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 found it most interesting to see the scientific process in action. Scientists were questioning scientists, sometimes fairly aggressively.
NITARP is an outstanding opportunity for teacher professional development through participation in authentic astronomy research. If you are a science or math teacher, I would encourage you to apply. It was the best professional development program I have been involved with in my 30+ years of teaching.
I had no idea there was so much research going on in Astronomy. Astronomers are very eager to explain their research and future goals. A very friendly bunch.