Carmel astronomy students attend national conference

MUNDELEIN – Four Carmel Catholic Students recently traveled to Kissemee, Fla. to present research at the American Astronomical Society’s annual conference, according to news release.

Allison Cuba, Kevin O’Hara, Sammy Dickmann and Brandi Ropinski attended with their teacher, Marcella Lineman. The students have collaborated with students from Breck School in Minneapolis, Minn. for the past three years on authentic astronomy research projects, the release stated.

Over the course of the past year, the students surveyed archival data of open star clusters and obtained original data to compare.

“We work together to make sure we haven’t made errors,” Dickmann said of the research process, which included calculating the stars’ ages and distances. “We used Google hangouts and shared documents to collaborate.”

When they were not presenting at the AAS conference, the students attended lectures, explored exhibits and engaged in discussion with astronomers and university representatives from around the country, the release stated.

“It was an eye-opening experience for them,” said Lineman, who also noted most students enrolled in her astronomy research class go on to pursue physics in college. “This type of exposure has far-reaching implications for their futures in college and beyond.”

Students are selected to participate in Carmel’s astronomy research class based on an application process each spring. The program enrolls a limited class size of four to seven students.