08/20/2026
Last week, MRGS juniors journeyed through the dense woods and mountains of West Virginia to Green Bank Observatory, where for two days they braved life without cell phones and an intense introduction to the MRGS research program. Upon arriving, they were thrust into a universe of data and science completely foreign to them as they were prepared by observatory staff to use the 40 Foot Telescope to observe the Milky Way. They pondered Galaxy-size questions they hoped to answer with data. What is the structure of the Milky Way? What can neutral hydrogen tell us about the Milky Way's rotation, if anything? Can 16-17 year old teens wake up at 2am or 4am to walk or drive the 1/2 mile to the telescope to observe for an hour, collect four pieces of data, and work together without damaging such large, expensive, and unique equipment?
After emerging from the bunker and a night of sparse sleep, these intrepid students learned the next day how to analyze their data. They identified peaks on their chart paper graphs, measured their frequencies, and their departure from neutral hydrogen's emission frequency of 1420.41 MHz. With peaks shifting from red to blue and in between, students learned that our galaxy not only has multiple arms, but that with simple radio astronomy observations, they could even measure the relative velocity of the pockets of hydrogen gas they identified as the galaxy rotates!
After two nights of science, getting to know one another, and all around fun, an exhausted but paradoxically energized band of students returned as brothers and sisters in learning, ready to take on their own research journey over the coming school year.
