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First NASA Neurodiversity Network Intern to present at the American Geophysical Union Annual Conference
NASA Science Activation Program NASA’s Neurodiversity Network (N3) The project sponsors a summer internship program for high school students, pairing learners on the autism spectrum with NASA subject matter experts. N3 intern Lillian Hall and mentor Dr. Juan Carlos Martinez Oliveros presented Lily’s summer research project on December 9. 2024 American Geophysical Union Conference His poster in Washington, DC, titled “Eclipse Megamovie: Image Processing,” represents the first time an N3 intern has co-authored a presentation at the prestigious AGU conference.
NASA Citizen Science Project, Eclipse Megamovieis harnessing the power of citizen science to construct a high-resolution time-lapse of the Sun’s corona during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. By integrating the work of hundreds of participants on the way to completion, a substantial dataset of images was obtained. The project aims to unveil dynamic changes in the Sun’s atmosphere that are only visible during a total solar eclipse.
To process the vast amount of imaging data collected, Lilly helped Dr. Martínez-Oliveros and other researchers implement a robust pipeline involving image calibration, registration, and co-location. Image registration techniques combined solar features into different frames, compensating for Earth rotation and camera movement. Finally, they used imaging techniques to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, revealing finer coronal structures and potential dynamics. This comprehensive data processing approach enabled the extraction of meaningful scientific information from the Eclipse Megamovie dataset.
Lilly says: “Working with N3 has given me the opportunity to use my neurodiversity approach to impact NASA research. Through the opportunity to do so, I am very grateful to have found my niche in the field of planetary science, which I dream of continuing to research in the future.”
Learn more about NASA Citizen Science and how you can participate (participation does not require citizenship of a particular country): https://science.nasa.gov/citizen-science/
The N3 project is supported by NASA under Cooperative Agreement Award No. 80NSSC21M0004 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation combines experiments with NASA science experts, real content, and community leaders to connect science in ways that stimulate minds and deepen understanding of our world and beyond. promote: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
https://www.agu.org/annual-meeting/schedule
