A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . .At the beginning, there was nothing. And then there was something. Everything was pretty happy for a while... But suddenly there was this giant explosion of stuff! And the universe has been expanding steadily ever since:o) Recently, a funny little planet which the inhabitants called "Earth" decided to appear. There was nothing terribly special about it - in fact, all that could be said about it was that it was Mostly Harmless;) But one day some of these creatures called humans formed this group called Earthwatch. And then another group formed called the Durfee Foundation... They scouted for other humans - a breed they called high school students. They were searching for students gifted in the arts and the sciences. It was their goal to introduce these students to the sciences in a real-life environment. Applications reached their offices from all over a place called the United States. After months of deliberation, about 70 students were chosen and grouped into teams ranging from about 6-8. These students received word that they had been chosen to participate in some "expeditions". The Durfee Foundation paid for the expenses, while Earthwatch made the many arrangements. The students received briefing packets to prepare them for their experiences. Soon plane tickets arrived, and it was only a matter of time before they had to leave for their trips... This page is a record of our experiences during our trip:o) Unfortunately, I didn't have time to create this during the trip - the page was created about 2 months later, but I have tried to represent accurately my impressions from the trip, anyway:o) I'm really glad I was chosen to join in this experience:) It was a lot of fun meeting everyone and learning so many new things! It was truly an unforgettable event:o) Transient Phenomena in Astrophysics 2000 took place in Los Alamos at Fenton Hill Observatory and other nearby locations in New Mexico. Our team was composed of 8 students, 2 Investigators, an away-from-home-Mom:o), and 5 students/former Eartwatchers who were working at Los Alamos that summer. Events included many lectures to teach us about various topics in Astrophysics, sessions instructing us in the use of the instruments we would be using, late night observing sessions at Fenton Hill, many field trips to really cool places, and lots of having fun!
This page last updated August 13, 2000. |