4 January, 2002

Journal Entry: January 4, 2002

Recently, I was asked why I haven't been keeping up with my journal entries. It's not as if I have forgotten the TEA Program, I simply have been parcticipating in a project that is somewhat similar to TEA in the way it links students with actual research.

This project is called the All-Sky Camera Network (ASCN). It is a project that endeavors to set up several cameras on school rooftops around Colorado that would record the image of a meteorite fall. Using triangulation, students could work together and plot the approximate location of the fall, thus aiding Denver Museum of Nature and Science researchers who hope to collect freshly fallen meteorites. Fresh meteorites may hold secrets as to the formation of our solar system and the possibilities of life elsewhere.

This project is elegant in its simplicity. The cameras are designed to be constructed by students, maintained by students, and the data interpreted by students. It is rare that a research opportunity comes along that involves students so directly. Please visit the ASCN website for more information:

Andy constucting prototype All-Sky Camera at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.