Embedded Files
2 Mar 2022: We leant about different types of telescopes and how they work on the first day of CCA. We also experienced how the CCA was like by visiting other level's classes and learn about different competitions.
9 Mar 2022: I learnt about celestial bodies (ok time for a lot of typing)
-Beginning of the universe: quantum gravity (general relativity, special relativity)
Epochs: Plank (really hot, everything was energy) Grand Unification (gravity became sus and got ejected out of the alliance) Inflationary (universe goes big real fast) Quark (the 3 remaining forces became their current forms) Hadron (protons and neutrons): (quarks became hadrons cuz the universe became colder) Photon (protons and neutrons became nuclei but the electrons couldn't cling onto it yet) Recombinations (electrons can finally cling onto nuclei and now CMBR exists)
-Birth of Stars: The universe had a lot of hydrogen clouds so gravity clumped them together and made population 3 stars, they're really bright and really massive and no metals cuz they didn't exist yet
-Birth of Galaxies: Star growth go brrrrrrrr cuz of solar winds. After a while gravity clumped more stars to form galaxies which got bigger Galaxy mergers: Galaxies got bigger by merging with other galaxies, which may have made the most dangerous things in the universe - black holes
-Birth of Planets: one nebula explode, with the sun forming in the middle and the planets formed around it in a thin disk. Also the sun booted up ignited [haha I copied the presentation]. Planetesimals got born which got bigger due to gravity and formed planets, where rocky planets came nearer to the sun and the gas giants are further back. Smaller planetesimals became enslaved acquired by the planets and became their moon.
-Moon: Earth crashed with a mars-sized planet called Thea and the resulting debris became enslaved -I mean became the moon.
-Black holes: CHOOSE YOUR BLACK HOLE: Stellar black holes: Big stars explode and became black holes. Supermassive black holes: Black holes fused with each other and oh yeah we have one of those in the middle of our galaxy let's hope it doesn't kill us all. Primordial black holes: Small block holes formed when Big Bang. (theoretical)
-How a star can die: {but first, nuclear fusion, hydrogen fuse into helium} finally let's get to killing stars Low Mass Stars: Helium fuse into carbon but it turns the star from a chill G type yellow dwarf to big boy red giant. After like a billion years (literally), they would collapse into a white dwarf which can last trillions of years. Intermediate Mass Stars: Basically the same as low mass stars. White dwarfs: really really small and white stars that take way too long to burn their fuel. High Mass Stars: They go kaboom into a supernova and either become a neutron star or a black holes.
-Supernova: (in a nutshell, cosmical nuke) Leads to neutrons stars or black holes
-Neutron stars: Electrons and protons fuse and become neutrons thats why it's called neutron stars (also see pulsar and magnetar)
-Pulsar: They emit pulses of strong energy so perfectly like an atomic clock and thats why it's called pulsars
-Magnetar: They have really really really epic magnetic fields [all the neutron stars name's are so self-explanatory] and also release electromagnetic (EM) wave.
-Black holes part 2: If the star that supernova'd is really chonky it became a black hole. And uh... don't cross event horizon just trust me ok you'll probably die
NOW LET'S KILL EVERYTHING IN EXISTENCE HEHEEHEHEHEHHEHEH
-Death of solar systems: Star explode, planets get caught in the blast, dead or because there's no stars they freeze over and die
Degenerate Era: White dwarfs die by burning all their fuel and turn into brown dwarf then black dwarf talk about changing races ok that's kinda racist
Proton death: The proton decays into lighter subatomic particles but it is theoretical since proton has a half life of too many years and never observed.
Black hole death: Black holes live by eating things, but if there's nothing left to eat it dies of hawking radiation where two particles literally do a 1v1 and the one who wins gets to leave while the one that loses gets eaten by the black hole corpse.
Killing the universe: how to kill the universe (few methods): Big crunch, where gravity goes insane and crushes the universe Big freeze, where dark energy wins over gravity and the universe become so wide wider than wide putin walking and the temperature drops really low Big rip, everything gets torn apart even atoms where they become subatomic particles than subsubatomic particles {ayo where's big change}
and that's all folks everything is dead
hey why is it still continuing
EVERYTHING IS GONE WHY IS THIS STILL GOING ON
oh reflections
most interesting thing: learning about the birth of the universe one thing I liked: the animations
23 March 2022: Learning about where the aliens at and introduction by club chairperson about the cca
ok alien time
-Habitability: (insert earth photo) ok so life needs water and sufficient amounts of certain air like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and then goldilocks zone the zone that has the best temperature for life
-Fermi Paradox: The contradiction between the lack of evidence but high probability estimates for aliens so why haven't we seen them aliens yet Great Filter: some challenges faced by life forms in order to progress to an inter-galactic civilisation or else EXTINCTION REEEEEEEEEE
The challenges: Right star system, Reproductive molecules like RNA, Single celled (prokaryotic) life, Complex (eukaryotic) life, Ability to reproduce or you all die, Multi-cellular life, Using tools and becoming intelligent big brain beings, Civilisation advancement [humans are still stuck at this stage for the past 300 years :( ] and Colonisation boom (not actually explosion more like ur now an inter-galactic civilisation poggers +1 billion social credits)
And one of the steps could be really really rng and improbable to work (probably step 2) (rna more like rng)
Drake equation: calculating how many planets with intelligent life on it that can communicate with other planets forming in our galaxy
N = R(star)*f(p)*n(e)*f(l)*f(i)*f(c)*L (N is probably 4 so only 4 alien buddies to talk to ;-;)
-Dark forest theory: too complicated and theoretical to explain so less than 10 words challenge?: It's to be the hunter or to be hunted cool let's move on
-Communication: talking to aliens with radio discs and we're grinding >100 radio discs per alien communication afk farms SETI (search for extraterrestrial life) using electromagnetic waves and finding them. Technosignatures: really big lighthouse beacons to let other life forms know "hey im here cool bye"
ZE DYSON SPHERE: using a big device to suck up energy from the sun haha greediness
-Seager equation: a more optimistic version of drake equation cuz sometimes we don't want to think we're doomed by that filter yeah ever thought about maybe we might not die after all cool thoughts
reflections: I learnt about how to find aliens within our galaxy using the drake and seager equation and I can apply this to my daily life by figuring out how to find aliens better. This lesson can be important on finding out on other life forms in our galaxy and I would like to see more about space travel in the future. (and also kahoot)
30 March 2022: Black hole time wait I thought we covered this already
-Travelling through black holes: There are 2 different types of singularities, the one that wants to eat you and the one that might not want to eat you. The safer kind are called mass inflation singularities and they exist in large rotating black holes. Also you could enter another galaxy through it if you survive. Probably.
-Black holes: They are places in space that their gravity is so strong and it consumes everything that goes near it (even light). Because of that you can't really see them since all the light is absorbed and not reflected. Astronomers then "see" black holes by seeing the effect it has in its surroundings. Size of black holes: The smallest can be as small as an atom but with the mass of a mountain. The biggest kind can be the size of a few million earths and the mass of 4 million suns that's kinda big. The black hole in the center of our galaxy is Sagittarius A and it's really chonky. Types of black holes: stellar (sun size), intermediate (middle area), supermassive (the really big ones) and miniature (small and theoretical)
-Black hole creation: Large enough stars will go into supernova and become black hole. (stellar black holes that's why they're called stellar stellar = sun) Intermediate black holes: too big to be made from a single star so it probably ate other black holes to get bigger. Supermassive black holes: we don't know yet but maybe it ate even more black holes. Miniature black holes: probably formed during the Big Bang.
-How to photograph a black hole: 1: Using an Event Horizon Telescope. It's so precise it's 4,000 times better than Hubble. 2: Very Long Baseline Interferometry wow that's a very long name which is an array of small telescopes that can be synchronised to focus on the same object and be a giant telescope.
-Parts of black hole: Event Horizon: If anything cross this point the immense gravity from the black hole to a tiny volume with a lot of mass. Singularity: an infinite density but really really small so it can break the laws of physics and tear spacetime. Accretion disk: a hot disk made of matter that slowly spirals towards the black hole
-Spaghettification: When you get too near a black hole your body will be stretched out until it is extremely thin like a spaghetti mm yum but anyways it affects your feet the most since your stretched vertically
-Theories about black holes: White holes: The opposite of black holes, so instead of sucking matter in it ejects matter out. It also has a singularity but you can't cross the event horizon you straight up can't and any matter inside will get ejected out.
-Wormholes: ok black holes and white holes are linked, and since they are in different places in space, the tunnel connecting them is a wormhole. The wormhole is also the most unstable form of transportation and things can enter the wormhole but not escape (black hole) How a wormhole would look like: The entrance could be a sphere and when you looked it you will see light coming from the other side. While travelling you can see distorted views of the region of the universe you came from and the region you're going to. Time travel: Special relativity dictates that moving clocks would go slower. A person running at the speed of light would not advance into the future as quickly as a person standing still. If a wormhole was created, the two ends would initially be synchronised in time but if one end accelerated in time, that end would start to lag behind the first one.
-Hawking Radiation (killing black holes 101): The thermal radiation emitted from black holes. Quantum fluctuations cause two particles to form energy through annihilation. If this happens near the event horizon, a particle may fall in and annihilation is cancelled. The other particle gets to leave the black hole. This comes from the black hole's own matter so it slowly shrinks and soon evaporates. It takes a really long time for a black hole to completely die tho.
Reflections: I learnt about black holes and I can apply this to my daily life by figuring out more about black holes. This lesson can be important on finding out on one of the most mysterious objects in our universe and I would like to see more about space travel in the future.
6 April 2022: exoplanets
-What are exoplanets: planets (that somehow don't have a star) that do free-floating in the galaxy because they got bonked out of their solar system. Godilocks zone: the perfect zone in the solar system to allow life to exist (not too hot which would boil liquid water and not too cold to freeze liquid water.) Types: Neptune-like: full of gas. Hot Jupiters: really big planets that orbit too near to their star. Super earths: Big planets that could house life. Earth analogues: kinda like earth.
-Exoplanet examples: Kepler 186f: the first rocky planet discovered in the goldilocks zone, also same size as Earth. HD 209458b which is too long so it's also known as Osiris". S1 Pegasus b: the first ever exoplanet found, and it is really close to its host star, which makes it really hot and launches exoplanets into a whole new field of discovery. Kepler 444 system: the first solar system found and all its 5 planets are all on orbital resonance. This solar system was found in our galaxy and proves that our solar system is not the first one to be made within our galaxy. Kepler 22b: full of water, unlike most exoplanets, Kepler 69c (noice), Kepler 452b, the first earth sized exoplanet found and Kepler 62f.
-History of exoplanets: Carl Sagan: dude that found out exoplanets, but his most well known research is finding out extraterrestrial life by putting amino acids or something. Soon, scientists used Carl Sagan's theory in order to find the first exoplanet (they found it near a pulsar). As of April 1 2022, there are 4984 exoplanets found.
-How to detect exoplanets: exoplanets are really small (compared to stars and stuff) so we can't see it with our naked eye. Wobbly Stars, seeing big exoplanets make stars wobbly. [insert the ruler experiment] Centre of gravity: when two objects orbit each other in space, their centre of gravity is the barycenter. The barycenter tends to lean more towards the object with more mass. If a star orbits the exoplanets the barycenter the centre of gravity won't be uniform, making the stars wobble and haha exoplanet found. Transits: finding exoplanets by seeing the light of the star dim in a pattern as it orbits the star. This is so sensitive it can be used to detect multiple exoplanets with the mass of earth. Pulsar timing: Pulsars are rotating neutron stars that release jets of energy in very accurate timing kinda like an atomic clock in it. Those jets of energy come from the poles of the neutron stars. The first exoplanet was discovered by Carl Sagan using this method. By measuring the pulsar's rotation, the exoplanet can be detected. Direct imaging: using a big camera to see other colours beyond the visible spectrum from stars to detect exoplanets. Limitations: The parent star has a brighter light and planets will most likely block the light from reaching the camera and might not work all the time. Detection: This uses general relativity to say that the planet will bend the light of the star as a planet passes through. Using math and prediction: predict a star and planet's location the next day to find it.
Reflections: I learnt about exoplanets and I can apply this to my daily life by figuring out how to better find exoplanets using the methods learnt. This lesson can be important on finding out whether extraterrestrial life can exist on exoplanets and I would like to see more about space travel in the future.
13 April 2022: we learnt about Kerbal Space Program
-Celestial bodies: Basically the planets + moon but without Uranus (totally normal planet name) and Neptune. (also there's an ice cream in space that doesn't exist wow)
it's rlly just playing with spaceflight simulator + pizza party for the rest of cca
20 April 2022: We learnt about rovers
-What are rovers: Rovers are exploration robots that are partially/fully autonomous that can transport humans or gather data from other planets. (as for example the time informations needs to get from earth to mars is between 7 to 20 minutes)
-Purposes of rovers: They can scan the terrain in search of resources like liquid water and find out if life has existed before and could still be around.
-Common parts of rovers: Rovers are a special type of spacecraft called lander spacecrafts (cuz they need to land on planets). They land through using parachutes, small rocket boosters (not efficient), sensors (control descend) or cushions. After landing, they can use wheels to roll around on the surface, but recently there is now a new way for rovers to travel in which they use legs to jump like kangaroos i guess (experimental, not used yet but NASA has the technology for that) They also have arms to grab rocks, give it a human-scale view (how a human would see on the planets) and also drills to cut fresh unweathered rocks. Also, power source. They use solar panels for the day and lithium batteries which the solar panels charge for night. There can also be nuclear energy, radioactive plutonium is gonna generate heat to charge batteries. There must be a cage for it so the rover doesn't suicide itself. The complicated name is "Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator” or MMRTG.
-Specific parts for very specific rovers yeah boiiiiii: The Mars Oxygen ISRU experiment aka Moxie, it uses carbon dioxide from Mars atmosphere to turn into oxygen. Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT), to break open rocks. Radiation Assessment Detector, it characterises the different types of broad radiation on Mars.
-Significant Rovers: Spirit, the worst rover according to the sec 3. It uses wheels which got stuck in quicksand and fell in a hole. It soon ran out of energy and died. [get good spirit u tried] Perseverance: Instead of solar panels they used that nuclear energy thing which can last long enough for the rover. There was also the 7 minutes of terror, which really was 7 minutes of NASA employees panicking. The objective was to look for life on Mars. Opportunity: Spirit but better, instead of lasting the expected 90 days, it lasted 14 years. Also people became very emotional when it died, including the sec 3. Curiosity: It uses both nuclear energy and solar panel. It has 4 pairs of arms to grab a bunch of things. Its purpose is to find life and analyse the geology of Mars. Ingenuity: the rover that does not look like a rover. It is a camera with wings. Its main purpose is to see whether this can fly on Mars. W H A T
-7 Minutes of Terror: The 7 minutes of terror is the NASA employees stressing on how the rover is going to land on Mars for a good 7 minutes
- Important discoveries: Presence of water on mars: Opportunity found hematite, a mineral formed in water in the crater it landed in. This shows that water could exist on Mars long ago. Location where life could have exist: Spirit found minerals like magnesium and iron carbonates in a crater and they have a more neutral pH level, which mean that life could have existed there previously. Flowing water: Opportunity found coloured veins of gypsum in the rocks, which could mean flowing water. Even more life!!?!??!!?!?!?: They found clay minerals, which form in a neutral pH level of water. This could be habitable for aquatic lifeforms.
Reflections: I learnt about rovers and I can apply this to my daily life by designing more rovers in tinkercad in the future. This lesson can be important on finding out how rovers can be improved in the future and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future.
27 April 2022: We played with gravity lab (try to get rocks to orbit each other) and sfs (building a rocket)
Reflections: I learnt how to build a 3-stage rocket in sfs and learnt how to orbit planets in the gravity lab.
4 May 2022: We learnt about different satellites.
Types of satellites: Natural satellites (like the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth), Intentional Man-made satellites (like the ISS) and Accidental Man-made satellites (like space junk or that one wrench that fell off the ISS or a Tesla Car).
Types of intentional man-made satellites: Planetary observation, Communication, Navigation, Space Telescopes, Space Stations and Spacecrafts. Planetary observation: Take pictures and record data from the planet they are orbiting. Communication: It relays information through the Earth. Multiple satellites work together as transponders. Passive communication satellites only reflect signals, and are weak, while active communication satellites amplifies signals and are pretty strong. Elon Musk also used Starlink, a communication satellite, to send Wifi to the people in Ukraine. [epic moment] Navigation: Provide autonomous geo-spatial data and super accurate time synchronisation. telescopes: They help to see into the night sky and unlike telescopes on Earth, they aren't hindered by the atmospheric conditions or light pollution. Astronomical survey: maps the whole night sky. Focused survey: only maps a certain portion of the night sky. Space station and crafts: They are used to house humans in space for extended periods in time. They also study the way space affects the human body. The ISS is the oldest permanent space station ever.
Communication: They use antennas to relay information from Earth to the satellite and vice versa.
Power source: solar power and not gravitational potential energy.
Dubious satellites: some very sus satellites im joking
ISS: The ISS is a modular space station in low-earth orbit. It is a multinational collaboration consisting of five participating space agencies: NASA from the USA, Roscosmos from Russia, JAXA from Japan, ESA from Europe and CSA from Canada. This was intended to be a laboratory, observatory, factory while providing transportation and maintenance.
New Horizons: The first spacecraft to orbit Pluto and its moons, along with other objects in the Kuiper Belt.
Sputnik 1: The first satellite ever made. It was launched in an elliptical low-Earth orbit by the Soviet Union. Passive communication satellite (called useless by seniors). Has 4 external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses. It orbited for 3 weeks before its batteries went out.
SMAP: It has a big golden web balloon to measure the moisture for farmers on Earth. It has cool arms that according to the seniors, is very cool :D
Cassini-Huygens: This satellite studies Saturn, and to study the geology of Saturn's rings to make a 3D model of it. Cassini was the satellite, and Huygens was the lander used to land on Saturn to study its temperatures.
Launch, trajectory and disposal of satellites.
Launch: [insert video url here]
Trajectory: For Earth orbiting satellites, they can just use boosters to get into orbit but for satellites to orbit other planets, they use gravity from other planets as well as the Sun, to propel them to other planets (and with no air there is no air resistance so the satellites can get yeeted through space indefinitely).
Disposal: They have 2 types of Earth orbiting satellites, low-earth orbit or high-earth orbit. Low-earth orbit: Just burn them in the atmosphere. High-earth orbit: Get them into the graveyard orbit. (raising the satellite to be far away from other satellites and decommission them from there.
For satellites that are not orbiting Earth they can either de-orbit them (similar to graveyard orbit) or controlled entry (aka crash into planet)
Cassini-Huygen satellite suicide: Instead of running the risk of the satellite crashing into Saturn's moons that could be suitable for life (by using the de-orbit method), NASA used the controlled entry method, where they crashed the satellite into Saturn.
Reflections: I learnt about satellites and I can apply this to my daily life by making more satellites in sfs in the future. This lesson can be important on finding out how satellites can be improved in the future and I would like to see more about nebulas in the future. One thing that can be improved is how to better construct a satellite in sfs.
11 May 2022: Today I learnt about SSTOs and rovers in kerbal space program. People also kept crashing the jet.
Reflections: I learnt about kerbal space program. This lesson can be important on finding out how these jets can be improved in the future and I would like to see more on kerbal space program in the future. One thing that can be improved is how to not crash so many times.
18 May 2022: Today I learnt about constellations.
What are constellations: Constellations are a group of stars in the night sky and they can be seen in different parts of the world in different times of the year. Ancient people used animals and other things to name constellations because they look like it. like a scorpion for Scorpio and a bear for Ursa Major.
Glossary: NGC (new general catalogue): The catalogue refers to an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects complied by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888.
M (messier): A set of 110 astronomical objects catalogued by the French astronomer Charles Messier. They include galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Charles Messier made this catalogued to separate other space objects like nebula from comets (which he see very often).
What are constellations used for: Currently, astronomers used constellations to recognise certain stairs. In the past, they were used as a sense for direction for the ancient people to use so they won't get lost. They were also used as a calendar in the past to know when to plant crops and harvest them. Constellations can also help with navigation for sailors to traverse the ocean. If you find Ursa Major, you can easily spot the Northern Star or Polaris. By using the height of the Northern Star, you can figure out your latitude. They were also used to tell the difference between colours and group stars in different categories.
Constellations vs asterisms: What are asterisms tho: Asterisms are pattern of stars with shapes and sizes that can be very simple or more complex. Stars in asterisms are usually of the same brightness, and can range from being visible to the naked eye to being distinguished with a telescope.
Asterism example: hehe it's the winter triangle, also known as the great Southern Triangle. This is a prominent asterism formed by Sirius, Betelgeuse and Procyon (very hard to pronounce but i got this), the primary stars in the three major constellations of Canis Major, Orion and Canis Minor. Quick facts: This is located in the northern hemisphere during the winter months. It houses among the brightest stars in the night sky. Sirius is the brightest, Betelgeuse is the ninth brightest and Procyon is the eight brightest. How to find: Betelgeuse, the star marking the left shoulder in Orion, is just above Alnitak. the easternmost star of the Belt. Sirius can be found be following a line formed by the Belt stars to the southeast, while Procyon lies to the upper left of Sirius.
Ursa Major: It is called the greater bear, and it contains the big dipper asterism. A lot of galaxies are within its borders so it is very critical to use it for navigation.
Ursa Minor: It is called the lesser bear, or the little bear. It is a constellation of the northern sky at about 15 hours right ascension and 80˚ north declination. 7 of those stars outline the little dipper. It also contains Polaris, the Northern Star.
Ophiuchus: This constellation means "serpent bearer" and lies between Aquila, Serpens, Scorpius, Sagittarius and Hercules, northwest of the center of the milky way. The southern part lies between Scorpion to the west and Sagittarius to the East. In the northern hemisphere, it is best visible in summer and is opposite Orion. Ophiuchus is depicted as a man grasping a serpent. The interposition of his body divides the snake constellation Serpens into two parts, Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda.
Orion: Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible all around the world. If you find Orion, it can link to all the other constellations in the northern hemisphere (aka this is very useful :D). It is the most recognised constellation in the night sky and has stars like Rigel (Beta Orionis) and Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis). It represents the mythical hunter Orion.
Reflections: I learnt about constellations and asterisms and I can apply this to my daily life by figuring out how to find constellations in the night sky better in the future. This lesson can be important on finding out how future constellations or asterisms can be found and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. It can be improved by adding more interactive activities.
29 June 2022: I learnt about 21st century advancements in astronomy, like new discoveries and inventions
Gravitational waves: Gravitational waves are the stretching and squeezing of spacetime, like ripples. Einstein's general relativity states that anything with mass produces gravity which curves space-time. A few kilometres away, the wavs just pass through (cannot be felt) How to detect gravitational waves? One way is using LIGO, a large scale observatory. It uses lasers to detect gravitational waves, and when the lasers bend, gravitational waves are there.
Enceladus: Enceladus is the sixth largest moon or Saturn (500 km in diameter), and it is mostly covered by fresh and clean ice. Many rich water plumes can be found there. Cryovolcanoes shoot geyser like jets and were found on the Cassini mission after a chemical analysis.
ok but what are cryovolcanoes: ice volcanoes that erupt volatiles like water and gases below freezing point called cryomagma. (but not hot magma). After erupting, they are supposed to condense into a solid form.
How did the water jets form: Hotspots around the geysers and plumes were formed by tidal friction and warm liquid water travels up the crack, and depositing some heat and ice on the surface.
Mars is speaking????? (sounds of mars): The speed of sound is around 540 mph on Mars compared to 760 mph on Earth, and it is not very noticeable up close. The audio is a lot lower of Mars because the Martian atmosphere is 100 times less dense than Earth, which affects how sound waves travel to Earth.
Finding another "earth" (Kepler 452b): Using the Kepler Space telescope, dozens of habitable planets, named exoplanets, have been found by astronomers. These planets have characteristics similar to Earth. It has the right temperature within the habitable zone, its diameter is one and a half time bigger than Earth's, it has a good chance of rocky terrain and it is orbiting a sun (well more like a star but yes).
Magnetars: The most magnetic objects in the universe. They are very slow-spinning neutron stars, and their magnetic fields are a thousand trillion times stronger than Earth's. Like other stars, they emit bursts of radiation. Unlike Pulsars, their pulses are not consistent but very erratic.
First images of black hole captured: The first image of a black hole was captured in March - April 2019, by using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and the shadow of the supermassive black hole can be seen. Ok but why is it cool?: A black hole is so dense that not even light can escape. By its very nature, a black hole cannot be seen or photographed, making it especially fascinating.
Gaia: Gaia is a mission by the European Space Agency made to survey over a billion stars to create a 3D map of the milky way and the local neighbourhood. Why is it cool?: Gaia is expected to capture a precise 3D map of over a billion stars, giving us data on the milky way like structure, luminosity, temperature etc. This will gives us answers to many of our questions on how the universe works, our origins and possibility of alien life.
Neutron stars: A neutron star has 10 to 25 solar masses and formed when a star is out of fuel and collapses. The core also collapses so the atoms are crushed into atoms. They are also some of the smallest and the densest objects in the universe, other than hypothetical stuff and black holes, having a surface temperature of almost 600K˚C.
Reflections: I learnt about the new 21st century advancements in astronomy and I can apply this to my daily life by figuring out how the universe works using these advancements in the future. This lesson can be important on finding out how future advancements will change our understanding of space and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. It can be improved by having a more well-made kahoot. Something that went well is learning the new advancements.
6 July 2022: Food and nutrition in space missions (what they eat, where they get their food from and why these food specifically)
Background: Astronauts need food to survive obviously so nutritionists for NASA has to specially select food for the astronauts for them to have a balanced diet.
What do they eat?: They eat natural food (salad and vegetables), cooked food (chicken and food), condiments (salt and pepper but they are liquidated) and beverages (water and fruit juice). A woman takes 2,200 calories on average and a man takes 2,800 calories on average. Calorie requirements in space also increase, as bone density and muscle mass decrease.
Where do they get their food from?: The food is stored in the spacecraft, and they usually bring more than they actually need in case of emergencies. It's loaded 2-3 days before takeoff and stored in trays.
Why those foods specifically?: It is lightweight, compact and nutritious, to ensure the most nutritions can be obtained in the most compact food. It also cannot have an early expiry date. Some foods are also not allowed even if they fulfil the requirements, some examples being crumbs from bread and biscuits as they might float around and interfere with equipment, and fish because they stinky :(
The different classes for food: Carbohydrates: They are the main source of energy for cells and important for biomolecules. Some examples are glucose, starch, glycogen, maltose and fructose. Astronauts need high amounts of carbohydrates. Sources of carbohydrates include staples like rice, noodles, bread, nuts, legumes, and potatoes (omg martian reference!??!?!?!??!?!?!)
Proteins: They are made of multiple amino acids, which are the basic building blocks for proteins in our body. The sequence of amino acids can range from 2 to several thousands. It helps with the production of enzymes, immune system effectiveness, mechanical support and transport. Sources of proteins include meats like chicken, pork, mutton, beef, fish and also peanuts, quinoa and soy milk.
Lipids (fats): Fatty acids are hydrophobic and they are not soluble in water. They are important building blocks for biomolecules and they serve important roles in our body like insulation, protection against mechanical injury and storage of energy (stores 2x more than carbs) Sources of lipids include oil, diary like milk and cheese, avocadoes and fat soluble vitamins.
Vitamins (the fat soluble ones): Fat soluble vitamins include vitamin A, D, and E. Vitamin A helps with eyesight and the immune system, and are commonly found in green leafy vegetables, fruits and vegetable oil. Vitamin D improves calcium absorption, immune function, and protection bone, muscle and heart health. They can be commonly found it nuts and sunlight. Vitamin E serves as an antioxidant, helps to maintain body health. They can be commonly found in vegetable oil, nuts, green leafy vegetables and seeds.
Vitamins (the water soluble ones): Water soluble vitamins include vitamin B and C. Vitamin B2 is a precursor to metabolism cofactors, and important in the oxidation of glucose. They are commonly found in vegetables like spinach, tomato, asparagus and artichoke. Vitamin B3 is involved in metabolism cofactors and plays an important role in oxidation of glucose. They are commonly found in beef, poultry, diary products and avocadoes. Vitamin C helps with the repair of tissue, formation of collagen and the production of neurotransmitters. They are common in citric fruits like orange, lemons, lime and grapefruits.
Minerals: Minerals are involved in blood clotting, oxygen transport (iron in haemoglobin), formation of energy storage molecules (phosphorus), formation of bone (calcium), transmission of nerve impulses and the contraction of muscles.
Water: Very important to overall function and maintenance of temperature, also important in making sure you don't dehydrate and die. It also helps in regulation of water potential and temperature of the body. Water can be found in foods rich in water like soup and water bodies.
Reflections: I learnt about what foods astronauts eat for space missions and the requirements that the food has to pass in order to be used for consumption in space. This lesson can be important on finding out how future food can be used for space (like those genetically modified ones) and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. It can be improved by having a kahoot.
13 July 2022: I learnt about aerodynamics.
Reflections: I learnt about aerodynamic forces like drag and lift and also kerbal space program This lesson can be important on finding out how aerodynamics affect rockets and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. It can be improved by having a kahoot on aerodynamics before we did it.
20 July 2022: I learnt about stellar evolution.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UAFRJmoLAFvJSrToEckjSgqM-mFF1rTZhCDwG9jXBqY/edit#slide=id.g13daf0af26f_0_20: lesson notes
Reflections: I learnt about stellar evolution and the different stages of the star's life cycle. This lesson can be important on finding out what happens after the black dwarf stage and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. Something that went well is the videos (kurzgesagt epic). It can be improved by having a kahoot with no error :(
27 July 2022: I learnt about stellar evolution (again)
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zScSjwSGvOmqQMDOBn1feHjsco92g3E3ps9k7arlQtg/edit#slide=id.p: lesson notes
Reflections: I learnt about stellar evolution and the different stages of the star's life cycle. This lesson can be important on finding out what is inside a neutron star's core and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. Something that went well is how the slides were presented. It can be improved by having more interactive activities.
17 August 2022: I learnt about general and special relativity
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ytec4HyZmTKyPZpz6FCEiqqwsoAYyWvQDmCrw3C9ORQ/edit#slide=id.p: lesson notes
Reflections: I learnt about general relativity, special relativity and the paradoxes involving it. This lesson can be important on finding out how to truly make a quantum theory that is compatible with general relativity and special relativity and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. Something that went well is the quizizz.
24 August 2022: I learnt about deep sky/deep space objects (they're technically the same thing)
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/178ZVA1oXn9TNdgFEKeFm0_4T_4Qt5nFRyITeaLuScnM/edit#slide=id.p: lesson notes
Reflections: I learnt about deep sky objects, the New General Catalogue and the Messier catalogue, and how to read star maps. This lesson can be important in finding new deep sky objects and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. Something that went well is the interactive presentations by other groups as I got to learn about more deep sky objects in detail.
31 August 2022: I learnt about how to make astronomy presentations
I felt that this lesson was informative and I can improve by improving my voice (speaking louder) and my strengths are the slide design and image selection. I can improve my projecting my voice and I think that we can have more lessons like this one.
14 September 2022: Plans for the future
I learnt about how to do fox hunting better, the service learning projects in the future and also possible overseas spots that we may go to in the future. I would like to join the dome project.
18 January 2023: ksp pro
I went to the moon and not back due to the entire thing crashing except the crew capsule. (image of LEO on first run before the moon
25 January 2023: ksp pro (again)
Made it to moon
(image of moon landing)
8 March 2023: We watch funni move called Gravity about someone being stuck in space due to debris and having to hop space stations and crew capsules to get home. The movie was really fun and engaging but there was no popcorn :(((((((((
22 March 2023: I learnt about the solar system (such a creative, new and interesting topic!!!111!1!!). This lesson can be important in finding new planets and demoting others and I would like to see more about space shuttles in the future. Something that went well is the kahoot (ez perfect 2nd place)
5 April 2023: We learnt about constellations and how ancient people used them to tell the time of the year, horoscope stuff and navigation. We also learnt about the different mythologies behind the constellations. This lesson is good in finding new constellations and one thing that can be removed is having the activity today.
19 April 2023: We learnt about stellar evolution and the stages of the life cycle. This lesson is good for finding what's in a white dwarf and neutron stars due to the weird climates happening in there, and by finding out what happens beyond the black dwarf stage. Something that went well is the kahoot (third place pretty pog) I would like to see more about space shuttles or SSTOs in the future.
26 April 2023: We learnt about the start of the universe and the different eras that followed. This lesson is good for finding if big bang is formed :shock:. Something that went well is the pro 3 oreo!!!!!!!111!1!1!11!!!!!11!11!!1 I would like to see more about space shuttles or SSTOs in the future.
3 May 2023: We learnt about space exploration and the history of it. The lesson is good for continuing space exploration. Something that went well is kahoot 1st place ez!!!11111!11!!!11!!!1 I would like to see more about space shuttles or SSTOs in the future. They can improve on idk that one question that was kinda false apparently (thx gabriel for not stealing my mac)
17 May 2023: I learnt about exoplanets and I can apply this to my daily life by figuring out how to better find exoplanets using the methods learnt. This lesson can be important on finding out whether extraterrestrial life can exist on exoplanets and I would like to see more about space shuttles or SSTOs in the future. They did well in finding the cool videos.
28 June 2023: I played ksp. This lesson is good in learning how to build an SSTO and something that went well is I did not crash into anything. I would like to ksp more in the future. Something that can be improved is actually going beyond the moon like go somewhere else :(((
5 July 2023: I learnt about megastrutures. This lesson is important in finding and building megastructures in the future and I would like to see more about space shuttles or SSTOs in the future. Something that can be improved is mentioning the timeline on building this like what megastructure is needed to build further megastructures.
26 July 2023: I learnt about the cults of astronomy. This lesson is important in finding the different "UFO" societies popping up and I would like to see more about space shuttles or SSTOs in the future. Something that can be improved is how to avoid making astronomy cults and the presenters did well in choosing this cool topic.
23 August 2023: I learnt about orbits and also gravity lab app which i actually have been secretly grinding the past 2 years hehehehaw. This lesson is important in finding new orbits and I would like to see more about space shuttles or SSTOs in the future. Something that can be improved is explaining different orbits and something the presenters did well is choosing the topic.
29 October 2023: partial lunar eclipse :OOOOOOOOOOOOO
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