National Young Astronomer Award, 1997 Winners

Dozens of young astronomers from across the United States competed for the Astronomical League's National Young Astronomer Award for 1997. The top five finalists were identified, and their award applications were submitted to our panel of national judges, all noted professional astronomers. This year, our judges were Dr. Frank Bash, Director of the McDonald Observatory, Dr. David Hans Hough, professor at Trinity University, Dr. John Kielkopf, professor at University of Louisville, and David Levy, noted astronomer, author, and comet discoverer. Here are the finalists for the 1997 National Young Astronomer Award.

1997 National Young Astronomer Award winner Heather Cameron is presented a 10-inch Meade LX-200 by Meade Representative Sheldon Faworski. The presentation occurred at the Astronomical League's Fiftieth Anniversary Convention at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

First Place: Heather T. Cameron.

Our first place winner, Heather Cameron, is a US citizen born in Boston, Massachusetts, and she is now a senior at Horton District High School in Greenwich, Nova Scotia. Heather will be flown to the Astronomical League's 50th anniversary convention in the Colorado Rockies this July where she will receive a $3,500 Meade 10-inch LX-200 telescope. This telescope is made possible by the generous donation of Meade Instruments, Inc. In addition, she will receive a lifetime pass to the McDonald Observatory, compliments of the University of Texas.

Heather has an impressive list of remarkable awards and achievements. In 1995, as a high school sophomore, she won First Place Grand Awards in Earth and Space Science and in Destiny in Space at the International Science and Engineering Fair. Her first observations were of ionospheric enhancement caused by solar flares. During 1993-1995, she built two very low frequency (VLF) radio receivers to make observations of ionospheric enhancement caused by solar flares. After building a receiver to observe a distant very low frequency (VLF) radio station and measure the signal strength with a chart recorder, she began correlating the signal with solar phenomena. When a solar flare occurs, the ionosphere is becomes more electrically charged, and the signal from the distant VLF station suddenly increase. This is called sudden enhancement of signal (SES).

Using her equipment, she successfully measured solar activity, including the impact of solar flares on the ionosphere. She also successfully calculated a solar rotation rate of 31 days by measuring the motion of coronal holes. In addition, she developed a method to measure geomagnetic activity, including auroral displays, during cloudy nights. Non-solar phenomena she observed included sunrise, sunset, electric lights, refrigerators, and electric motors. Her projects won numerous awards, and her article was published in the Spring 1996 issue of the Communications of the International Amateur-Professional Photoelectric Photometry.

Later, she obtained a used satellite "dish" antenna and used it to more directly observe the Sun. She is now trying to build an pair of "horn" antennas to study the temperature of the surface of the Sun.

Heather's outstanding astrophysics research has earned her scholarships and travel. Of thousands of the best high school science students across Canada, she was one of the very few handpicked to represent Team Canada, at the 1997 International Science and Engineering Fair held in Louisville, Kentucky. She has also served as an invited guest speaker at a recent meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

In intense competition at Acadia University, Heather won several first and second place awards for her piano and vocalist skills. She has also spoken at teacher's seminars on the effective methods of promoting science education and science fairs.

Second Place: Elizabeth N. Waterhouse.

Elizabeth is a senior at Shaker High School in Latham, New York, and she has won second place honors for her outstanding astrophysical skills and her excellent public outreach programs in astronomy education. As the NYAA runner-up, she will receive a Lifetime Pass to the McDonald Observatory.

At the Advanced Astronomy Camp, she used the large telescopes of the University of Arizona at Mt Lemmon to determine the Hubble Constant through magnitude analysis of elliptical galaxies. Elizabeth submitted a technical paper on this topic to the NYAA judges who were all impressed with the quality of her research. As an aid to her research, she has taken Differential Equations, Computer Science and Astronomy courses at a nearby University, and her grades have all been "A".

Elizabeth is a strong supporter of astronomy outreach and educational programs. She realizes the critical need for NASA and universities to obtain public support and understanding of the science of astronomy. Her ideas have been published in two different issues of Mercury, the magazine of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

She has a distinguished list of astronomical awards. At the Advanced Astronomy Camp sponsored by the University of Arizona Steward Observatory, she won the award of Most Promising Young Astronomer. In May 1996, she was a finalist in the National Science Bowl held in Washington DC.

Third Place: T. Stephen Arnold.

Our third place winner is Stephen Arnold, a junior at Alief Hastings High School in Houston, Texas. This is the second successive year that Stephen has won NYAA honors. This year, his research involved "Optical and Infrared Morphological Studies in Spiral Galaxies". Using a CCD attached to a C-14 telescope and IR filters, he imaged seven NGC galaxies in both visual and near-infrared frequencies. He also used IRAF, a professional image processing system, in this project. Stephen's objective was to confirm whether or not spiral density waves were the cause of the spiral structure in galaxies. His results indicated that the position of gravity wave resonances contributed to spiral galaxy structure.

Stephen was a fourth place Grand Award winner at the 1996 International Science and Engineering Fair. He also won Grand Prize in the physical science category at the 1996 Houston Regional Science Fair. By the ripe old age of 13, he had already observed and logged all Messier catalog objects, and won his certificate. In 1995, he saved a life using CPR and received a citation from the Mayor of Houston. Stephen has also served as a volunteer at the George Observatory in Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, where he operated the 36-inch telescope.

Fourth Place: Mary A. Dombrowski.

Mary is a sophomore at Glastonbury High School in Glastonbury, Connecticut, and she is our fourth place winner in the 1997 NYAA competition. Mary was the youngest of our 1997 applicants, and in her research project, she studied IP Pegasi, a cataclysmic variable star. Usually IP Peg is fainter than 14th magnitude often falling to 16th or 17th magnitudes. This makes it extremely difficult to observe visually even in moderate sized telescopes. However, during periods of outburst, it becomes several magnitudes brighter, often reaching 12th magnitude. During these outbursts, Mary was able to observe the unusual behavior and construct IP Peg light curves. By analyzing the light curves, she explained evidence of a companion star which eclipsed IP Peg during the outbursts. She used a C-11 telescope with digital pointing and a CCD camera for this project. The CCD was used to observe IP Peg during periods of quiescence, and she then observed the variable visually during the outbursts. Mary is a highly skilled member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, and she continues to alert the astronomical community of rare outbursts of several cataclysmic variables.

She won second place in physical science at the Connecticut State Science fair, and as a freshman, she was selected to represent her state at the 1996 ISEF. At the International Science and Engineering fair, she won an award from the American Astronomical Society for her outstanding project, "Measuring Stellar variability by Visual Photometry". Mary has published technical papers and won awards for her hands-on presentations at astronomical conferences.

Fifth Place: Laura Barber.

Laura is a senior at Ukiah High School in Ukiah, Oregon. She singlehandedly developed an astronomy course used at her local elementary school. Her course describes introductory solar system astronomy and also includes sections covering stars and constellations. She also developed quizzes and laboratories which could be used in and out of the classroom. Her achievements are particularly noteworthy since Ukiah is a small, remotely located village in northeast Oregon. There are no astronomy clubs, societies, or professional astronomers within more than 100 miles.

She has won awards for leadership and mathematics, and for two straight years she won the Air Force Excellence in Math and Science special awards. She has been very active in student government and was the student body president in 1995 and 1996. Laura's dream is to someday have a career in astronomy.

From left to right:  N.Y.A.A. Vice-Chair Robert Gent, 1997 Winner Heather Cameron, Meade Representative Sheldon Faworski, and N.Y.A.A. Chair Charles E. Allen.