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Richard Perry and Maddie Sullivan 

JAN.10, 2025—Two Pal-Mac High School students are preparing to wrap up a special science research project many months in the making.

Maddie Sullivan and Richard Perry will be in the Washington, D.C. area next week to present at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Winter Meeting, the largest gathering of professional astronomers in the world. They will be joined by longtime Pal-Mac High School earth science teacher Mr. Joe Perry.

Their work is part of NASA-funded research through the NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP).

Mr. Perry was initially selected for NITARP’s 2024 class of educators at the 2023-2024 conference in New Orleans. He chose Maddie and Richard—his son—to represent the school in June of last year.

Mr. Perry said the opportunity had strict criteria and was limited to students who had taken astronomy classes. Sullivan said she was interested because she enjoyed the class—something Richard Perry agreed with.

Mr.Perry

“This opportunity opened up a whole new world for me,” Sullivan said. “I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be a really cool experience.”

The project involved analyzing archival data from infrared space telescopes to study protostars, or young stars in the earliest stages of development. Sullivan and Perry were among a select group of students nationwide working with educators and a professional astronomer on the initiative. Eight teachers and 14 students participated in five separate missions.

Their research began last summer with a trip to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where the students and Mr. Perry received intensive four-day training. Caltech oversees NITARP. The training included learning about the data they’d be studying and watching several informational videos. They also met with the astronomer they’d be paired with for the project, Dr. Luisa Rebull.  

The group at Caltech in July

Perry and Sullivan were among just 12 other students at their specific session. Sullivan said the initial days of training were exciting but also jarring.

After leaving Caltech, the students spent months analyzing data collected years ago by space telescopes. Their task involved evaluating 120 graphs of stars to determine whether each was a Young Stellar Object (YSO), a high-mass star, or a false signature. A YSO is a star in the early stage of evolution. Their work focused on the constellation Cassiopeia, where NITARP notes others have already identified a few YSOs.

The group analyzed the data to verify if the published list of YSOs was accurate and received additional data to search for more YSO candidates.

Each step of the process was catalogued on the NITARP website.

Both Perry and Sullivan said the sheer volume of data was overwhelming, but they weren't alone. Using Discord, Sullivan and Perry connected with the 12 students they met during the training session to compare findings and refine their research. Their group included high school and community college students.

“Some of it was easy to interpret, but other parts required digging deeper,” Sullivan said. “It’s incredible to think about how much work goes into understanding just one small piece of the universe.”

Mr. Perry, a science teacher at Pal-Mac for more than 25 years, said this opportunity provided a “real citizen science” experience. He added that he is both “nervous and excited” to be part of this year’s conference. This is the largest conference of its kind and holds historical significance in its 126 years of operation.

Mr. Perry noted that the students’ presentation will occur 100 years after famed astronomer Edwin Hubble presented his findings that Andromeda is a separate galaxy. Mr. Perry called this coincidence “pretty cool and humbling.”

Mr.Perry at the 2023-2024 conference

At the time he was selected for this class of educators, Perry told us he enjoyed participating in these types of experiences but felt it was even more rewarding for students to join in. He reaffirmed that stance recently.

“It is amazing for me because I've been very fortunate to have these amazing experiences,” Perry said. “But this time I get to share this experience with students! Being able to learn and work with my students and create new activities for my Earth Science and Astronomy classes has been tremendous!”

After months of collaboration, Perry and Sullivan helped create a large poster, which they will present at the conference. You can view that poster by clicking here.

The group will first share their experience in the program with the incoming class of 2025-26 teachers. Perry and Sullivan will then operate a booth for walk-ups on Tuesday before their official poster presentation on Wednesday.

As they prepare for their presentation, Sullivan reflected on the journey. She's an accomplished stage actress for Pal-Mac's theater program, but said this opportunity puts her and Perry in a different kind of spotlight. But she felt she was ready for this opportunity. 

“I think my biggest takeaway is that there are so many opportunities for anyone passionate about science, or even just curious, to learn and grow,” Sullivan said. “It’s really important to take advantage of opportunities like this because they don’t come around often.”