2008 Woodie Awards
Student finds inspiration among the stars
By: Jesse McCann
Issue date: 9/15/05 Section: Features
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All she wanted was a graph showing a spectral energy distribution, but she was having trouble labeling her axes of luminosity versus wavelength.
After a little bit of a struggle, physics major Nora DeMuth, 31, was able to figure it out.
"Just that small, minor achievement was thrilling," DeMuth said. "I was stoked that I figured that out all by myself."
Is this just some boring physics problem? Not quite.
Let's take a step back. A giant step back.
"The big picture is what is truly inspiring," DeMuth said. "I was making graphs describing the light from other galaxies. I was looking at the regions around super massive black holes."
Studying the deep reaches of outer space was just another day on the job for DeMuth. This past summer, DeMuth spent 10 weeks as an intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the Spitzer Science Center in Pasadena.
DeMuth worked with information gathered by the Spitzer space telescope, an infrared telescope DeMuth describes as "really, really, really cool."
"It's an incredible telescope doing amazing science," DeMuth said. "It's consistently blowing people away by what it's able to see and do."
The Spitzer space telescope is very sensitive, and is able to see the universe on a much broader range than if it were in a visible view, DeMuth said.
She was pleased with the surroundings she was able to do her research in.
"It was amazing to be in that type of environment," DeMuth said, "to be around other astronomers and to talk to scientists, day in and day out."
In addition, DeMuth was surprised by the lab staff's kindness.
"Everybody I encountered was more than willing to go out of their way to help me out," DeMuth said. "(They) truly seemed to enjoy having students on lab."
DeMuth looked to the JPL staff not only for guidance, but also for assurance of her future.
"One of the real gems that I got from being there this summer was that I can look at people around me and say, 'Yeah, I could see myself doing that,'" DeMuth said.
After a little bit of a struggle, physics major Nora DeMuth, 31, was able to figure it out.
"Just that small, minor achievement was thrilling," DeMuth said. "I was stoked that I figured that out all by myself."
Is this just some boring physics problem? Not quite.
Let's take a step back. A giant step back.
"The big picture is what is truly inspiring," DeMuth said. "I was making graphs describing the light from other galaxies. I was looking at the regions around super massive black holes."
Studying the deep reaches of outer space was just another day on the job for DeMuth. This past summer, DeMuth spent 10 weeks as an intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the Spitzer Science Center in Pasadena.
DeMuth worked with information gathered by the Spitzer space telescope, an infrared telescope DeMuth describes as "really, really, really cool."
"It's an incredible telescope doing amazing science," DeMuth said. "It's consistently blowing people away by what it's able to see and do."
The Spitzer space telescope is very sensitive, and is able to see the universe on a much broader range than if it were in a visible view, DeMuth said.
She was pleased with the surroundings she was able to do her research in.
"It was amazing to be in that type of environment," DeMuth said, "to be around other astronomers and to talk to scientists, day in and day out."
In addition, DeMuth was surprised by the lab staff's kindness.
"Everybody I encountered was more than willing to go out of their way to help me out," DeMuth said. "(They) truly seemed to enjoy having students on lab."
DeMuth looked to the JPL staff not only for guidance, but also for assurance of her future.
"One of the real gems that I got from being there this summer was that I can look at people around me and say, 'Yeah, I could see myself doing that,'" DeMuth said.