Today was the first real day of research! In the days before I had been busy with Outreach and Python Courses, but finally I got to work with real data. After the usual meeting, I started where I left off the day before: figuring out the IDL software. After an hour of useless experimenting, I figured that I could write a pseudocode in Python and eventually translate that code into IDL. Using all the knowledge I gained from AP Computer Science, the Python Course, and the internet, I wrote about 50 lines of code before lunch. I was able to finish the first task on the long list that needed to be finished: sorting out the fraction of stars that had data available for 12 or more epochs. However, I was only able to run a Sample Data through the program ("only" 800 lines of data) because the actual data set was not yet usable (the transferring of data ruined the table format).
For lunch, I had pizza with the rest of the interns and the REU students. Afterwards, Mr. Pow held a lecture on the Freshman Imaging Project, a very interesting class for first-year undergraduates. He showed us videos and images from previous years' projects, including a lighting dome and a program to analyze the contour lines of a person's face.
After the lecture, I went back to work on task two of the program: Finding the standard deviation of every star that had 12 or more epochs available. While the code only took me an hour to write, there were many errors, most of which were simple. With the help of Google I was able to fix all of the errors in my code after 3 more hours, at which time I was the only one left in the room. I ran the Sample Data through the full program, which resulted in half an hour of additional code-editing. Finally, the output showed me exactly what I needed; a great feeling after spending 8 hours on the program.
For lunch, I had pizza with the rest of the interns and the REU students. Afterwards, Mr. Pow held a lecture on the Freshman Imaging Project, a very interesting class for first-year undergraduates. He showed us videos and images from previous years' projects, including a lighting dome and a program to analyze the contour lines of a person's face.
After the lecture, I went back to work on task two of the program: Finding the standard deviation of every star that had 12 or more epochs available. While the code only took me an hour to write, there were many errors, most of which were simple. With the help of Google I was able to fix all of the errors in my code after 3 more hours, at which time I was the only one left in the room. I ran the Sample Data through the full program, which resulted in half an hour of additional code-editing. Finally, the output showed me exactly what I needed; a great feeling after spending 8 hours on the program.