Type: Talk
Session: Rubin Undergraduate Network
Author: Mariam Ismail Fawaz

Abstract: The Dead Stars Society formed in 2022 to bring astronomy research opportunities to community college students at Henry Ford College, as, unlike many four year institutions, there are very limited options (if any) for student participation in astronomy research at many community colleges. The Dead Stars Society quickly grew from one student to eight over the span of two years. They've learned how to analyze X-ray data from Chandra, radio data from the VLA, and now they are learning how to access and work with Rubin data thanks to Rubin Observatory's Data Preview 0.2 (DP0.2) tutorials. The overall goal of the team is to create versions of the DP0.2 tutorials which are accessible by undergraduate students working at any level. We will discuss the challenges and highlights of our journey, and recommendations for supporting undergraduate research.