created the longest time-lapse video of an exoplanet to date.

Constructed from real data, the footage shows Beta Pictoris b — a planet 12 times the mass of Jupiter — sailing around its star in a tilted orbit. The time-lapse video condenses 17 years of footage (collected between 2003 and 2020) into 10 seconds. Within those seconds, viewers can watch the planet make about 75% of one full orbit.

“We need another six years of data before we can see one whole orbit,” said Northwestern astrophysicist Jason Wang, who led the work. “We’re almost there. Patience is key.”

Wang began tracking the exoplanet years ago, constructing his first time-lapse footage of the system to show five years of its journey. For the updated, longer version of the time-lapse, Wang sought help from Malachi Noel, a student at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. Noel spent summer 2022 as a member of CIERA’s Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA for High School Students (REACH) program. Then, as a REACH graduate, Noel began working under Wang’s mentorship during January 2023.

An expert in exoplanet imaging, Wang is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy in Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA).

Continue to the full Northwestern News story.

Eighteen-year-old Madeline Oh, a research student working with Vicky Kalogera and co-advised with former CIERA Fellow Maya Fishbach and current graduate student Chase Kimball, has been selected as one of the top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023. Chosen from an applicant pool of 1,949 high school students, the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) selects promising young scientists who are developing ideas that could solve society’s most urgent challenges.

In Madeline’s research, she studied the ways in which asymmetric compact binaries form and merge. “I used a code called COSMIC to simulate the large populations of stars evolving into binary black holes and neutron star–black hole binaries under varying initial conditions,” said Madeline. “I identified five main evolutionary pathways that lead to binary black holes and neutron star–black hole binaries, and found that the majority of asymmetric systems follow one of these pathways in particular. Then, in order for the system to merge, the secondary object needs to receive a large kick in the right direction during its supernova so that the two components are not too far apart.”

“In 2019, the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors observed a gravitational wave signal that came from a large black hole merging with what was either the smallest black hole or the largest neutron star ever detected. Either way, this was the first time that a merging binary of black holes or neutron stars was detected with such an extreme mass ratio. Since then, more of these mergers have been observed and are often called “asymmetric compact binary mergers.” Because these asymmetric systems are such a new discovery, there is still a lot about them that remains unknown,” said Madeline.

Started in 1942 as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, the Regeneron STS, a program of Society for Science, is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math research competition for high school seniors. Each year, leading experts judge nearly 2,000 submissions of original research in critically important scientific fields of study. The chosen top 300 scholars are awarded $2,000 each and their schools are awarded $2,000 for each enrolled scholar to support STEM-related activities.

Congratulations Madeline!

Learn more:

• View the list of the Top 300 Scholars (alphabetical order)
• View the Press Release
• Regeneron STS Frequently Asked Questions

Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA for High School Students (REACH) is a highly interactive, 3-week program (with an optional 3-week extension) that provides high school students experience with real astronomy research in an atmosphere of team-style learning, hands-on training, and mentorship from professional scientists.

This summer, 28 high school students and 17 CIERA members took part in this two-session program from June 21st to August 26th. Students participated in astronomy lessons covering topics such as cosmology, spectroscopy, exoplanets, and black holes, while also learning Python computer programming using the REACHpy GitHub tutorial and Google Colab. A limited number of students took part in REACH Further, a 3-week extension where they each worked on an independent research project with a CIERA astronomer. In a survey, 100% of respondents strongly agreed that their mentor was a positive role model and prepared the student adequately. Additionally, 100% strongly agreed “this project makes me more interested in pursuing individual research.”

Congratulations to all of the students that participated in the summer research program and thank you to all of the graduate students, faculty, and staff that helped make this program possible!

Program Staff

• Patrick Sheehan – Program Director
• Peter Blanchard – Program Assistant Director
• Michael Stroh – Computational Lead
• James Schottelkotte – Admin/Coordinator
• Jillian Rastinejad – REACH Fellow, Mentor Lead
• Miguel Martinez – REACH Fellow, Computation Lesson Development and Instruction
• Fulya Kiroglu – CIERA BoV Fellow, Computation Lesson Development and Instruction
• Kari Frank – Director of Operations

Mentors

• Michael Stroh
• Fulya Kiroglu
• Giacomo Fragione
• Miguel Martinez
• Monica Gallegos-Garcia
• Rachel Zhang
• Liam O’Connor
• Lindsay DeMarchi
• Huei Sears
• Jonathan Roberts
• Vic Dong
• Elena Gonzalez
• Nabeel Rehemtulla

Additional instructors/helpers

• Diego Munoz
• Dennis Lee
• Lindsay DeMarchi
• Camille Liotine
• Max Paik
• Sam Imperato

Quotes from Students

• “I’d say overall the research portion was amazing! [They] were super helpful and encouraging mentors!!”
• “I really loved this experience, and I am really grateful to everyone for making it possible! [My mentor] was an amazing mentor, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him.”
• “It was really fun and I was able to get a lot of experience being an astronomical researcher.”

The Research Experiences in Astronomy at CIERA for High School students provided an interactive, hands-on astronomy research experience for high school students remotely this summer, hosting 23 students from July 6th – August 13.

The  program almost doubled in size this year, featuring an entirely new structure that allowed more students to benefit from  an atmosphere of team-based learning alongside mentorship from Northwestern faculty, researchers, and student astronomers.  Participants took computer programming classes, listened to astronomy lectures on cutting-edge research, and tackled advanced readings.

The program this year was an evolution inspired by previous years successes, and featured 2 three-week sessions that focused on Python and astronomy mini-projects guided by CIERA staff. An additional three-week extended research session was offered to a subset of the students, and provided the students who took part the opportunity to embark on an individual research project under the close supervision and mentorship of CIERA graduate students, postdocs, and faculty.

The continued growth of REACH and the expanding student population it benefits would not be possible without the help of the CIERA community or the hard work of the students themselves. Congratulations to all of the students that participated in the summer program and thank you to all who worked to make this experience possible!

Congratulations to all the students who took part this past summer, and all the hard work they put in!

Top to bottom, left to right:

Students: Eesha Santosh, Alexandra Yao, Angela Guo, Mira Littman, Sam Sweet, Charlie Petajan, Ineza Orlyse, Mason Hergert, Jacques Sevrain

Northwestern: Diego Muñoz, Patrick Sheehan

Story By: Gretchen Oehlschlager

Top to bottom, left to right:

Students: Madeline Oh, Manal Vishnoi, Violet Berlin, August Masley, Mark Wehner, Estrella Popoca, Julien Kearns, Nicholas Hurst, Francisco Pantoja, JT Turner, Brandon Lu

Northwestern: Anastasia Montgomery, Patrick Sheehan, Alexandria Romasanta, Giacomo Fragione, Michael Stroh, Monica Gallegos-Garcia, Michael Katz, Kyle Rocha, Nick Kaaz

The CIERA High School Summer Research Experience in Astronomy at Northwestern provided an interactive, hands-on astronomy research experience for high school students remotely this summer, hosting 12 students from June 29 – August 7.

The small-cohort program provided an atmosphere of team-based learning alongside mentorship from Northwestern faculty, researchers, and student astronomers. Participants took computer programming classes, listened to astronomy lectures on cutting-edge research, and tackled advanced readings.

Instead of assigning students to individual research projects, the remote-adapted program allowed all students to work collaboratively on multiple, week-long research learning endeavors. One of these projects involved the students learning how to read and utilize data from the Gaia space telescope to map the evolutionary stages of the life of a star.

“We had really great staff, grad students, postdocs, and students that were a part of this,” said program director Patrick Sheehan. “They were able to adapt on the fly and put together some really great projects that the students were able to enjoy doing and get a good exposure to research.”

Congratulations to all of the students that participated in the summer program and thank you to all who worked to make this experience possible!

CIERA’s High School Summer Research Experience in Astronomy is an interactive, cohort program that provides high school students with exposure to real astronomy research experience.

This summer, 14 high school students took part in this six-week program from June 24th to August 2nd. Students participated in introductory astronomy lessons covering topics such as cosmology, astronomy simulations, black holes and gravitational waves and introductory programming lessons in Python and GitHub.

They had the opportunity to work on a research project with a CIERA graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, or faculty member providing guidance and mentoring.

CIERA Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Patrick Sheehan served as the Program Coordinator and CIERA Ph.D student Shi Ye helped co-coordinate the courses and activities for this program.

On August 1st, 2019 the students participated in a poster session at Northwestern, in which they had the opportunity to showcase their research projects to all of CIERA and members of the community.

Congratulations to all of the students that participated in the summer research program and thank you to all of the graduate students, faculty and staff that helped make this program possible!