Chelen Johnson
The StarChasers team will be looking for new young stellar objects (YSOs) in the constellation Cassiopeia where other people have already found a few YSOs; StarChasers will be looking to see (a) if the published list of YSOs seem to be real YSOs, given additional data, and (b) if they can find additional YSO candidates.
I wanted to share this with you about one of the students I had on our team that explored star formation in Lynds dark nebulae (LDNs) [in 2008]. [He has since become involved with a big Air Force program at Michigan Tech in 2012.] [He] has often thanked me for getting him involved in NITARP research, having used that experience, in part, to get access to programs such as MTU's Aerospace Enterprise.
[about some of the students from the 2012 class] They knew their stuff and fielded questions well. Most of all, you could tell they had grown as students and were passionate about their topics and what they had found. To me, that was awesome. I hope my students will show the same poise...
Using this research in my classes has provided my students with a glimpse of what professional astronomers are tasked with in describing the workings of the universe.