28/2/2024
When we were doing the slides, we had a lot of fun doing the slides as we experimented with different images and animations. This cheered me up when I felt really tired after a long day. I learnt some things about why space exploration is important when I was doing research: We need to explore space as the universe is big and the Earth is just a tiny part of it. These kind of experiences where we get to interact with one another to do something is great and I hope we can do such a thing again in the future.
6/3/2024
Today we were tasked to present our slides that we made during the first session. During the presentation, some of us could not present well and some people only read directly from the slide. Ms Jang corrected us and told us that the next time we presented we should summarize key points instead and elaborate on it using connectors (What I learnt today) After that, Ms Jang briefed us on competitions we could potentially join. I feel excited as I have actually never heard of Astronomy-related competitions for CCA before and I want to participate in such competitions in the future.
27/3/2024
Today we learnt some basic facts about the planets in the solar system and some history on what astronomers in the past discovered. Although I already knew some of these facts there were some new interesting facts that I learnt. After that we got to play a Blooklet game where I managed to speed through the questions easily (But I got 4th place in the game). I feel that this way of learning is useful as we can revise the facts and concepts that we learned by playing the Blooklet game letting us remember the facts more easily. Notes for today: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ns6RCHJHZOrbfNBgAKgAjnYS17blmNOQj4XlDIAZ8oI/edit?usp=sharing
3/4/2024
Today we were gathered with the other students from upper secondary and we learnt some general formulas and facts about some astrophysics laws from renowned Astronomers such as Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler. Although we werent really supposed to learn some of the formulas yet I found it interesting to learn some new general knowledge. However, there are ways for some of the presenters to conduct the lesson more interestingly in a fun way to not make people feel bored during the theory lessons
17/4/2024
Today we learnt some facts about the history of space travel (Rocket Science) It includes how rocket science evolved, the history of the space race, and some other facts about the background history of the space race. The lesson was a bit boring though as the presentation was a bit long and we didnt get much activities other than listening to the listener (They did try to ask us to do a presentation at the end but time ran out) We also learnt a bit on how rocket fuel works and how it uses thrust to help the rocket take off.
This is the slides of my group: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hAzYct5Ll03S1Z0wScdvyJYaRSH9KLY6h7Aph5fwSyw/edit?usp=sharing
24/4/2024
Today we learnt about binary star systems and how they are formed and different variations of it. We also learnt about how to detect the different types of binary star systems with different methods. After that the entire Sec 1 and 2 cohort played a game of Blooklet where I got 37th out of 50th place :I. After that we were challenged to make our own binary star system on a simulator. It was challenging to get the objects to get into the binary star system but I got it in the end. I feel that this was a little fun as we can test our new knowledge.
8/5/2024
Today we learnt about electromagnetic stuff and radio transmission on dipole antennas. We first learned about some facts about electromagnetic facts and how it can be received and transmitted. We then learned about the dipole radio antenna and how it functions. We also learned that the higher the frequency transmitted, the shorter antenna is required to receive the signal. I feel that this session was a bit mundane as there was not much activities in the lesson.
10/7/2024
Today we mainly learned about galaxies, we learned about how galaxies function, the different types of galaxies, and some trivia about our own galaxy, the Milky Way. After the main presentation, we then played a Blooklet which contained questions on general knowledge about astronomy. Due to extensive astronomical knowledge, I managed to answer most of the questions pretty easily and got 2nd place in the end. Today's session may have been a bit average but it was fun testing out my general knowledge on Astronomy on the Blooklet.
17/7/2024
In today's session we were briefed about some interesting events that would take place in the future which featured a trip to China and Hong Kong to some of the observatories and radio telescopes there. After that we were taught about something called stellar properties which was about some factors about stars such as luminosity, the various light waves, how the stars are seen from Earth, and also how the colour of the stars correlates to the temperature of the star itself. Overall this session was a bit average but the facts were interesting
31/7/2024
Today we learned about some content from two different presentations. The first presentation was about Phenomena and included facts on several types of occurances on Earth including Eclipses, Tides and solar storms. We did a Kahoot after that (Which was rushed) where practically nobody could do it properly. The Second shorter presentation was about some information about how time is calculated (UTC). This session was also average but I managed to pick up some new facts.
7/8/2024
Today we learnt about what Accretion is which is something that happens with some sort of orbit. One type consists of a spherical one which includes the Oort Cloud and another type that forms black holes, rings and galaxies. After that we played a Kahoot which was honestly quite hard (got 10th place) after that we joined the Sec 2 and 3s and played a blooket and kahoot without actually learning about the topic. The Blooket didnt go to well but in the Kahoot I managed to use the general knowledge that I already had and managed to somehow perform better than seniors and got 2nd place. Overall today was quite fun and the games were a good way to see what our Astronomy level.
14/8/2024
Today we learnt about Nuclear Physics and Interstellar Medium. Nuclear Physics, like the name mentions, is about processes such as nuclear reaction and nuclear reaction which says about how different parts of atoms work and how they end up reacting for the processes to happen. For Interstellar Medium, which is mainly about space dust, talks about how different types of space dust ends up creating things such as Nebulas. We did a Kahoot and a Blooket for the respective topics where I got around 16th place for both times. Lastly, one of the EXCOs demonstrated Solar Smash and almost blew up his LD in the process :P. Overall today was a pleasant experience managing to learn new facts and a way to simulate how space works.
23/10/2024
Today we did the end-of-year Astro quiz where I only got 28/71 (39%). The quiz did have some level of difficulty but I actually think could have gotten a higher score if I was more focused. After that, Mr Tan gave a briefing on a change in CCA format for the years coming up ahead which will probably help to bring better opportunities for us in the club. I do hope that with these new changes Astronomy would manage to be more enaging and exciting in the future as the old format did have a few minor flaws.
8/1/2025
Today we were welcomed back into Astronomy in 2025 by Mr Tan and he briefed us on some accomplishments by students last year and after that briefed us on some events that is gonna occur this year. After that, We started the first lesson of the year with a presentation on things relating to the solar system and after that did a simple kahoot which was usual to those conducted in 2024. Overall I think today's session was quite okay but I do hope that future sessions are more exciting with more activities and events planned for us.
15/1/2025
For the Second Astro session of 2025 Mr Tan first briefed us on even more events that would be coming up this year consisting of a few talks that is going to happen along with a possible stargazing to be conducted soon on 24/1/2025. I am a bit enthusiastic for that especially since we only had a single stargazing session in 2024. After that, there was a basic presentation about some facts about the Earth and after that we had the usual Blooket (I only got 13th place).
5/2/2025
Today's session started with Mr Tan introducing more opportunities for events that would occur throughout 2025 as February began such as an overseas trip that will occur in June. After that, there were two presentations, one about things about asteroids, meteorites and comets and another with other various topics such as nebulas and finding exoplanets. Although there was quite a few activities today, it did feel quite average especially since most of the session was only on presentations. I do hope that future sessions have more engaging activities and I also look forward to the overseas trip in June.
12/2/2025
Todays session started with a few teams presenting about certain issues such as mining asteroids, identifying Near-Earth Objects and naming planets, depicting people working for companies that would be responsible for space related things. After that there was a presentation on the craters on the moon talking about how it formed and other things related to them. The usual blooket on the topic that was just presented then followed suit (I got 9th place this time). This session seemed pretty average but at least to managed to learn some things about the moon craters today.
19/2/2025
Todays session had all the S2s get into groups of 4/5 and the groups were tasked to launch a water rocket. My groupmate, having done something similar in his ISS, filled the bottle to about 1/4 and managed to launch the bottle quite far having found that out from his past experiments. The amount of air pressure would affect the rocket when there is more air pressure there would be more potential energy for the rocket to launch further. After the water rocket activity, there was a quick presentation about some facts about the bodies orbiting the gas giants and Pluto and the usual blooket occured after that (I got 2nd place)
26/2/2025
Today the SST Astro Club had a special guest - a Singaporean who works at NASA named Dr Poh Gang Kai. He talked about things related to the sun such as solar flares and solar weather and how it might affect us on Earth. Solar weather, from solar flares would consist of bursts of radiation which is only defelcted from Earth due to out atmosphere. Solar flares can also affect electronic devices and may affect space travel in the future such as interplanetary missions. Overall this experience was quite interesting especially since its not that common to have a NASA empolyee come here for a talk let alone a Singaporean and I do hope that there are more opportunities like this in the future.
12/3/2025
Today we did an activity where we explored some of the features of universe sandbox, where we had to get into groups of 3-4 and figure out how to make a habitable planet in the game. After making a planet that was as habitable as possible, each group was asked to present about the planet and some of its features, and my group managed to make a planet with 0.00306% probability of life :P. I managed to learn a bit more about some of the components of how habitable planets such as Earth form and I feel that this is a unique and enriching experience for us to learn more about astronomy.
23/7/2025
Today's session was quite average with a few activities. At first we were split into 5 groups and had to go through with playing a board game that was about a space mission (I had experience on this before) and although the experience was a bit plain we could learn a bit about planning a space mission. After that we learned a bit about the Doppler Shift, which affects how intense a wavelength (e,g is depending on how far the object is and its travelling speed