As freshmen, many Staples High School students try to find their passion.
Sports, arts, writing, community service … 9th graders give them a shot.
Serena Diamond already knows hers.
For over a year she’s recorded data of asteroid occultations, and sent it to NASA.
An asteroid occultation, as you remember from astronomy class, occurs when an asteroid passes between a star and Earth. Light is temporarily blocked, casting a shadow on our planet.
Asteroid occultations enable scientists to determine the size, shape and position of an atsteroid far more precisely than with standard astronomical observations.
The data is especially valuable for space missions involving asteroids — and to warn us of any doomsday scenarios.
Serena Diamond and Joel Barlow High School senior Monica Charnoy, observing an asteroid occultation.
Serena became interested in astronomy years ago, at Long Lots Elementary and Bedford Middle Schools.
The summer after 7th grade, she joined an astrophysics program through the Center for Talented Youth.
Back here — with her interest sparked — she searched for more resources.
She found the Westport Astronomical Society. Housed at the Westport Observatory — the former launch site for Nike missiles on Bayberry Lane — it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Westport Observatory, on Bayberry Lane.
The Observatory has become Serena’s home away from home. Odds are high that in its half century of existence, it’s never been home to a freshman girl who observes asteroid occultations.
Serena’s data is analyzed far beyond Westport. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory uses it for a variety of purposes, including assessing risks from potentially hazardous asteroids.
Serena has been inspired by several WAS members, including board members Dan Wright and Dr. Kevin Green, who spearheads the asteroid occultations project.
She started by learning how to open the dome and run the telescope.
Soon, she and a group of fellow young astronomers — including Staples sophomore Jessica Willis — gathered at 3 a.m., to catch the exact moment an asteroid cast its shadow.
Last month Serena joined Green, offering a presentation at the Observatory.
Serena Diamond’s presentation, at the Westport Astronomical Society.
The room was filled with adults — people who have been excited by astronomy far longer than the 14 years Serena has been alive.
Her co-presenters included a Joel Barlow High School senior, and a recent University of Connecticut graduate.
Serena lectured as if she were a Nobel Prize-winning professor. Clearly and confidently, she shared her insights. Audience members learned a lot.
Want to learn too? Click below, for Serena’s lecture (and Green’s, and others’). She begins at the 22:40 mark.
Programs like that — and the opportunity to continue working with high-powered, like-minded astronomers of all ages — fuels Serena’s passion.
She looks forward to raising awareness about asteroid occultations, encouraging other young people to join her at the Westport Observatory, and keeping the planet safe from a random strike.
Serena thinka a lot about asteroids. The average person does not.
But most of us have heard about 2024 YR4 — the asteroid that has a teeny tiny (but nonetheless more than 0%) chance of striking Earth on December 22, 2032.
I could ask NASA, or ChatGPT, about the odds.
But I’d much rather go to a Westport source.
So I asked Serena Diamond.
“Thankfully, very low,” she said.
Whew!
(NOTE: Serena is not just an astronomer. In her spare time she is on the Staples math team, coaches the Bedford Middle School math team, serves as a 9th grade class officer, and sings in the Wreckeapellas. Whew indeed!)
(Hat tip: Anne Nesbitt)
(“06880” is “where Westport meets the world.” And — today — where we meet asteroids, in outer space. If you enjoy our 24/7/365 galactic coverage, please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
An illustration shows asteroid 2024 YR4 narrowly missing Earth and the moon. (Robert Lea, created with Canva, for Space.com.)
