For 5-year-old Gowri Ramaprasad (12), the highlight of her every morning was listening to her parents read aloud the daily NASA news releases. Entranced by the thought of space exploration, Ramaprasad dreamed of being an astronaut—a dream that has remained steadfast even to this day. This summer, she advanced one step closer to that dream. Ramaprasad was one out of 36 students selected internationally to participate in the Yale Summer Program in Astrophysics (YSPA), June 26 to Aug. 6.

Astrophysics and aerospace engineering have interested Ramaprasad as she’s selected her high school extracurriculars. As a member of Option 16 and public speaker for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Ramaprasad has had more opportunities to pursue engineering. She wanted to diversify her knowledge and learn astrophysics in a professional setting. So, when she saw the YSPA application on the College Board website, she knew the opportunity of a lifetime had presented itself.  

“I wanted to see if pursuing astrophysics was viable for me, and I never had the chance to take a class on it, especially not at [the college level], so I thought this was my chance,” Ramaprasad said. “I was initially very shocked when I got in, but I think a large part of why I did get in was because I demonstrated my interest and passion in learning more about astrophysics in my application essays and video. I have a room in my house where there’s galaxy posters on the walls and I filmed my video in there, so I think the person who watched it could really tell I love space.”

For the first two weeks of the program, Ramaprasad attended online lectures with Yale professors and completed math problem sets for homework. The online sessions challenged  Ramaprasad  academically, as she had to learn both conceptual and technical astrophysics at once.

“It was very different from learning in high school because the material was a lot harder, and I definitely had to spend time before class looking over material that would be gone over that day,” Ramaprasad said. “[The online classes] felt a lot like I was getting the college experience, which was very new for me.”

For the latter four weeks of the program, Ramaprasad and other YSPA students flew to New Haven, Connecticut, to study supernovae in Yale’s Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium. There, she gained access to a world of astrophysics technology, ranging from 16-inch telescopes to telescope-imaging software. 

“I’ve always been someone who enjoys learning hands-on, so it was great to be in an environment where I had so many pieces of technology that were new to me to experiment with,” Ramaprasad said.

Throughout the residential portion of the program, Ramaprasad and other attendees spent each week focusing on new projects. One of the standout projects for Ramaprasad was the YSPA’s traditional helium balloon launch, for which Ramaprasad volunteered and was chosen to be the flight director. As a crucial part of the flight’s success, she worked diligently using her new knowledge and embraced the responsibility of coordinating the team.

“As flight director, I had the chance to discuss certain design elements with team members and to be able to delegate work, which really felt like a big privilege with such talented peers,” Ramaprasad said. 

Throughout the last two weeks, students also worked on a research project in cohorts of four, during which they wrote research papers that were presented to Yale professors. Ramaprasad’s group focused on how type Ia supernovae could be identified using color photometry and the slope of their telescopic light images. Their research paper is currently in the process of being published in the American Association of Variable Star Observation (AAVSO).

“We started by studying supernovae images themselves, but once we came across a study about slopes with light imaging that didn’t have super conclusive results, we were able to build off of that and potentially affirm the paper’s theory,” Ramaprasad said. “We were able to experiment at a really high level because we had access to equipment and previous studies.” 

Given the advancement Ramaprasad and her cohort made in expanding on a previous study, her cohort has been invited to continue their research process remotely during the fall under the YSPA’s assistant director Michael Warrener.

Aside from learning technical knowledge and gaining hands-on lab experience, Ramaprasad said that one of the most valuable parts of her YSPA experience has been the community she’s gained from it. 

“It was great meeting so many people who are passionate about the same things I am,” Ramaprasad said. “It felt like meeting a ton of old friends who I felt an instant connection with.”

As of now, Ramaprasad said she wants to keep her options open to pursuing either astrophysics or aerospace engineering in college; however, her dream of becoming an astronaut has not faltered.

“Going into YSPA, I knew I couldn’t always be the smartest person in the room, but that made it more exciting because I knew I would have the chance to learn from the many intelligent and passionate people around me,” Ramaprasad said. “Being around them really inspired me and I definitely feel so much more sure of my dream [to become an astronaut] after YSPA.”