Chelen Johnson
HIPS (Hidden In Plain Sight) AGN will be using archival surveys for stellar variability to detect variability in active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the background.
This experience convinced me even further that I can push myself to learn even more each and every day. I started out feeling very overwhelmed and unprepared last year. I forced myself to work through my unease and wound up much more comfortable. I learned that astronomers are much more down-to-earth than I envisioned a lot of them to be and so many of them are very willing to go out of their way to explain things when we have questions.
High school students are hungry for authentic research experiences, and both high school teachers and students benefit immensely from having contact with a professional astronomer. This may seem inefficient (because it costs a lot of money to connect individuals with professionals), but it can change lives, and there are wonderful ripple effects.
I’m thinking I’ll have my 6th graders each do a project on an observatory in our astronomy unit. There are so many!