Chelen Johnson
LLAMMa: Luisa, Laura, Alexandra, Milton -- looking for new YSOs in Ceph-C, using IR, optical, and X-rays.
Real astronomy is very exciting! I was not expecting to have to solve problems in excel the way we did. We were asked to answer simple questions or develop simple graphs at times but in order to get correct results (as far as we can tell) our team had to parse our skills and play with logic. I remember creating my first SED: I became so excited I could not sit down anymore. Another teacher was so thrilled they raised their hands and yelled in excitement. It was the first time we had results; it was a thrill.
I kept wishing this program had been available when I was a kid. Wanting to be a scientist, I had no role model or support and never pursued it.
The middle schoolers [from NITARP 2012] fielded questions from an astronomer from the Keck observatory like old pros -‐ very professional! I can’t wait to see my students do the same.
