LYNN

Classical students study the universe with help from MIT

By Dan Baer / The Daily Item

Beyond the spectacle that is Area 51 and various cable TV alien abduction specials, the study of life in space is a serious, concentrated discipline with concepts rooted in both theory and modern physics.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Chandra Astrophysics Institute (CAI), astrophysicists use NASA’s state of the art X-ray satellite observatory to examine high-energy regions of the universe, such as the remnants of exploded stars. This observation allows the scientists to examine space matter in ways they never have before, which could unlock the secrets of the universe, and answer questions about extraterrestrial biology.

As part of a summer research program, high school students and faculty are given the opportunity to join with the CAI and learn the technology involved with the high-powered equipment, and participate in a yearlong research project of their choosing.

Lynn Classical science teacher Jeff Grove, along with several students from the school, takes part in the program each year, and he says it is a great way to get kids enthused about science and learn the newest concepts that are being used in studying the great-unknown universe.

“Their mission is to teach people about this x-ray scope, and get young people involved and interested in what they are doing,” he said. “They are developing an academic community to learn, research and work together. Lynn has always had a big presence, not just with students here, but from Lynn Tech also.”

The students attend MIT five days a week for five weeks in the summertime, partnering up with astronomers to conduct research and learn about the x-ray satellite.

Once the program is complete, they pair up with other high school students to complete a yearlong research project, presented at the college in May. The participants meet back at MIT once each month to discuss and research the project, and also spend time working on the project in their spare time.

Classical senior Pat Dunn is working with a student from Rhode Island studying X-ray images of active stars to determine things like brightness, temperature and any irregular properties that may surface from the research.

“We start by learning about the x-ray equipment and the different research that they do, but we learn about something more specific in the research project,” he said. “The goal is to look for things that are different with the x-ray images. Where the average temperature of a star is 1 million degrees Calvin, we have already found something that is 100 million degrees Calvin.”

Grove says that there is a lot of discovery in astrophysics, because researchers do not always know what they are looking for and what they are going to find. The study of space and the biological makeup of the universe are theory-driven, and many questions are still left open-ended.

“There is a lot of discovery that goes on because there is so much that no one has ever seen before,” he said. “The things the kids are seeing are things that the experts don’t always understand either.”

Grove and Dunn said the concepts of astrophysics can be translated into other science, because it helps the student and teacher think and grasp the task at hand.

“The things we do are pretty different, but it helps when I have a long problem (in physics class) that is a page or two long, I can look at it and say ‘ok, what don’t I know how to do here,’” said Dunn.

As a biology teacher, Grove says the thinking is much different, because everything in space is so theoretical, and the majority of science on Earth is repetition.

“The information goes beyond sitting in a classroom and just learning. What are the possible types of life that could be out there? What would be the conditions that would exist to house life as we know it? You have to take so much more into account when you are looking at space,” he said. “In space, you have to take time into effect. The things that we see have often traveled great distances before we see them. Most of what researchers look for is bacterial life that can help us learn about the chemicals in the atmosphere.”

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