The Summer Science Program California Astrophysics 2026

The Summer Science Program (SSP) is a nonprofit offering a science immersion experience to rising high school seniors. Working in teams of three, participants complete a research project from beginning to end: either in Astrophysics or Biochemistry. On the first day, participants learn celestial coordinates, and how to interpret an ephemeris to select a near-earth asteroid to study. Each team of three then writes an observing proposal similar to what an astronomer would submit to an observatory. On the third night, teams begin observing runs at the telescope. After each run, the team locates the asteroids faint dot among the background stars (not always easy to do), then precisely measures its position relative to surrounding stars. Once they have at least three or four observations taken on different nights, they write software in Python to calculate the asteroids position and velocity vectors, then transform them into the six orbital elements that characterize the asteroids orbital ellipse, using numerical differentiation. Each team performs every step themselves: choosing their asteroid, pointing the telescope, taking images, reducing the data, calculating the orbit. Some go on to improve the accuracy of their calculated orbits using additional observations to make differential corrections. Another option is to use Visual Python to make an animation of their asteroid orbiting the sun! This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.