Chelen Johnson
The Dust Mights team will be searching for Galactic sources in the Spitzer Enhanced Imaging Products catalog which have an excess amount of infrared light and whose distances are known from Gaia observations.
I did not anticipate how much the astronomers would trust us right away. I felt more like a colleague than a student, which was relieving (and maybe a bit stressful, because I probably would have found it easier to ask questions coming from a student role).
The experience has changed my understanding of astronomy and how it is done, but not of astronomers.
The most interesting thing was the total experience of working with such amazing professional astronomers doing real science. I really did not know what to expect. The experience did exceed, in a positive way, all my imaginations.
