Local student conducts research in astrophysics on near-earth asteroid
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A local student conducted research in astrophysics on a near-Earth asteroid, and now, she shares more about her unique summer and once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Samantha Chulamorkodt, a Junior at Cibola High School, joined top science students from around the world at New Mexico State University this summer.
She spent 39 days operating a research-grade telescope taking images of an asteroid and calculating its orbital path.
Samantha says, "I got the asteroid 2011 UL 21, which is actually a near-earth asteroid, so I got to track it along its movement, find all its orbital elements, and take live pictures of it and do research based on my live documentation."
The science program runs for six weeks each summer where participants tackle difficult research projects in astrophysics, biochemistry, genomics, and synthetic chemistry.
She says, "It's pretty hard to get into there's like a 10% acceptance rate. There were some kids there from China and all around the world."
She says science has always sparked her curiosity.
"I've always loved science, I took AP physics in high school and things like that so it's just another passion I wanted to discover," she adds.
For many, opportunities like these are far and few between.
"There are people that don't come from privileged backgrounds, like I'm from Yuma and there's not many opportunities for astrophysics, so being able to perform this real research as a high schooler, I think that's a really great experience," Samantha expressed.
Samantha describes her summer as the educational experience of a lifetime.
"It was really amazing. It was the best summer of my life," says Samantha.
We asked her if this asteroid was heading toward Earth.
"It is a near-Earth asteroid, it's alarmingly close to Earth, but it won't come back here...It's in other orbits, so we're good for at least a year," she says.
Samantha says her plan is to attend medical school and one day become a doctor.
