Chelen Johnson
CM4Seyferts (Color-Magnitude for Seyferts): Using ultraviolet images from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite and optical images and spectra from the ground based Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to find a correlation between the color and luminosity of the hot gas around supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.
My takeaway lesson is that the students are much more tolerant of "issues" that make the research projects difficult to carry out and are generally content to be involved and learning something new.
[The most interesting thing during the summer trip was] the change in the students and their growth in confidence. The a-ha moments when the big picture came into focus for them. The tour of
JPL was fantastic, too.
I had an amazing, exhausting time at the [2012] AAS meeting. I found myself continually challenged by the intellectual level and knowledge being shared. I was surprised and very encouraged to see a high proportion of people which are generally considered underrepresented in the sciences. That was a terrific take-home message for my students. It was an excellent experience all around, and gives me confidence that my team and I will be able to do a good job with our project and be great representatives of the NITARP program.
