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Gemini South Intern Jorge Quinteros

Gemini South Intern Profiles

You might say it’s “Intern Season” at Gemini South where a total of 4 students are currently kicking off their 2015 internships. Watch this blog from more updates.

Jorge Quinteros

Gemini South Intern Jorge Quinteros is a civil engineering and computational science student from the University of Chile.  His work at Gemini uses Hierarchical Bayesian Inference code to compute the physical properties of dust, as traced by far-infrared photometry maps. Although the data he is working on is far-Infrared images of Planetary Nebulae taken by other telescopes, once he develops the code, it will be made available to the entire astronomical community. Jorge Quinteros is mentored by Gemini’s research associate, Djazia Ladjal for this month-long project.

El estudiante en práctica Jorge Quinteros de la Universidad de Chile trabaja actualmente en Gemini Sur en un proyecto de un mes de duración el cual consiste en escribir un código que usa Inferencia Bayesiana Jerárquica para computar las propiedades físicas del polvo trazado por mapas fotométricos del infrarrojo lejano. Aunque los datos con los que está trabajando corresponden a imágenes en el infrarrojo lejano de Nebulosas Planetarias tomadas por otro telescopio, apenas Jorge desarrolle el código para trabajar con estos, estará disponible para toda la comunidad astronómica. Jorge Quinteros trabaja directamente supervisado por Djazia Ladjal.

Gemini South Interns, Jorge Quinteros

Gemini South Intern Jorge Quinteros

Find out now if there is an internship that is right for you, and don’t forget to subscribe for notification as new internships become available!

Other interns previously featured…

Marcel Dussert

Samuel Castle & Alex Gagliano

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A Research Jamboree!

Astronomical Research Presentations

Here’s the challenge…

In two minutes (or less) explain your (often very complex) research topic to a group of your peers. Sound difficult? Well maybe, but that didn’t stop the astronomers who live and work on the Big Island of Hawai‘i from presenting at the first Hilo Research Jamboree.  A wide-range of topics from instrumentation, to the study of Active Galactic Nuclei (which, for non-astronomers, are supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies) to Kuiper belt objects were covered.  This informal style provided a unique opportunity for researchers to mingle with their peers, which can be difficult even though most work within the University of Hawaii’s Science and Technology Park!

“The Jamboree was a fantastic showcase of the active research being undertaken on the Big Island. The organization and fast pace was great – it can often be hard to slip away from work to hear about research or work on a topic that is not related to your field. I was amazed to find out how many people I didn’t recognize and am happy to have made some new contacts and maybe even new collaborations. Looking forward to the next event!” – Harriet Parsons, Joint Astronomy Center, one of the event’s coordinators.

Gemini staff made up 11 of the 42 presenters. Watch for future postings of their exciting research!

Research Jamboree - Astronomical Research Presentations

Staff, from many of the Astronomical facilities at the University of Hawaii’s Science and Technology Park, chat at the end of a successful 1st Jamboree. Gemini Observatory/AURA image by Joy Pollard.

The Research Jamboree took place on February 4th, 2015, at the Subaru Observatory in Hilo.

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Gemini Staff Mentor Undergraduates

Gemini Staff Bryan Miller Mentor Undergraduate Samuel Castle.

Bryan Miller reviews an astronomical image with REU intern Samuel Castle, at the Gemini South Base Facility in La Serena, Chile.

Gemini’s science staff have a long-history of mentoring students participating in the REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) and the PIA ( Práctica en Investigación en Astronomía) programs in a partnership with the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. The examples on this page highlight recent intern/mentor-ships at Gemini South.

Gemini staff astronomer Bryan Miller helps develop a new generation of scientists by mentoring Samuel Castle, a senior mathematics major from Davidson College in Davidson, NC. Samuel and Bryan are developing algorithms used to detect shells of stars around elliptical galaxies which are thought to result from recent galaxy mergers.

Gemini staff Juan Madrid, mentors undergraduate Alex Gagliano who is interested in Astrophysics and hopes to one day conduct research and teach at the University level.

Alex Gagliano (foreground) works with his mentor Juan Madrid in his is pursuit of a career in astrophysics. Alex looks forward to someday conducting research and teaching at a university.

Also at Gemini South, Science Fellow Juan Madrid, guides Alex Gagliano in cataloging and characterizing globular clusters, ultra-diffuse galaxies, and ultra-compact dwarf galaxy candidates in the Coma Cluster using data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Alex is a sophomore at Virginia Tech with a double major in computer science and computational mathematics, and a minor in physics.

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Journey Through the Universe 2015!

Welcome to the second decade of Journey through the Universe

HICC newsletter excerpt images for Journey through the Universe

Click on image to see larger version.

Journey though the Universe “Journey” is Gemini North’s flagship outreach program bringing local Astronomy educators and others from around the country to Hilo classrooms.  The events range from master educator workshops, to the free family science day at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Education Center, and astronomer visits to the Department of Education’s Hilo/Waiakea Complex classrooms.  As part of the the Journey week activities the Hawai‘i Island Camber of Commerce hosts an annual thank-you for all of the Journey classroom educators at the Hilo Yacht Club.  This year the event will take place on March 2, 2015 from 5:00-8:00pm.

Following is an excerpt from the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce newsletter:

Journey Through the Universe Astronomy Educator’s Reception

The ongoing success of any initiative in our Hawaii community is largely due to the partnerships that are formed. Journey through the Universe (Journey) is no exception and without our local businesses supporting this nationally recognized program, the number of students reached, teacher’s workshops held, family science events attended, would simply not have been achieved over the last ten years.

As we enter our second decade of Journey we are so proud of the relationships built with both the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Our Journey team thanks the Hawaii Island Chamber profusely for supporting our students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. The annual celebration sponsored by the Chambers at the Hilo Yacht Club during Journey week provides a unique opportunity for the business community, the Department of Education and the astronomy community to support each other in our ongoing efforts to inspire, educate and encourage our students to “reach for the stars”.

We hope that the Chamber members will join us in support of the second decade of Journey through the Universe in Hawaii. In the first decade over 50,000 students were enlightened by a cadre of over 50 astronomers and engineers annually in hundreds of classrooms in the Department of Education’s Hilo/Waiakea Complex area. We are looking to expand to other parts of the island and hopefully that vision will become a reality in this next decade.
Please come and join us and meet our astronomers and engineers and the Department of Education’s leadership team. We want to thank you personally for your continued support of Journey through the Universe and for your dedication to our Hawaii Island students.

For more information on Journey through the Universe, please visit: http://www.gemini.edu/journey

jharvey

 

 

 

 

 

Janice Harvey, Gemini Observatory
Journey through the Universe Team Leader

 

2015_JTTU_Registration_Flyer_FINAL_fillable

Click on flyer to download PDF version

 

 

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When the Data Observes You!

A Facial Optical Illusion

*The exposure time was set to be long enough to bring out the faint details of the nebula and as a result the illuminating star was overexposed, producing this odd effect. -Tom Geballe, Gemini Astronomer

Humans have a long history of ‘seeing’ familiar objects in photographs taken of unfamiliar landscapes. Examples like the man in the moon, or the face on Mars are everywhere. Often these are caused by light and shadows, and always involve the human imagination.  However, in this case it’s due to the limitations* of the tools used, which caused pixels to oversaturate and create the optical illusion of an emoticon-like ‘face.’ Gemini staff observers Jennifer Miller and Michael Pohlen got a surprise when they examined this image on the night of January 8, and saw that the protostar outburst appears to be looking back at them (and seems to be none too happy about it).

Look out Grumpy Cat, there’s a new face on the internet, and it is not amused!

Facial Optical Illusion in a protostar

Protostar “emoticon” imaged by the Gemini Near Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS)

 

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