2024-2025 Student Projects

Astrophotography

Bubble Nebulae - The image shows the Bubble Nebula, which is 6-7,100 light-years away, and approximately 6-7 light-years across, and is located in the constellation Cassiopeia. Most of the stars surrounding the bubble are foreground stars, along with WR 31a (Wolf-Rayet star). The brownish “blob” near the right of the image, we believe, is a globular cluster.
We used probably 100 tools on this project through different software such as VNC Viewer, CCDAutoPilot, SkyX, Pixinsight, and Photoshop.

Student - Kaylee Ross

STEM Level 3

I have always been fascinated with Astronomy, and when I found out about the STEM Program at Piner, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I learned a lot about Photoshop, especially the challenging aspects of it. Steve, my Mentor, said this was the most challenging project he had ever worked on- and even though it took roughly 6 months with breaks, it was worth the wait. It certainly showed how Good things take time.

Student - Yesenia

Student - Derek

Student - Kevin

Student - Rafael

Student - Rex

Photometry

STUDENT - Eli

Student - Fernanda

Rocketry

Kaylee Ross, Junior STEM Level 2. I am currently a Junior at Piner High School, and I’m the girls' varsity basketball captain. I am a part of the HSB, ECM, and, of course, STEM programs here at Piner High School.

Rocketry is the science and engineering of building and launching rockets that propel into the sky. Everyone in our group was given a number of suspension lines, my partner and I got 4 suspension lines. The Goal was to determine how the number of suspension lines on a parachute affects the ultimate performance of the rocket, specifically the descent rate.

I heard about this opportunity through a friend who completed it, and I immediately knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. I learned that anyone can build a rocket with the right tools and guidance, even if it is rocket science. I hope our team was able to help others with their rockets and the number of suspension lines they would think to be beneficial to their goal.

We used many tools that are listed on my poster, one of the more important ones being Nomex sacks (from Tony’s firefighter pants), protecting our recovery system against heat. It took us from January to April.

Mentor - Tony Alcocer

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