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As the end of the first week drew near, June 21 started off like most SSP days. We got up, ate breakfast at around 8:00 AM, and headed off to the observatory for our morning lecture. PSet #2 had just been released the previous night, and we were exhausted from our hike the day before as the new PSet questions loomed over our heads. For the morning lecture, Dr. Rocky taught us more python, this time introducing us to numpy arrays, matrix operations, and mathplotlib graphs. We finished the morning with a first look at the beautiful SSP CUB ‘24 mugshot board (what a masterpiece)!
We then grabbed lunch at C4C and hurried to our afternoon lecture with Dr. F: an introduction to photometry. We learned how the apparent and intrinsic magnitudes are calculated for celestial objects, how CCD’s and CMOS’ work, and ways to fight the “dark current.” I’m not sure why it’s named so mysteriously, but all I know is that the best way to fight it is to cool the camera’s temperature (much lamer than using lightsabers and the Force). We went to dinner (I had Persian food again) and returned to the observatory to work more on PSets.
Later that night, we all walked to downtown Boulder for a boba run! As it turned out, EVERY SSP member opted to get some (quite possibly the most popular SSP drink). We split into two groups to avoid long lines, but 20 people trying to get boba at once is still quite chaotic (you should’ve seen the look on the store workers’ faces as we invaded the boba shop)! After a delicious milk tea, we all returned to the observatory satisfied. The trip had taken nearly two hours!
It was too cloudy to observe, so we spent the rest of the night (9-12pm) working on PSets – now a normal SSP practice (SSPractice). We learned, messed around, and collaborated on problems ranging from finding the walkable distance from any two given coordinates on Earth to manipulating the special law of cosines for “spherical triangles” (non-euclidean geometry). After a long day of hard work, we returned to Crosman and slept like a rock (or at least I did).
About Me: I’m Ethan, a rising senior at Paul VI HS in northern Virginia (near D.C.). I love mountaineering, violin, and skiing, and my profound interest in math and physics compelled me to apply to SSP. Prior to SSP, Ben (another SSPer) and I climbed Mt. Elbert, the highest point in Colorado and the tallest mountain in the Rockies at 14,440 feet.
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SSP International is a nonprofit offering inspiring science immersion experiences. Founded in 1959, its mission is to provide opportunities to accelerate learning, doing and belonging in science. SSP International’s flagship program is Summer Science Program, a leading education experience for exceptional high school students in astrophysics, biochemistry, genomics and more.
