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.
It was very satisfying to be able to converse with the grad students about their science and actually understand what they were talking about.
One evening, while working on some homework, I had the realization that THIS WAS REAL. There is no right answer, in fact, no one knows the answer. I can't just go and ask someone the answer. It was like a light bulb went off and I experienced a feeling of excitement and also felt a little bit scared. I thought to myself -- Is this how astronomers feel about their work? It was a great feeling and exciting that I too am part of this now.
Finally much of the [AAS 2009] invited talk by Eugene Churazov on Galaxy Clusters and Black Holes I found to be understandable because he used many equations from ideal gas laws that are familiar to high school teachers and their students. In talking with Dr. Churazov after his talk, he re-emphasized how far one could go on this topic with these familiar and seemingly simple equations.
