Monthly Archives: April 2023

The Universe and Me

     Looking back on the whole course, I felt like I learned so much about our solar system and beyond. I think it’s important to understand where you come from so you can better understand yourself and your place in the universe. Now, I definitely know more about the theory behind the formation of our solar […] Continue reading

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The Drake Equation and its Implications

     I’ve always wondered if there was life like humans in space, and thanks to the Drake equation, I’m now 99.9% sure there are multiple alien civilizations as advanced, if not more advanced, than us in our own galaxy. The Drake Equation hypothesizes that the number of alien civilizations that can communicate can be calculated with […] Continue reading

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Color-Band-Filters

(Rudimentary colored filters) This semester, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to do undergraduate research in the realm of astronomy here at Vanderbilt. My particular work’s main focus has been trying to find a correlation between the redshift and the luminosity of different stars observed in the universe. I created a code via […] Continue reading

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Chemosynthesis

(The Chemosynthetic Process) I remember back in AP Biology in high school, my teacher briefly mentioned during the unit on autotrophs, that there are certain types of organisms who create their own energy but do it in the absence of the sun. To me this was a complete conundrum. In every science related class, presentation […] Continue reading

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Blog 8 – Changed View of Astronomy

I’ve learned so much about the formation of star systems, planets, the physics and chemistry that sustain life, the different space missions that have pushed technology and engineering, and more. I have a much greater appreciation for missions that collect data from other planets and star systems now that I understand the level of technology, […] Continue reading

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Blog 7 – Astrobiology

Astrobiology is the scientific search of life in the universe. There are three major areas of astrobiology: studying the origin and evolution of life on Earth, finding worlds suitable for life, and finding evidence for life on other worlds. The first area teaches us about the necessary conditions for certain life to develop. Many researchers […] Continue reading

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Cumulative Post Featuring the JUICE Launch

As I reflect on my blog posts this semester as well as overall topics within the class, I appreciate the time aspect. By that I mean that we have examined the past, present, and future of astronomy. My blogs included everything from the Carrington Event, a result of a large solar flare in 1859, to […] Continue reading

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Artemis

Since there has not been another moon landing. Until now. In 2024, Artemis 2 will launch and send the first person of color and the first woman to the moon. This mission’s goal is to establish the first long-term occupancy on the moon. This mission is the first step to then sending our astronauts to […] Continue reading

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The Most Extreme Extremophile

An extremophile is an organism which is able to survive in the harshest of conditions. Acidophiles thrive in very acidic conditions, thermophiles thrive in environments with extremely high temperatures, psychrophiles thrive in very very low temperatures. There are many other types of extremophiles, one for every type of harsh environment in which organisms thrive in. […] Continue reading

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To Infinity and Beyond

This Star Wars-esque image shows what it would be like to travel at light speed! I have certainly learned so much by taking this course. It has really helped me grow my perspective of the universe and how much there is left to learn and explore. I might not be alone in this, but I felt […] Continue reading

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