Read the Astro-E2 web site.
When you enter this competition, you will write a proposal to use the
Astro-E2 satellite. It's pretty hard to use something if you don't know
what it does first. Take the time to read up on Astro-E2 before you
start writing.
Your team. First get your friends or classmates in a team (you can chose a name for your team) to write the proposal and to analyze
data if you win.
If you win this contest, you will have access to scientific information
like the information professional astronomers work with every day.
Analyzing this information (or even entering this contest) is a lot
easier to do if you have a team of people to work with. Be sure to
choose team members who like science, write well, and are ready to
learn a lot to prepare the proposal.
Decide on a general topic to study.
Start your first team meeting by deciding what you want to study. Do you want
to learn how stars emit X-rays? How about what is in a supernova
remnant? Or what happens near a black hole? You can choose from many
topics like galaxies, newborn stars, or the birth of the universe. If
you get stuck trying to find an idea or don't know what things you can
observe, talk to a science teacher. If you haven't done so already,
read through the Astro-E2 web site for ideas.
Contact us to get an object to study.
After you have decided on a topic to study, write to
competition-astroe2 telling us which
topic you want to study and why it interests you. We will find an
object that matches your interests.
Research your object.
Look up as much information about your object and what is already known
about it. Also find out information of other objects of the same type.
Look in science magazines, books, and on the Internet. Don't forget to
ask your teacher as well.
Write a summary about everything you learned. This summary will help you
organize your information and let you see what more there is to be
learned about the object. Write down any questions you have while
writing the summary. Think about the information missing from your
summary and your questions. Consider how the Astro-E2 instruments
(especially the XRS) can provide answers to those questions.
Talk to your teacher about this missing information or write to us. We can
give you hints and answer questions or tell you if one of your
questions would be a good topic for your proposal.
