Thursday

I present a summary of my experiences using the Faulkes Telescopes as part of a research project undertaken whilst still at school, in collaboration with astronomers at Armagh Observatory and Trinity College Dublin. I also discuss peer-led outreach from a student’s perspective.
Firstly, thanks to a serendipitous introduction at NAM 2016, I used the Faulkes Telescope South in my work. It provided the first evidence to support the novel data mining methods I am using to find new OB star candidates. Spectra of 7 candidates were taken, with a 100% significance detection rate. This was recognised at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition (equivalent to the Big Bang Science Fair) with 3 awards, and I represented Ireland at Intel ISEF in May. The support of Faulkes was crucial in obtaining these results, which I intend to publish in the not-too-distant future. I also wrote a follow-up proposal for the 10m SALT telescope, which was recently accepted.
Secondly, during my research I noticed that my peers were very curious about what I was doing, and often asked me to explain my research. I will discuss how having someone similarly aged doing research is an effective way of communicating astronomy research and academia in general to young people.