Summer Visit - 2013 - CM4Sy

Quotes

• I knew that astronomers conducted most of their research with computers accessing data from distant telescopes and spacecraft, but I didn’t realize how much of it is available to the general public and how readily available it is to amateur astronomers and other interested folks.
• I was surprised at how open the analysis was. I expect to be told what to find, however, we didn't know what we were going to find. I found that very cool.
• I also learned that modern astronomy research is often conducted using vast databases of archived data collected years previously. When my past students did astronomy research projects, they used data that they themselves collected[..]. After working at Caltech with the group, though, I have come to realize that what my students have been doing previously were small projects compared to our AGN study—they were really just glorified lab activities. I have been giving a lot of thought to this since I returned home and am planning major changes in the sort of projects that my research students will be working on in the future.
• It was most rewarding to watch my students gain confidence in science and to shed some self-doubt. I think I shed a good deal of self-doubt as well.
• [student:] you never really hear about everything involved in being an astronomer and I feel like after being here for a week I have a better understanding of the subject astronomy in general and careers in it as well.

Related Teams

• CM4Seyferts/Gorjian