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Japan Super Science Fair Profile: Coco
The night sky is full of stars, but how does where we live change how many stars we can see? Obviously, cloud cover and air pollution affect the visibility of stars, but even on a clear night in a rural area like Shawnigan Lake, with a large lake and the ocean nearby, the humidity in the atmosphere that is invisible to the naked can be enough to affect how much the light from the stars dims before it reaches the ground.
The amount of light and radiant energy that are lost as starlight travels through the atmosphere due to scattering and absorption by molecules and aerosols is measured by the atmospheric extinction coefficient. Grade 12 student Coco I. made it her mission to evaluate Shawnigan’s atmospheric extinction coefficient, and the results of her research are taking her to the highly regarded Japan Super Science Fair in Kyoto later this month.
Coco evaluated Shawnigan’s AEC using five different filters on the Observatory’s telescope.
More than just providing Coco with a research project, determining the AEC will have long-term benefits to the School’s astronomy program.
“If we have that number, we can do so much more research than before,” she explained.
Students in Shawnigan’s Astronomy 360 (arts and activities) program work with students at Thacher School in Ojai, California, a boarding school with a highly regarded astronomy program. Coco’s research will go a long way toward helping the schools work together.
“We need to have the same information about our telescopes to collaborate with them,” she related.
Most of the time, the Astronomy 360 doesn’t need AEC data for the work they do, but having that information will let them expand what they can do, especially with regard to working with other programs.
“In Astronomy 360, we do photometry, so we don’t have to have the numbers,” Coco said. “But when we collaborate with Thacher, we need to have that information.”
The Observatory is a unique aspect of Shawnigan, and one of the reasons Coco chose to attend the School. She would like to see more students take advantage of that uncommon resource.
“I really hope more Shawnigan students are able to explore their passions in the observatory and know they can use it,” she said. “It’s mostly limited to the Astronomy 360, but science classes could be using it too.”
Coco has been in the Astronomy 360 since Grade 8, and wants to pursue astronomy in university as well. She knows how fortunate the School is to have the Observatory on campus.
“It was a factor in why I chose Shawnigan,” she said. “I have a telescope at home, but it’s really different to have an observatory.”
For many Shawnigan students, the JSSF marks their first trip to Japan, but that’s not the case for Coco, who grew up in Tokyo. There’s still a lot for her to look forward to as she will present her own research and see what other students from around the world have been preparing for the science fair.
“I’m excited to see students from different places,” she said. “I know location matters in what you look at, so I know there will be a lot of interesting projects.”
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 12 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
