Jaden Sicotte, 2024 Space Telescope Science Institute Intern

Biography

SPS Chapter: George Washington University

I am a rising Senior pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Astronomy and Astrophysics at George Washington University, but I’m also minoring in Mathematics. I’ve really enjoyed getting involved with research, the SPS Chapter at GW, as well as diving into my coursework. I love going to school in DC and when I’m not doing work, I’m exploring all that the city has to offer. I’m always psyched to find a new live music spot, art show, or anything else to enjoy in the city. I had an amazing internship program with the Thomas Jefferson National Acclerator Lab a few summers ago that showed me how collaborative physics really is. I am a returning intern to this program, as last year I was the APS Careers Intern. I’m thrilled to be back and I’m psyched to immerse myself in the physics community once again with the help of SPS.

Internship

Host: Space Telescope Science Institute

Internship Blog

Week 1: Am I Technically an Astrophysicist Now?

Big takeaways from the first week? I love DC summers, SPS is the best, and whoever lives in this building and can’t make popcorn without setting off the fire alarm needs to be evicted. Also I now know what reionization means if anyone was wondering.

As you may know, my name is Jaden, and I’m a returning intern to the SPS internship program. Last summer I worked with the American Physical Society (APS) Careers team on the National Mentoring Community (a phenomenal experience, thank you again to Bri Hart, Midhat Farooq, and everyone else at APS). This summer I’m working with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Dr. Nimisha Kumari on galaxy formation during the epoch of reionization. Headline there is I think I get to use actual telescope data!

The week started slow on Monday with no work yet due to the holiday. I spent the day with my good friends from school lounging on the roof of our apartment building by the pool (not a bad start to the work week). After sufficient sun exposure, Reidyn and I hosted the SPS interns at ours for a game night. I’d never played mafia, but what better way to immediately see Muji’s sense of humor, Reidyn’s narrative voice, and Jenna’s dark side.

Tuesday brought with it orientation for our first day. This meant team building activities, rooftop bocce, elevator pitch work, going over expectations, and tons of SPS merch. After a long day at the brand new American Center for Physics (ACP) offices in downtown DC, the interns and I retired home to play some spike ball down on the national mall. Prior to our trek down there, we had the first (and unfortunately far from last) fire alarm of the week.

The week continued on Wednesday with an early commute to ACP with Johnny and Muji. I had an IT call in the morning, grabbed lunch with the interns and a few APS employees, and worked on a literature review of some material Dr. Kumari had sent me. After work, the second fire alarm of the week hit, forcing us all outside once more. A group of us mobilized to Astronomy on Tap in the evening, which are short astronomy talks at a venue in DC once every few months. Our third fire alarm of the week hit at roughly 3am Thursday morning, forcing us all out into the cold. Sweatshirts were forgotten, alarms pushed back, and REM cycles disrupted.

The next day I got up early and made for the Library of Congress. I’m a student at George Washington University here in DC, so I’ve lived here for a bit now. I have a researcher pass for the LoC, meaning I can go work there and pull records whenever I want (it’s pretty sick not gonna lie). I was super productive in continuing my literature review under the watchful eye of so many tourists and only took a break for a food truck lunch in front of the Capitol Building. That evening was quiet, but the interns and I all had a nice dinner together.

Friday I commuted to ACP once more and met virtually with Dr. Kumari to go over expectations and goals for the internship. It seems I’ll be helping her identify regions of sky to target for future JWST missions, as well as identifying and analyzing Lyman-alpha emitting sources from existing VLT (Very Large Telescope, astronomers have such a way with words) data, specifically in hopes of learning more about early galaxy formation. Unbelievably cool, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to do this work (who thought it was a good idea to let me touch real data??). After work a few of us went to an art exhibition in an old historical mansion, then enjoyed some time in the back gardens. In the evening, the interns and I had another game night.

Saturday morning meant more spike ball on the national mall (Johnny and I are currently undefeated, hoping to keep that streak alive for the whole summer), as well as touch football, frisbee, a pull up competition (props to Reidyn for entering), and a free outdoor Italian opera. Bet that’s not where you expected that sentence to end up! After a long day in the sun, we met up later in the evening as a group with Gizem, an intern and friend of mine from the SPS program last summer. After more games, a group of us went out for the night to explore DC’s social scene.

The end of the week started with a morning trip to the farmers market with Charlotte, Charles, Maia, and Muji. Pickles were purchased, strawberries were sampled, and books were bought. I later met up with my roommate from school, Chris, as well as a few other friends from school for a bite to eat. I debriefed my mom on the week afterwards and unwound for the night with a movie night at my room which several of the interns joined for. Apparently Charlotte and a few other interns are woefully uneducated in cinema and had never seen any of the Indiana Jones movies. We made it through Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom and plan to complete the series (though it seems we may also need to add Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and many others).

In short, the week was a great start to the summer. SPS continues to amaze me with the accommodations and support they give (including free housing, transportations costs, several free meals, networking opportunities, merch, etc.). The summer in DC means so many fun, free, and outdoor things to do and I’m very excited to do it all with such a great intern cohort. I’m thrilled to have such a cool project with STScI and am eager to get started. Here’s hoping the next 9 weeks are just as good (I already know they will be).

Week 2: Networked Up

Lessons of the week: STScI is way more important than I gave it credit for, I wish I had a boat, and networking is way easier when you run it as squads.

The week started off slow with a work from home day, an afternoon laying by the pool, and a game night with the other interns. I don’t know what the name of the game Charles brought was, but it had waaaay too many werewolves.

Tuesday Charles and I went into the ACP office, got some good work done, and met a few members of the APS and AIP staff. After work I again laid by the pool for a bit (my efforts to get a tan going have been futile so far). Movie night afterwards saw a continuation of our Indiana Jones streak with The Last Crusade. Reviews are in and the consensus is it was far better than Temple of Doom (if you’ve seen it you know), but not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Middle of the week meant an early morning, an Amtrak delay, and a 2 hour commute to go up to STScI in Baltimore. Upon my arrival, I met with Dr. Kumari, my advisor, who showed me to a spot in the library that I could do my work. As it turns out, the JWST control room is supposedly located in the same building, so I’m definitely hoping for a tour in the coming weeks. I ate lunch with Katarina, one of Dr. Kumari’s grad students who is doing some very cool work on dwarf galaxies. After lunch I met Chris Evans (not the Captain America one), the Baltimore head of the European Space Agency (ESA). I met with Dr. Kumari, where we went over the preliminary work I’d been doing compiling a comprehensive list of all the JWST programs targeting Lyman-alpha emitters. I’m now working on a piece of code that will give suggestions on Hubble and James Webb instruments and wavelength filters based off the redshift and emission line you want to look at. I got to attend a talk on active galactic nuclei (AGNs), which went so far over my head it might as well have been its own far off galaxy.

I then hurried to get back to DC for the Trimble Lecture featuring Dr. John Mather (Nobel Prize winner) and Dr. Mark Clampin (Astrophysics Division Director for NASA). This meant yet another Amtrak delay, but I managed to pass the time talking with a random 92 year old woman named Jules, who gave me some life advice, a shockingly firm handshake, and some snacks. The lecture itself was fascinating and I got to talk to both Dr. Mather and Dr. Clampin afterwards (promptly sent some LinkedIn requests, which they actually accepted!). I was exhausted and feeling introverted, but the post-lecture networking was so much easier once Charles and others broached conversations and I could just tag along. I spoke with Dr. Robert Petre (Director of Astrophysics at NASA Goddard) and Dr. Chris Stark (NASA Goddard astronomer) as casually as I could without making a fool of myself. We must be good at networking or something because they gave us their personal contact info, and invited the entire intern cohort up to NASA Goddard for a visit and tour.

Thursday I went into ACP again and worked on my code for a while, to mixed success (my programming chops are gonna need a lot of work). After work was the SPS Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River. Dress code? Fitted to a T. Menu? Braised pork, and I don’t even remember cause I scarfed it down so quick. Dessert? Decadent. Views? Aplenty. Did I do the Titanic pose with Amanda? Uh huh. DJ? You know it (pretty sure he played Cha Cha slide 3 times though). Vibes? Classy as hell. Needless to say it was a phenomenal experience. I imagine that’s how rich people network, and now I understand why.

The work week ended with another day at ACP, though less productive than previously because Muji and Johnny were leaving for more than a week each, so everyone was a little restless. After work Charlotte, Jenna, Charles, and I went to Jazz in the Garden, which are weekly live jazz concerts in the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden. Tickets are highly coveted, and we only had one between the four of us. It took some skilled deception and several tries on the part of Charles and I in order to get in (they’ve got that place on lockdown, our next plan was to scale the fence), but eventually we all made it in. The evening wound down with another movie night, where we watched Indiana Jones: The Crystal Skull and Shrek.

The weekend started with a morning game of Bananagrams against Charlotte (I’ve never seen someone play a game so ruthlessly), a trip to the Natural History Museum with Charles and Charlotte, and the DC Pride Parade with Brynn, Kai, and Amanda.

Sunday I slept till like 3pm and didn’t leave my room until 5pm (clearly I’m not a morning person). I did bike up to Safeway though to acquire some hotdogs, which I then grilled and enjoyed with a bunch of interns. Reidyn kindly ordered some donuts, and we had a group over for game night, where we played Uno. I’d never realized that Uno rules were subjective and/or regional, but some of the outrageous plays last night cemented for me that I’m the only one who knows how to play correctly. What do you mean you can stack skips??

Hoping this week’s STScI round trip total can stay under 4 hours (impossible) and that its just as busy as the last. In closing, I’ll leave you with a few words Jules told me on a random bench in Baltimore: “Everyone always says ‘people these days are the worst!’, but I’m 92 damn years old and people are just as good as they’ve always been! If you’re good honey, people will be good to you, always remember that. Just don’t be a sh**head”.

Week 3: In defense of Spy Kids, Amtrak, and new material comedy nights

Picture this: you’re a child and someone has just turned the TV on. You begin watching as slick spies, Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez, tell the story of their forbidden love (featuring lots of explosions and fake mustaches). We flash forward to the present, and watch as their kids, Juni and Carmen Cortez learn the spy arts in order to save their parents; and the world. Cue childlike humor, meta references, family themes, Danny Trejo, and action sequences that make you wanna hum the Mission Impossible theme, wear sick sunglasses, and also maybe kick something.

The movie is Spy Kids and it was one of our intern movie nights this week. Now there’s no denying it’s a ridiculous movie (I mean thumb people, robot clones, electroshock chewing gum?), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t phenomenal. Similarly, some of this week’s happenings would’ve been easy to focus on negatively, but are phenomenal regardless.

Monday I went into ACP, tinkered away with my code (accessed my first ever API, woot woot), and finished the day with a Shrek 2 intern movie watch (the “I Need a Hero” scene needs to be injected into my veins before exams going forward).

Tuesday brought another day of programming at ACP, lunch with Charles, and new material night at a local comedy club. You might expect that a free ticket to new material night for amateur comics on a Tuesday probably isn’t Netflix comedy special levels of humor (and you’d be right), but some of the comedians were truly hilarious and I’m choosing to focus on them instead.

Middle of the week meant another commute to STScI in Baltimore, another Amtrak delay, and a canceled bus route that forced me to walk a good deal. In addition, the lecture I had planned on attending there got canceled, and my Amtrak home to DC was delayed an hour as well. Now it might be easy to rain fury on public transportation for its failures, but I am Amtrak’s biggest fan otherwise (we need more passenger railroad lines), so I’m grateful nonetheless. Not to mention my code finally worked out on Wednesday. Now for a user input redshift, target wavelength(s), preferred filter type(s), preferred telescope(s), and target coordinates, the code will give you the expected observed wavelength at the given redshift, which filters for each instrument of each telescope can observe it, and it will pull an archival Hubble image of the region of sky for reference to help identify potential observing targets. To cap off the day, I went to Rock the Dock, free outdoor concerts down by the Wharf, with the interns. I’ve learned that it’s been awhile since I’ve played corn hole and maybe I should not talk as much trash until I’m sure I’m good at something, at least when facing Evan and Charlotte... or Brynn and Charles... or every team I played against.

Thursday I struggled to implement new features into my code, struggled to download an astronomy software called SAOImageDS9 (super sketchy that I have to manually disable ‘quarantine flags’ on this software), and struggled to convince Charlotte of Spy Kids’ merits at movie night. I’ll leave judgement to the reader on whether Spy Kids is good or not, but just know that it is and if you say otherwise then you’re wrong (again, look for the good).

Friday was a slower day, but I met with Dr. Christopher Stark from NASA Goddard for an informational interview and career advice chat. He was incredibly helpful and welcoming and I now have a few leads to follow up on for additional advice (and maybe jobs?). Shoutout to the SPS Trimble lecture for introducing me to Dr. Stark and giving me the opportunity to set a meeting with him. After work most of the interns rolled to Jazz in the Garden again for some improvisational music, cooled sangria, and wet pants (sat in wet grass).

The weekend started busy, so I’ll run through things quickly. We tried a food festival, but bailed after learning you had to pay. We instead went to the National Gallery to appreciate art (aka make fun of Charles). Afterwards Kai, Kaden, Charles, and I went thrifting and then got groceries. We ended the evening with a calm night out nearby with Brynn, Piper, Kai, Kaden, and I.

Sunday I attended an afternoon party at a friend from school’s house before meeting up with Charlotte and Jenna. We closed the day with movie night featuring Goodwill Hunting (one of my all time favorite movies) and WALL-E. Johnny is back from France by the way, so spike ball resumes this week (undefeated streak to be continued). Wishing I’d been home for Father’s Day, but I at least got to talk to my dad on the phone for a bit and was able to send him some jelly beans (his favorite).

To summarize, focus on the good elements, even when faced with the frustrating or ridiculous. Amtrak can take you from DC to Boston, amateur comedians can sometimes make you laugh, and Spy Kids can always keep you entertained. Yeah there may be delays, jokes in bad taste, and androids made of thumbs, but that doesn’t have to take away from all the good a thing brings. In fact, it just reinforces how great the good parts are.

Week 4: Fallen Dynasties, French Wines, and FITS Files

It is with a heavy heart that I must declare Johnny and I’s undefeated spikeball streak to be over. It is also my pleasure to announce that the Celtics have brought the city of Boston it’s first NBA title since 2008. One dynasty ends, another begins (yes I’m comparing our 10 win streak in casual spikeball to a coveted professional sports accomplishment). Cue the duckboats!

The week began with a day of working on my code at ACP, followed by some rest by the pool. Spikeball ensued on the mall (still lossless at this point) before I returned home to watch the Celtics earn their 18th NBA title. Really wishing I could’ve been home in Massachusetts to attend the victory parade.

Tuesday I worked from home, where I had a virtual meeting with Dr. Kumari about my work progress. With some helpful direction and tips, I continued work on my code for a while before the day was done. After work, Johnny and I suffered our first (but only) spikeball loss at the hands of Reidyn and Charlotte. Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe the hollow and fractured state this has left me in. Our win record is now something like 11-1, and we’ve decided our honor will only be regained when we’ve earned higher than a 95% win percentage. Stay posted for the inevitable redemption arc.

Due to Juneteenth, we had Wednesday off from work (and thus I was spared the lengthy commute to Baltimore). A group of us went to brunch that morning, before going to the National Portrait Gallery. In the evening we diced, grated, baked, and boiled ingredients for a potluck. Compliments to all of the chefs, but specifically Kai and Maia for hosting (and making incredible dumplings). Following dinner we had early cake for Charles’ birthday (true celebrations to come the next day).

Thursday morning I went into ACP where I got to meet Charles’ girlfriend, Maddy, who was visiting for the weekend. I also played around with the SAOImageDS9 software (as recommended by Dr. Kumari) and got to start analyzing FITS files (fancy astronomy data files) for the first time. It was fun pretending to be a full fledged scientist. Post work I hit the pool again to cool off before the evening birthday celebration for Charles (who knew Kaden could dance like that?).

End of the workweek brought another day at ACP where I primarily just took notes on theory papers as well as took significant advantage of the office candy bowl. Afterwards, the interns and I went to an event at the French embassy. We got to listen to over a dozen different live music groups, spanning high school rappers, pop cover bands, smooth jazz, and French EDM. Reclining on the lawn at the French embassy at sunset with “La Vie En Rose” playing is an end to the workweek I didn’t know I needed. To cap off the night we had a screening of Lego Batman (culture shift, I know).

Saturday we braved sweltering temperatures for the annual DC BBQ fest. The event featured: brisket, ribs, dumplings, pulled pork, popsicles, music, carnival games, free samples, umbrella hats, and the piece de resistance (French embassy really rubbing off on me, that saying IS French right?), both the Peanut mobile and the Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile. The sight of this showing beneath the stately marble columns of the Capitol building and behind some of the world’s finest museums gave me a rare swell of American pride, is this... patriotism? After retreating back to the solace of modern AC, we ventured forth once more for our volunteer duties at Astronomy on the Mall. Marbles were tossed, boom whackers whacked, stickers gifted, and science explained (though whoever hired that DJ needs to be spoken to, downright abysmal showing).

To end the week, I had a slow morning, an afternoon by the pool, and another movie night (Spider-Man, the first Tobey Maguire one). Man that guy does not blink.

In short: Boston=so back, Reidyn and Charlotte=so over, the French=pretty cool, and work=extremely cool. Enjoy this week’s pictures.

Week 5: Queries of the VANDELS, Shrek, and Ankle Variety

To begin the week, I worked from home (which brought very little progress on my code), and took a brief virtual meeting for my other job at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum here in DC. At the conclusion of the workday, I decided to try my hand at painting (inspired by the many paintings seen in the Smithsonian’s no doubt). Much to my chagrin, it IS actually a challenging skill and I’ve got a long way to go before anyone lauds my works. To get my mind of my apparent lack of creative genius and innate talent, I played spikeball with the interns down at the mall, then hosted a Quiplash game night in my room.

The next day I worked from ACP where I finally started launching queries into the VANDELS survey data. I was able to recreate several plots from the data release papers, ensuring that I was analyzing it correctly and not, in fact, making things up. Once finished, a group of the interns and I went to a trivia night at a bar in Arlington. For any readers out there interested in trivia night, I will provide three warnings: 1.) get there like an hour early because apparently there are a lot of try hard trivia dorks out there, 2.) the place will be swarming with millennials, and 3.) check the website thoroughly and call if you must because there may be a theme. The theme in question (unbeknownst to us) was Shrek and it involved a lot of millennials in costume and a ton of Smash Mouth.

Wednesday I ventured once more up to Baltimore to work from the Space Telescope Science Institute’s (STScI) headquarters. Aaaannd once more, my Amtrak was delayed on the way up, aaannd once more it was delayed on the way back. For any of you keeping track (ha, train pun), I have not yet had an Amtrak train to or from Baltimore arrive on time. Despite my high speed hindrances, I was able to get a tour of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mission Operations Center (MOC), which is basically Mission Control for the entire telescope and I’ve learned is only a floor beneath where I’ve been working. I also learned that most of the people working the control room have attended a mysterious and enigmatic program referred to only as “mission school”, which apparently qualifies them to run a 10 billion dollar machine from a million miles away with a meager 6 person crew. Such an incredible experience. I then met with Dr. Kumari to go over my work, attended a quick astro lecture, and went home (delay be damned). In the evening the interns and I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World for movie night.

Thursday was another work from home day, after which I went to the disappointingly underwhelming Cleveland Park Night Market with Kai and Charlotte. We made the most of it though and found a spot with good chips and salsa to watch the end of the US Copa America game. Afterwards I hosted interns in my room to watch the Presidential Debate. It was an awful end to the day!

To end the workweek, I went into ACP and grappled with code issue after code issue. After probably 12 installations, uninstallations, and reinstallations of various pieces of software and a million error messages, I was finally able to determine that the FITS files I pulled from the VANDELS data release are corrupted beyond repair (or are, in fact not even FITS files somehow?) and I have to either write code to reformulate all of the data within them, or find a better source to get the data from (for reference, I got the files from the official VANDELS data release website database, so go figure). Such a fulfilling, rewarding, and productive day! To unwind I laid by the pool for awhile before joining the rest of the interns for a free outdoor movie night at The Kennedy Center. The sunset was doing its thing and Remy was cheffing it up in Ratatouille; lovely end to the day.

The weekend began with a group trip to the Natural History Museum featuring: Dino skeletons (large), famous diamonds (kinda weak not gonna lie), and ancient sea life (1000% just aliens). We then walked around the Smithsonian Folklife Festival for a little while, where I learned how traditional indigenous paints are made (turns out you basically cheese grate rocks, super cool). Afterwards, I had the chance to attend the National Orchestral Institute’s (NOI’s) phenomenal symphony performance of Jennifer Higdon’s “Blue Cathedral” and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9 in D Minor”. Thank you to Dr. Jack Hehn, who is not only a supporter of the SPS internship program, but of the NOI program as well and graciously offered tickets to Charlotte and I. We even got to hear Jennifer Higdon herself describe her composing process and the meaning of “Blue Cathedral” in a private Q&A session before the show.

Sunday morning a group of us squeezed into two cars in what I can only assume was an illegal manner and drove up to Cunningham State Park where we enjoyed a nice hike. Oh yeah, and there was a waterfall so, pretty dope. As we went to cool off in the lake post-hike, Muji unfortunately suffered a tough trip and messed up his ankle. With the opinions of a podiatrist, 18 year old life guard, and park security guard received, we decided that Muji should probably go to an urgent care or ER just to be safe. With a broken ankle ruled out, the joint sufficiently wrapped up, and Muji in good spirits, people enjoyed the sun and water briefly before heading back home (again, in almost certainly a manner befitting illegal occupancy, at least we could use the HOV lane though). Kai made a hella scrumptious chocolate cake, which we all enjoyed a slice of before watching Cars for movie night.

To conclude this week’s ramble, I’ll give a summary update on several items: Presidential outlook=hurting, code=hurting, Muji’s ankle=hurting, painting/museums/symphony=cool, Amtrak=late, and JWST MOC=very cool. More next week.

Week 6: Freedom (From Work and Fences, but Sadly Not Tourists)

Thoughts from the week: 1.) birthday punches are kind of a crazy tradition if you think about it, 2.) jump a fence, and it’ll sometimes jump you back, and 3.) if you’re planning a barbecue, you should probably be sure to check the grill’s propane sometime earlier than the hour before.

Monday I elected to work from home, where I got meager levels of stuff done. I really need to start doing laundry on Sundays so I can go into the office Monday and actually get things done. It seems my LinkedIn network is finally paying off though, because my middle school soccer coach connected with me and reached out to say he wanted to connect me with his daughter who works at NASA Goddard. She seems great and we plan on chatting sometime in the coming weeks about how best to go about getting noticed by NASA. Post work, I played spikeball on the mall with the other interns. Everyone’s getting really good, but I still think we need more diving. I’ll have to figure out a way for us to play on sand...maybe I’ll commandeer and occupy the volleyball pits by the tidal basin. Brynn, Kaden, and I also figured out a way onto the roof of our dorm, so we (intelligently) climbed a service ladder to a railing-less area to get some good views.

The next day I worked from ACP, where I made good progress on my first round of analysis on the VANDELS data. At lunch there was a Lunch and Learn about the History of Science, which was a nice reprieve from debugging my own poorly written code. Later, I played a few games of bananagrams with Charles and Charlotte.

Wednesday was a calm day, so I’ll be succinct: work from ACP and pool with Jenna and Charlotte. This was a tactical play to conserve energy.

Why conserve energy you may ask? Because Thursday was, of course, the 4th of July; the Super Bowl of holidays in the District. I woke and prepped with the sound of Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner blaring (for anyone who struggles to rouse strong patriotism, this song worked like a shot of high cholesterol, back to back WW champs, and crisp blue jeans). After barely resolving a propane disaster (crazy that 4 different gas stations didn’t have any), the interns and I enjoyed a fun barbecue with some other DC interns. Right as the rain started, we dispersed; myself bound for a friend’s party, the interns for the mall to get a spot for fireworks. The party was great, as it gave me the chance to catch up with people from school I hadn’t seen all summer, though it also gave me insane apartment envy. With the rain abating and the party winding down, I embarked on a dire quest to find the interns at the mall before the fireworks blew their lid. This proved difficult. Obstacles included: throngs of tourists, sharp security fences (did you know that fences can be sharp?), and an ensuing conversation with some of DC’s finest. But through it all, I endured, and I finally made it right before fireworks with naught but a torn up leg. The night wound down nicely with various time spent with Jenna, Muji, Brynn, and Amanda.

Friday was slow, but I was able to update my code a little while doing work with Jenna. I’m finally starting to feel more confident with my analysis of the VANDELS survey data (though I’m still not sure what a Trussler line is). I later went to the pool with Brynn and Evan (Amanda’s friend, not intern Evan.

Saturday was important. Not cause it was a Saturday (at this point the weekend felt like it was dragging on and I could’ve done without a Saturday to be honest), but because it was July 6th. July 6th is my brother’s birthday, and if you see him (though I hope you don’t, that would be weird if you did), please give him 19 birthday punches from me. I had a nice walk by the Georgetown waterfront and spoke with him and my parents for a while. Bored, I later binged the entire third season of The Bear (I will for sure appreciate food more going forward, will never work as a chef, and also maybe I wish I was from Chicago?).

The end of the week brought another afternoon by the pool, followed by a welcome party for Collins, who was supposed to join the intern cohort at the start of the summer, but has been having visa troubles. Charles thoughtfully ordered some pizzas, and we played card games for a while, before a few of us split to my room to watch The Dark Knight. I’ve seen it a bunch, but I’d forgotten how violent the movie was. I now fear that Charlotte and Collins may have nightmares.

In short, another week in paradise. Except that paradise was way too hot and way too full of tourists this week.

Week 7: Beach Day, No Sunburn? (Insane Feat)

To begin the week, I worked from ACP, where I finally figured out what redshift range I should be constrained to in order to have the best chance of detecting Lyman-alpha and CIII] emissions. I updated some old code, took a break to lose in bananagrams, and celebrated my productivity with one too many chocolates from the office candy bowl. That evening, the interns had a wine and Bachelorette watch party night. Having never seen the Bachelorette (or Bachelor) before, I have a few questions. Is the bachelorette always such a boring person? Who encouraged these dudes to go with some of the gags they did (hospital gown with no underwear? balloons like in the movie Up? awful puns that even my dad wouldn’t make?)? Why would anyone marry any person who of their own free will elects to go on this show? I think I’d simply leave. That being said it was a fun time.

Tuesday I worked from home, where I continued to make progress on my plotting code. Afterwards I grabbed coffee (I’m lying, I had a cinnamon roll the size of my face) with a friend from my on-campus job during the school year. I took a brief walk with other friends from school before joining the interns for trivia night. The “Spy Kids” as we were known (much to Charlotte’s chagrin) did not do so hot, but I maintain that millennials take trivia way too seriously and that it’s not our fault they have nothing else going on.

The next day I was supposed to head into STScI in Baltimore, but last minute was allowed to work from ACP instead. I got pretty much all of my plots made that I wanted, plus a few more (you know, just casually bending matplotlib to my will). We had a lunch and learn with Dr. Matt Wright, who gave some great advice about grad school and post-grad plans. Safe to say I am still filled with an existential dread for the future, but have at least a few more resources to draw on as counters. My meeting with Dr. Kumari was virtual and quite long, but she gave me a ton of great pointers and I think I’ve roughly got my work cut out for me for the last few weeks of the program. The evening wound down with movie night: Cars 2, cause several interns needed to see Finn McMissile in action firsthand.

Thursday I worked from home because my brother, Brady, came to visit this weekend and his flight landed that day. After grabbing him from the airport, I tried to focus on my work (fairly unsuccessfully I might add) while he watched How I Met Your Mother. Once I’d finally gotten enough work done, he and I went out for some time by the pool for a solid debrief of what I’ve missed since I’ve been home. A post pool nap and then a quick dinner later, the interns came over for some games and some Just Dance. Charles was weirdly pretty good at it.

The workweek ended with another day at the ACP offices, this time with Brady in tow. While I worked, he explored the office and now has a better inventory of the snack closets than I do (dude for real eats so much). Post-work dinner with the interns, Brady, and my friend from school, Chris, was a great way to destress at the end of the week.

Saturday my brother and I went out for breakfast before I had to drop him at the airport for his return home. It was really great having him here and I definitely miss him (and the rest of my fam, dog included of course). I hit the grocery store with Kaden, Charles, and Chris (wherein I challenged Kaden to a shopping cart race, which he cheated at by the way). A quick swim later felt great, but Jenna’s buffalo chicken dip afterwards was even better. Following more Just Dance (Charles was finally stripped of his undefeated streak), Kai, Kaden, Charles, Reidyn, and I had a somber conversation about what feels like the imminent collapse of our country. USA! USA! USA!

The week ended spectacularly with a group trip to the beach. While Johnny still isn’t waterproof following his appendectomy (which also means he can’t play spikeball, RIP our overpowered duo), everyone had a great time enjoying the sun and the surf regardless. On the list of people who almost drowned me in various water games: Charlotte, Reidyn, Kaden, Jenna, and Charles. Be advised, they remain dangerous, at large and may knee you in the face and/or crotch (I’m looking at you Charlotte and Kaden). On the general list of inanimate things that almost killed me: the behemoth Safeway sandwich I got for $8. Fears I would choke on the beach were greatly (though not completely) exaggerated and I managed to power through long enough to beat Jenna and Chris, and Reidyn and Charlotte in spikeball with Kaden’s help. To close out the day we watched Forrest Gump, and “that’s all I have to say about that”.

The end is drawing near here and I’m kinda mad about it. Here are some lessons I’m taking into week 8: 1.) time flies when you’re surrounded by great physicists, 2.) watch your back on beach days, even from friends, and 3.) little brothers grow up, even if you try to ignore it.

Week 8: A Love Letter to Lasers

Skip to the end to see lasers. I really won’t blame you if you do. Do it, go look at the cool lasers.

Monday was a stressful race to finish my abstract from the ACP office while staving off the urge to yap with all the other interns trying to do the same. But a brilliant man once said that pressure makes diamonds and I sure as hell came out with a shining abstract (I had absolutely zero confidence in it). Also learned I’m very bad at Scrabble. What I don’t suck at though is apparently chess, because I was able to defeat the combined efforts of Charlotte and Charles after work.

The next day I worked from home and accomplished very few of the things I wanted to. I need to stop staying home. The comfort of the couch continues to call in much the same way as the free candy bowl at ACP does. I am torn asunder between the two. After work we had worm night and watched the Bachelorette again. For context, we believe Kaden has had worms or some other ghastly affliction since his trip to Mexico at the start of the summer, and worm night was to celebrate his symptoms finally abating. I suspect that Kaden will miss his better half, but will enjoy a less eventful digestive cycle.

Wednesday I commuted to Baltimore again, this time with my first ever delayless Amtrak ride. Consider my faith in railway travel restored! I presented my abstract to Dr. Kumari, alongside the newest round of plots and VANDELS survey analysis. To my shock and the shock of you, my dear reader, Dr. Kumari thought my abstract was excellent and that the plots were well done and interesting. Capitalizing on this mood, I asked her if I could adapt this summer’s project to be my senior thesis project, which again prompted an enthusiastic response. She even suggested I submit for an American Astronomical Society (AAS) research note to get my work published and that she would help me submit a larger paper for publication if we can find novel enough results. In short, I’m so up, we’re so back, the ceiling can’t hold us, etc. Even the subsequent bus delay, Amtrak delay, and metro delay could not dampen my spirits. Consider my faith in railway travel forsaken!

The next day was our big tour of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where many of the interns work. Major props and thanks to Jenna and Charlotte who planned the whole thing, as well as Dr. Brad Conrad (former SPS prez, current NIST hero) who facilitated most of the day. We heard career talks from Brad and Susan Ipri-Brown, before enjoying some free pizza. We set out next to the Million Pound Weight lab and the Ballistics lab. All I will say about the million pound lab is my bad again Amanda. All I will say about the ballistics lab is that the room was very warm and that if they’re not careful people will fall asleep in there. We got to hear a phenomenal talk from Sarah Horst on the physics of Titan and the planned Dragonfly mission to observe its environments. She was brilliant, made excellent use of the laser pointer, and had me fully enthralled for the whole hour. We enjoyed some post-lecture ice cream, some weirdly pointed glares from a different group of interns, and a group metro nap on the return home.

Friday was the breaking point for my public transit trust, as I was unable to join Dr. Kumari and her grad students for lunch in Baltimore. Apparently you can just cancel an entire train line for the day. That is strange to me. Instead I worked from ACP, wrestled with my code for a while unsuccessfully, and Jenna and I put on a heroic, but ultimately failing display of corn hole prowess on the roof. Headline for the evening: Lasers! Brynn, Muji, Brynn’s sister, Muji’s friend, Eva (an SPS intern from last year), and I went to a concert at Echostage. Verdict? Lasers are very cool. Zeds Dead was an insane act and definitely a great time (see pictures below to also fall in love with lasers). It’s worth noting that we were accosted on our way out the door by Kaden and his gang of goons (the other interns), who attempted (unsuccessfully) to give us a jump scare by camping in the hallway beside the door.

The weekend began as they all seem to: slowly. After sleeping most of the morning, I gathered my strength and joined Brynn, Brynn’s sister, Jenna, Charles, Charlotte, and Kaden for a Nationals home game. Brynn, Kaden, and I played a great new game, Charlotte, and I made new friends in our seat mates, and the lot of us proved our valor amidst the throngs of people returning home on the metro. I want it to be known that for a brief moment, Nats stadium also featured lasers; they should play in laser mode perpetually. There are few things, I think, that aren’t improved by the inclusion of lasers. Some Seinfeld with Jenna and Charlotte brought the day to a neat close.

Sunday meant a quiet afternoon by the pool with Jenna and Charlotte (where we unceremoniously learned that Biden dropped out of the presidential race; I later saw his motorcade, it’s little car flags seemed to have the wind taken out of them). I worked on my symposium presentation slides briefly (biggest problem to solve is how can I professionally incorporate lasers into my slides), before enjoying a lovely homemade pasta dinner, courtesy of Jenna. The Mastropolo ancestral recipes have proved their merit and I will acquire them at risk of life and limb. Spikeball and sunset ensued after and with that the week ended nicely.

Now revel in laser glory (also pictures of me and the other interns I suppose).

Week 9: Bad day to go against Ohio

To begin my penultimate week here with SPS, I worked from ACP once again. I successfully finished the programming portion of my spectral analysis work. I, of course, celebrated with the typical loss to Charlotte in bananagrams and for good measure tacked on a Scrabble loss as well. The evening wound down with a game of Catan. Shocker! I lost that one too.

Tuesday the interns and I schlepped up to ACP Maryland for our tour of AIP’s Neils Bohr Library. We got to see the recently renovated vault and cold room (though it was quite temperate inside) as well as some absurdly difficult librarian-made archive trivia. If you know what “red rot” is, you would’ve been in the right place. I, was not. We finished the night with yet another intern Bachelorette watch party. This show is absurd but I will miss watching it with everyone.

The next day I commuted to STScI in Baltimore one more time. I will miss my discussions with Dr. Kumari. Things I will not miss include: Amtrak delays, bus delays, Metro delays, and Uber delays. Dr. Kumari and I went over some of my slides and dissected some of the spectral work I’d been doing. I hurried back to DC to join Charles, Johnny, and Piper for bottomless wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. To my full stomach’s protest, this was followed by some intern spikeball. I think I’ve done an excellent job of converting the entire intern cohort into adept spikeball players this summer. To close the night off, a group of us watched the movie Whiplash.

Thursday I worked on my symposium slides for a bit at ACP before the Intern Appreciation lunch (thank you SPS). The day was overtaken with a sprawling (and often contentious) debate regarding whether Star Wars could be considered “camp”. After considerable slandering, voice levels which probably don’t belong in a professional office setting, and several consults with ChatGPT, a shaky compromise was reached. Kaden, Johnny, Collins, and I then made the pilgrimage to Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Weeks end brought the coolest part of the summer, which was our tour of NASA Goddard by Dr. Rob Peter (Director of Astrophysics at Goddard). We got to see the Hubble Operations Center (flagship telescope, no biggie), the Osiris-REX chemistry lab (asteroid analysis), and the LISA development lab (next-gen gravitational wave detector). The piece de resistance, the cherry on top, the icing on the cake, was that we got to see the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope being built in the clean room. For those who may not know, Roman is the next big NASA flagship telescope to follow in Hubble and James Webb’s footsteps. It was indescribably cool. Shoutout Charles for organizing everything. We then watched Mamma Mia.

Saturday morning a bunch of us went to brunch and we reveled in gluttony and left with spirits high and bellies full. Kaden, Johnny, Charlotte and I played some delirious and talentless basketball before meeting with the rest of the group to head for the Air and Space museum. Slumber claimed me for the remainder of the day.

Sunday was the main event. The big show. The moment everyone has been waiting for. INTERN OLYMPICS. After watching some actual Olympic fencing to get amped, we gathered for the opening ceremonies and torch lighting. You may be wondering, “what countries participated?”. The answer, would be none of course (you think we could convince people to take this seriously?). “Countries” included Flint (Muji, Johnny, and Kai), Wolf Nation (Reidyn, Charles, and Collins, not even worth explaining the name), Ohio (Charlotte, Sonja, and myself, best team no question), and a 4th team which I maybe shouldn’t name here (Brynn, Maia, and Kaden).

For those curious, the Olympic Theme on Spotify is 1:02 minutes. This is far too short to fill 15 minutes, so I brilliantly improvised by queuing it 15 times in a row. I fear the blare of those trumpets will never leave me. Gamemaster Jenna led us through the tipoff, the walk to the National Mall, and the outdoor portion: relay races, spikeball, wheelbarrow races, frisbee tosses, and soccer. Following a short break, we reconvened for the indoor portion: uno, Mario kart, cage, and my personal favorite, hallway hurdles. If you can imagine the sound of thunderous footsteps, muffled laughter, and whispered times, you have some idea of what hallway hurdles entailed. Now picture bewildered passerbys, Charlotte tripping, and Kaden’s rabbit-like form, and you may begin to see why this was so incredible. Brynn’s team took gold overall, followed by Charles’ team, followed by mine (PODIUM), with Muji’s team pulling in fourth. It was a good day (this is an Ice Cube reference).

One week remains, but part of me already feels like I’m back home. This is nice because I feel that much closer to seeing my family and friends again. This is not nice because I am already envisioning goodbyes with everyone here. There should be a word for when things are great, sweet even, but it’s got like a bitter taste to it. I suggest “bittersweet”.

Week 10: Anthology Series

At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I am sad to be home. As physicists, I feel that we should be more capable than most at stretching the time. There should really be some better perks to this gig.

Alas, if there is, I don’t know of it. And so, I write my last blog from my couch at home in Massachusetts, instead of from the ACP offices, as I did every Monday for 9 weeks. Rather than detail my final week at length as I usually would, I’ll instead talk about some of my favorite moments from the summer (Brynn, I’m stealing your idea).

Muji - Seeing Zeds Dead at Echostage was a blast with you man and I wish you the best of luck as you get settled at UC Irvine. Send me music when you start recording.

Sonja - I was glad to have you on my Intern Olympics team and will miss your surprising one-liners. Ohio against the world.

Piper - Bottomless wings at Bdubs was so much fun, as was your insane spikeball run.

Jenna - I really enjoyed family dinner (and your Grandma’s pasta recipe), various corn hole games, escaping the heat at the BBQ fest, and benefiting from your extensive Bachelorette lore knowledge.

Collins - Grateful for our trip to Ben’s Chili Bowl, your steadfastness at the potluck, and so many other laughs as well.

Kaden - Jackpot on the beach, or a cramped car ride up to the group hike. You always brought a great energy and I’ll miss being around it.

Reidyn - Whether it’s hearing about a new climbing wall, or a spikeball game, you were always so enthusiastic and I will miss seeing you so excited.

Amanda - Some of my favorite moments from the summer were spent laughing with you (f you force, deli analogy, NIST tour accident, etc.). More laughs to come hopefully.

Evan - Your breads were always so good and your witty comments even better. Can’t wait to see the tremendous success you find.

Johnny - Spikeball, papusas, important talks, and Lil J. You were hilarious through them all and I’ll miss all the laughs. Toss again soon man.

Maia - Your home cooking, your passion for dragonflies, and your dogged soccer defensive skills were strong faves of the summer. Next time we meet I hope to pay you back with some cooking of my own.

Kai - Thrifting with you was a great time and the dinner I shared with you and Maia meant more to me than you know. I’m cooking for you next time too, and I’m doing the dishes.

Charles - I’ll miss you man, just as I will miss Smithsonian trips, all-nighters, ACP yapping, and everything else.

Charlotte - My summer would’ve looked so different without the bananagrams games, Scrabble losses, Symphony show, and every joke shared in between. All of them, and you: highlights.

Brynn - The walk home from Sauf Haus, July 4th, and countless bouts of good advice; all will be missed. So grateful to have had another summer hanging out with you.

Thank you to SPS, APS, STScI, and AIP for two phenomenal summers in this program. Thank you to Mikayla, Kayla, Brad, Alejandro, and both of my intern cohorts. I have loved being an SPS intern.