Three Weeks

So it's been three weeks, as of yesterday, since I arrived. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Finally starting to get comfortable with the data I'm working with, which is nice. I think my adviser thinks I'm an idiot- which so long as she still writes a good letter of rec I guess I'm okay with. So for my sciendy readers, here's a description of what I'm doing. (Feel free to skip the next bit for anyone uninterested, sciency or not.)

I'm looking at the nearby starburst galaxy, NGC253, at the 146GHz and 218GHz para-formaldehyde lines. We have seven different pointings along the main axis of the galaxy each observed in the two different wavelengths. My job is to go through all the data (there's a lot), get rid of the ones with bad baselines, fully reduce each pointing to a single, averaged, spectrum and then measure the strength of the formaldehyde emissions. Sounds simple, right? WRONG. Anyway, once both frequencies are reduced and measured, we can then use the two different transitions (these are vibrational transitions) to probe the density and temperature of the molecular gas. New evidence shows that in starburst galaxies like NGC253 the molecular gas near the central region are actually an order or magnitude higher in temperature than previously thought, possibly as high as 150K. This leads to a whole range of consequences such as having to rethink the initial mass function of star-birthing clouds. ie higher gas temperature=more higher mass stars.



ANYWAY.

We have all but the last student here now for the summer, which makes for a much more lively group (which still isn't saying much, and is nothing like the comradery I had with last year's group.) In order of appearance:
-John, from the Twin Cities, undergrad
-Rene, he's from Germany, goes to the Max Planck institude for something or ruther (read: impressive), grad student
-Ruwong, from China, grad student
-Vishal, from India in Mumbai I believe, grad student. (I'm still working up to asking him if he knows Hindi and would practice with me.)
-Francillia, from Indiana, just graduated
-Rachael, from Princeton though origionally from Canadia, Toronto, undergrad
-and we're waiting on an Italian from the university in Bologna

Since Rachael's been here there's been a lot more group interaction. She and I made tandori chicken with rice for dinner for everyone Friday night, which was awesome. Dimitri, a visiting scientist for the summer who's using our kitchen while he's here made potato pancakes as well (he's from Russia) which were soo good.

Every year there's a pancake welcome dinner for the summer students, put on by the institute. Pancakes are a big deal here; there are whole restaurants that specialize in them. And not just the sweet variety either. So Thursday, after the weekly colloquim everyone gathered for drinks and pancakes. I had a cheese and onion one :) After we had eaten, Rachael, Vishal, and I went for a bike ride. When we got back game night had just started- so I played a couple rounds of Bug Bluff (don't ask) and then went to bed. I'd been sick for a couple days and by the end of cards I'd completely lost my voice. My voice is back now, my I'm still a gross, leaky, faucet.

Tomorrow the other students and I are supposed to meet with the big boss, (the director of ASTRON) for drinks in his office. I have no idea what to expect. I've been told it's a casual affair and he does it every year, but still, how strange!

I've started to get into a groove with work and everything. I try to be at my desk by around 9:00am. Some mornings I'll go to coffee break at 10:30, then lunch around 12:30, then colloquim at 3:30 if there is one. I don't know how anybody gets anything done, ever. Seriously, it must be a 30hr work week for most people if you discount the hours spent at coffee, lunch, colloquia, etc. Then after work it varies. I make dinner, chat with friends online, watch Torchwood, read, not study for the GRE (I'm working on that one, sorta), bike ride, etc. It's pretty damn remote, so the options are limited.

We've decided that we'll definitely be going on a day trip to Groningen one weekend and Amsterdam another. Dimitri is very familiar with Amsterdam, so he said he'd show us around, which is awesome. And then I'll be going to Berlin later in July to meet up with some of the people from last summer's REU. It's going to be busy busy and before I know it, the summer will be over. I'm not sure how I feel about that either.