Chelen Johnson
Finding Infrared Excess in the SEIP (fIRes) will be looking for stars with infrared excesses in the Spitzer Enhanced Imaging Products catalog.
Having scientists explain their research and bringing it down to my level was very interesting and I learned so much!
It was very special to be in the room when the announcement of planet Kepler 10b (an estimated 1.4 X the size of the Earth) was discovered. I turned to my student Inga and asked, "How does it feel to be one of the first people on planet Earth to know about this discovery?" She replied, "I never thought of it like that ... it's pretty cool."
The most interesting thing [during this whole NITARP experience] I did was work with catalogs I had not seen before and those I had that I had not a clue what to do with all that data. I now have a much clearer picture and my understanding has grown beyond what I think I could have ever done before.