Chelen Johnson
The Luminosity, Accretion Disk, and Dust Team (LADDT) : combining UV, optical, and near infrared data for active galactic nuclei to look for a relation between the color of their accretion disks, the emission from their dust and their luminosity.
The most interesting thing [of my NITARP experience] was having to actually do research – researching articles & known information; looking up images in databases; doing photometry; making judgments on sources.
I am very impressed at the abilities of the [NITARP 2012] youngsters in handling the science. It is wonderful to see teachers engaging students in this way as it is an experience that could help direct them toward becoming scientists.
I have found that “real astronomy” involves a lot of data processing. In addition, I have found that collaboration is a very important aspect of the process.