Paso Robles students’ astronomy paper accepted for publication in science journal

Astrometry course has been available at Paso Robles High School since 2017

– Three Paso Robles High School students had their research paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Double Star Observations as part of the school’s Field Studies Collaborative (FSC). The FSC program offers students the opportunity to conduct hands-on research in various scientific fields, such as botany on Santa Cruz Island, marine biology in San Luis Obispo County tidepools, nature writing in Joshua Tree National Park, and astronomy using a global telescope network.

Ava Friedling, Jamie Barnet, and Daniel Ventura participated in the FSC Astrometry Field Research Seminar last spring. They researched a double star system (binary star) using a robotic observatory in South Africa to collect images. By comparing the relative positions of the stars to historical data from the U.S. Naval Observatory, they developed their findings and wrote a paper, which was published in the July edition of the JDSO, with Friedling as the lead author.

Friedling said, “The field studies collaborative Astrometry Research program was so much fun and was so educational. It was incredible to learn how to use advanced technologies to analyze photographs and take data on the binary stars. The process of crafting the paper was also very cool because it showed us how to collaborate with a group and put our data into words. I am extremely grateful and proud to have been a part of this program because it has taught me several crucial foundations of research that I will take with me through my STEM major in college.”

The astrometry course, which focuses on the measurement of stars, is a collaboration between Paso Robles High School, the Institute for Student Astronomical Research (InSTAR), Los Cumbres Observatory (LCO), and Cuesta College. The students also earned college credit through Cuesta’s Astronomy 299 seminar.

Studying double stars allows scientists to refine orbital calculations, revealing the mass of stars, demonstrating a real-world application of Kepler’s Laws. With tens of thousands of double stars discovered, ongoing observations are essential for expanding knowledge of the cosmos. The astrometry course has been available at Paso Robles High School since 2017.

Learn more about the discovery here.