Chelen Johnson
Hertzsprung-Russel diagram for Active Galactic Nuclei (HR4AGN): Using space and ground based ultraviolet, optical, and infrared images to find a correlation between the color and luminosity of gas emission and dust emission around supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.
I already had a pretty good idea of how astronomers do science, but NITARP helped me see more exactly how data is collected, processed, and analyzed. It helped me also see that I can do astronomy myself, and can make a contribution beyond my own classroom. Not only can I analyze astronomical data to find scientifically useful results, but I can publish my work as a poster and be part of this community. I did not feel like a stranger or usurper or even out of place – it felt like I belonged.
I think the best part about the trip and NITARP as a whole is the chance to do authentic research and learn the methods and techniques used to tease as much information out of the data as possible. It still amazes me (and this is what I try to instill in the students in my astronomy classes) that we can learn so much from a tiny point of light if we are just clever enough to know how to look at it.
Your ongoing mentorship and availability is unbelievably valuable to me and my kids; NITARP is like a new chapter in my professional life.
