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For some, “staring into space” is a figure of speech, but for University of North Georgia (Õý°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û) physics majors Amanda Ash and Jessica Hamilton, it has a literal meaning.

The two women stare into space on a regular basis to study starspots, which are caused by magnetic fields. Their research on the topic led them to present at the "20th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun" in Boston this past summer.

"I loved how specific it was," said Hamilton, a 30-year-old in her third year at Õý°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û from Dahlonega, Georgia. "All the topics were interconnected and correlated."

Ash, a 19-year-old sophomore from Woodstock, Georgia, enjoyed networking with students and faculty from schools with graduate programs.

"I thought it was a great opportunity to learn more about what we are getting into in the future," she said.

The future also holds more conferences for Ash and Hamilton. The pair plan to present at two other science-based conferences and the Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference in November at Õý°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û.

The pair will present their research about the properties of starspots, computer models created to mimic stars and starspots and the comparison between the computer models and observational data collected from real-time stars.