Week 12: Conclusion

This semester I've learned a lot thanks to Astro 16. In class, we covered topics ranging from sidereal time to the interstellar medium to astrochemistry and astrobiology. We talked about the progression of stars' lives, different strategies for detecting exoplanets, how properties of stars determine stellar structure, and why we wouldn't notice for millennia if the Sun stopped its fusion. I got to use a real telescope, write about recent developments in the field of astronomy, and even draw some connections with evolution and anatomy.

Probably one of the most interesting topics I learned about this semester was planet formation. The planets in our Solar System are pretty diverse in terms of size and composition, but I never knew exactly how they formed or why they're arranged the way they are. It was cool to learn that the mass of the protoplanetary disk material that is needed to form a planet is often much greater than the mass of the "finished" planet. It was also interesting to learn that the temperature and density gradients are a large part of the reason why planets formed the way they did. Hopefully as our understanding of our own Solar System improves, our ability to interpret the planetary systems of other stars will improve correspondingly.

The biggest challenge I've faced in this class (and this was definitely true of Astro 17 last semester as well) has been writing the lab reports. I found lab to be a valuable part of the class, especially as preparation for the Exoplanet Challenge, but I hate writing lab reports. In our first lab, we measured the astronomical unit using the Sun's angular diameter, rotational velocity, and period. Our final calculation was off by a factor of 10...which means there have been better estimates of the Earth-Sun distance since the 1st century BC. I mean, I knew going into the lab that our findings wouldn't exactly be ground-breaking, but I kind of expected that our modern technology would give us a leg up into at least the 14th or 15th century. It doesn't exactly motivate me to do a lab write-up when I know that Ye Olde Lab Reporte would've been way more accurate. As for the second lab report...well, I haven't started, and it's due at the end of the week. So there's that.

Finally, the highlight of the course in my opinion was the astrobiology lecture. Although I've done some reading on my own about astrobiology, I'd love the opportunity to go more in depth on the Drake Equation, the RNA world hypothesis, habitable zones, and anything else that may be necessary to make a planet livable. I honestly wish Harvard offered an entire course or two on astrobio and/or astrochem, because they're such cool subjects and the perfect union of my (admittedly very strange combination of) interests. If I can't find anything here at Harvard, though, maybe the Universe will bring me back to astrobio one day anyway.

Thanks for reading!

Sources 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_unit#History
http://wallpoper.com/images/00/34/00/68/calvin-and_00340068.jpg