Hi, I’m Nathan at NMSU Astro II! Now that we’ve reached the fifth day, the camaraderie is growing strong. Brought together by long evenings of problem sets, everyone is happy to collaborate and work together, offering help on difficult problems and concepts.
Observing through Las Cumbres Observatory (a remote telescope network) has been going well. Unfortunately, clouds and rain have rendered those using Tortugas Mountain Observatory (TMO) unable to take pictures of anything other than the roof. Tonight has been clear, and the teams have been able to take images of their asteroids.
With two three-hour lectures a day, we have been learning a great deal—all about astronomical coordinate systems and spherical trigonometry, time, matrices, and optics. Today’s afternoon calculus lecture included students deriving derivatives for cosine and sine during the breaks. Participants work on problem sets and questions of the day unless they are getting a brief bit of sleep or eating, but fortunately, these problem sets are enjoyable if frustrating. Questions of the day have involved cockroaches, bugs, Duolingo, and TAs. None have yet incorporated the skunks we have spotted or the unsettling elevator at Pinon Hall.
Tomorrow, we will go to Target for our first trip outside of the submarine of NMSU. The next week will also include guest speakers and a hike to TMO. We have settled into the routine of lectures and problem sets, and people are more comfortable returning early to sleep or alternatively, working until 1 am.
I am enjoying learning and applying challenging material, especially with others. Our skills are rapidly progressing, and we are becoming more and more comfortable with each other. It’s shocking that we’re nearly a week in already, but there is still plenty more time to learn and grow!
