Methods 2 Week 8

 Week 8 

        1.What did you do in lab today?

    Before lab this week, our table groups had to create a presentation on a topic that we had selected the previous lab and teach the class. Our group chose to make our presentation about galaxies. Other topics that groups presented on included: the origin of the universe, the lifecycle of stars, the origin of the earth, black holes, and the exploration of space: past, present, and future. Below is the link to the presentation that our group created.

link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ahip69h_kRc-wdi3_9CYkh3_qW6OV2VdBWiQpP8IqPM/edit

        2.What was the big question?

    What is in our universe, and how did it come to be? 

        3.What did you learn in Thursday’s discussion?

    In lecture this week, we esentially redisscussed the topics that we presented over in lab and filled in any gaps. First, we discussed the origin of the universe. We discussed how, 13.7 billion years ago, the universe was empty except for one subatomic particle. This particle expanded to a massive size within a second, which caused time, space, and our universe to be created. Some alternate theories include the steady-state theory, which essentially states that the universe is constantly expanding, so it is infinite. Another is that alternate (multiverse) universes are still being created, and each universe has its own rules and laws. Next, we discussed stars, and I thought that it was very interesting that we didn’t have light until about 300,000 years after the universe was created. Stars and galaxies themselves didn’t form until about 1 billion years after the formation of the universe. Our sun formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a stellar nebula. Also, we learned that elements past 26 only formed after a star went nuclear and created them. Average stars like ours expand when they burn out and form a planetary nebula, which is how our solar system came to be. Massive stars turn into supernovas, which will either result in a neutron star or the formation of a black hole. When discussing Earth, we talked about how it wasn’t formed in the Big Bang, but about 4.6 billion years ago, another Sun expanded and formed a planetary nebula, which has a lot of dust and debris that eventually turned into planets. Pluto is not a planet because it is not on the same plane as the rest of our solar system. We are all made out of star dust. Next, we talked about galaxies. There are over 2 trillion galaxies in the universe. They have 3 primary shapes: spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a spiral galaxy. Each galaxy has about 200 billion stars. Galaxies are held together by gravity; this gravity is usually from a massive black hole in the center. Black holes are super dense, and nothing can escape, including light. Finally, we talked about how it would have made sense for women to go to space first because they are lighter and consume fewer calories generally. 

2. Read the online textbook: 13 Origin of the Universe0to an external site.

       1.What did you learn?

    The reading helped me better understand how the universe formed and what made it up. The universe started as a tiny particle that expanded really, really fast, known as the Big Bang. It also explained how stars go through a lifecycle (like us kinda); it starts as a cloud of dust that attracts into a nebula, then debending on its size, it will form an average sun like ours, a red giant. Then the red giant will shed its outer layers and create a planetary nebula. If the sun is big, it will go supernova and explode into a black hole or a neutron star. Our solar system formed after a big explosion (a supernova) from another star. So Earth was not formed in the Big Bang. The chapter also discusses space exploration, including the Space Race, where countries competed to be the first to land a human on the moon. It discussed how women played a massive role in space exploration, like Katherine Johnson and her team, who helped launch Jogn Glenn into space. When talking about black holes, the book mentioned that they are super dense and strong, and nothing can escape. We only have one real picture of a black hole that was captured in 2019 by Katie Bouman. 

       2.What was most helpful?

  I thought that the Khan Academy video about the Big Bang theory was very helpful. The concept can be kind of hard to visualize, but the speaker in the video did a good job creating visuals that were easy to follow. Specifically, when talking about how the universe has a finite amount of space but no boundary, Often times we think about the universe on a 2-dimensional plane, so the no-border is confusing because what is beyond the edge that you draw? To explain this concept, the speaker drew a spear and explained how they have a finite amount of space but no border. So relating to the universe, we can think of it like a spear or being on a 3D spatial plane rather than 2D. Additionally, the other visuals and videos were helpful to better understand what the text was saying. 

       3.What do you need more information on?

    I enjoyed reading about the contributions of females in terms of space exploration. I can’t think of anything specifically I would need more information on, but in general, I’d be interested in learning more about their contributions since they are often ignored in other texts or classes. It would be interesting to learn more about what Jerrie Cobb did after being rejected to go to space and why we haven't captured another picture of a black hole since Katie Bouman’s in 2019. 

3.What questions, concerns, and/or comments do you have?

    I don’t really have any questions or concerns at this time. We discussed a lot of this information through our presentations in the lab, so it felt like a nice review or refresher. Also, the lecture did a good job filling in the gaps from the presentations and reading.