![\"Centaurus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/DCC-L-LASP_JS13826.jpg\")
Centaurus High School students listen to a guide during a June 25 tour at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics building in Boulder. (Joel Solis\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
In the fall, current physics club students decided to make a third attempt, simplifying the proposal in response to feedback from the judges in 2024 who questioned whether it was achievable.<\/p>\n
This time, the team was one of five that made it off the shortlist to win the grand prize: a trip to Europe to work with scientists to run their experiment in a professional lab. Along with Centaurus, teams from the United Kingdom, Turkey, India and Bangladesh won the grand prize this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past seven years, students have been slowly refining our idea and simplifying it,\u201d said team member Ryan Griffith, who graduated from Centaurus in May and will attend\u00a0the University of Colorado Boulder to study computer science.<\/p>\n
Centaurus\u2019 project was chosen from more than 700 submissions from 89 countries. The submissions were whittled down to a short list of 50 particularly promising experiments, which were then considered by a committee of scientists.<\/p>\n
Dylan Stevens, a rising Centaurus junior, said the announcement that they won came as a shock. They thought they were meeting virtually with the selection group to answer questions about their proposal. Instead, they learned they won.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expected them to grill us,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was so surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10 students on the Centaurus team, who have dubbed themselves \u201cTeam Centauri Stars,\u201d will travel in August to a lab in Hamburg, Germany, to carry out their experiment using particle accelerators. The other students on the team are Natalie Summers, Vibeke Andersen, Ocean Reamer, Liam Bonnell, Jack Mueller-Scott, Noah Keene, Levi Wicar and Merlina Rojas.\n<\/p>\n
They plan to use silicon photomultipliers to determine the angle of Cherenkov radiation in a glass bar, with the help of the scientists at the DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) Research Centre.<\/p>\n
Light slows down in transparent materials such as water or glass, and Cherenkov radiation occurs when charged particles move faster through the material than light does, Becker said. This generates a shock wave, similar to a sonic boom, creating a blue cone of light at a specific angle depending on the speed of the charged particles.<\/p>\n
Light can also totally internally reflect inside glass, she said, so the team will use a rectangular glass bar to trap the Cherenkov light and preserve the angle. At the end of the bar, the silicon photomultipliers will detect and amplify light into a measurable electrical signal, which can be used to determine the angle of light, and therefore the speed of the charged particles. Using the speed and information about particle momentum or energy, this type of detector tracks and identifies charged particles.<\/p>\n
The students are meeting weekly over the summer to work on the project, including recently visiting Boulder\u2019s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, where they took a tour and brainstormed with LASP scientists.<\/p>\n
The scientists offered suggestions on constructing a dark box \u2014 \u201caluminum or copper tape will be your friend\u201d \u2014 and suggested a free online tool that helps set up simulations. Becker also brought a large glass bar to the LASP visit to get advice on where to take it that could cut it to a much smaller size.<\/p>\n
While the cost of the trip itself is covered, the team is still raising money to buy all the needed materials for the experiment before the Aug. 10 flight. To donate, go to bit.ly\/4gRjXac<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a very short turnaround time to get everything ready,\u201d said Centaurus physics teacher and team coach Kimberly Becker.<\/p>\n