When you enter into a college you're surrounded with the big questions. Those high school inquiries about who you will be or what you will do, and everyone says to dream big and shoot for the stars. Well I did. My name is Ashton Marie and I am an Astrophysics major. I literally shot for the stars. Astrophysics is an offshoot of Astronomy that is concerned with the physical nature of celestial bodies and stars. Also, it involves the use of laws and theories that Physics has to offer and the understanding of astronomical observations. I am intrigued by this particular field of study because scientists are continually coming up with new ideas about the universe. Of course, we have in fact proven many theories such as black holes and colliding galaxies. Today I am going to take you on a journey into what I study and explain some things that involve this magnificent science that you might not even guess upon.
To start, something many people don’t know is that we are all stardust. Yes, stardust. When you look at the universe it is almost like a home made for elements to collide and come together. When a star forms, it has elements that merge as one such as hydrogen and helium. When a star runs out of hydrogen, it then begins to transform helium into carbon and beryllium. This act then causes elements to become substantial which results to a supernova. A supernova is the explosion of a star or the end of it’s lifespan. With the explosion, stardust is created by all of the erupt elements and then the leftover dust and gases expand millions of miles away. Some movies even relate to Astrophysics. Look at The Martian. For example, if you have seen The Martian then you will know that the crew needs to get back to Mars and save Mark Watney. In order for the crew to get back to Mars, the spacecraft has to rotate back around the Earth and use the Earth’s gravitational field to guide them back to Mars. Not only is that a lot of science, it is also a lot of time. Yes, time. In space, time works much differently than it does on Earth. Say one day on Earth is 24 hours. One day on Jupiter is about ten hours. Because of a planet’s distance from the sun and the time it takes to orbit around the sun creates such a time difference. The rotation on a planet’s axis can also result to this.
I guess what I am trying to say is, Astrophysics a diverse field that deals with time, gravity, matter, etc.. For me, there is so much to love about this field. Whenever I read a book by Stephen Hawking or even watch Cosmos with Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is a hero, I just continue to learn about all the great things all around us. Although, I probably will never be the next Einstein or Newton, still motivates me to educate myself more and go deeper into the mysteries of the universe. Hopefully one day I too can create my own theory and leave my mark on the field of Astrophysics.
