Chelen Johnson
IDYL is the IDentification of YSOs in the Lagoon Nebula. This team is looking for known and new YSOs in M8, the Lagoon Nebula.
I did not anticipate being so challenged in the NITARP research. I have learned more in [my first] two weeks just getting ready to start working with the data.
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.
Our lead astronomer, Luisa Rebull, has a very energetic style and pushes her team to the limits. Our group of teachers put in many hours each week for a full year to learn the topic or skill at hand followed by a weekly teleconference. The pressure was on and I loved it!
