Along with the many scientific interests she navigates, Junior Ingrid Heumann moonlights as an astronomer.
Heumann is a part of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, a Southern California-based group consisting of over 400 members who share a passion for studying the night sky.
At LAAS’ annual banquets, Heumann meets numerous professionals in the astronomical field, and has even run into science personality Bill Nye at a celebratory function for the landing of the rover Curiosity on Mars.
Her interest in stargazing initially dawned on her when her first grade teacher introduced her to the planets. Since then, Heumann has collected books about celestial objects and has observed such matter through the lens of her father’s 8-inch Celestron Telescope.
With her LAAS membership, Heumann is able to view different planets and constellations using larger telescopes at the group’s astronomy events held at various observatories in Los Angeles.
“When I learned about the planets, I was attracted to the idea of other worlds in our sky,” Heumann said. “I like stargazing because it is a way to see things that would otherwise be truly out of our reach.”