[Previous] | [Session 24] | [Next]
D. T. Campbell, D. M. Katz-Stone (US Naval Academy)
At the U. S. Naval Academy, the most elite students are given an opportunity to do a year-long research project. This "Trident Scholar" project teaches students about all aspects of research including writing and defending a research proposal as well as communicating results in a written paper, a poster display and an oral presentation.
This Trident Scholar project employed the newly updated observatory at the U. S. Naval Academy. The scientific goal of this research focused upon tracking several near-earth asteroids (NEAs) in order to determine their orbits. In addition, lightcurves were observed for a subset of these NEAs in order to find their rotational periods and their general shapes.
The poster presented here shows the scientific results of this project as well as the some of the insights this student has gained by doing his own research.