Astrophysicsgeek’s Weblog

Well this is my first day back home, however it still doesn’t feel like I am done with school.  I guess that is partly due to the fact that I still must use this summer for learning many things.  So what is planned for this summer?

Lots of Mets Games, learning perl, python, idl, matlab and mathematica better.  I also intend to do some reading on fourier analysis and complex analysis.  I also intend on going through Zettli’s quantum.  So to put things simply, I have a lot of stuff to do and the question is if I will be driven enough to get all of this done.

Anyway that is all for me.  The biggest thing is not to waste the summer.  Enjoy it but make the most of it.

I know this blog is focused on astrophysics but I would like to take this opportunity to express my views on the debate surrounding a suspension of the federal gas tax for the summer.

I think it is a bad idea.  Period.

18.5 cents is not enough to make a huge difference.  Plus we need the high prices to stimulate funding for research on alternative energies, solar, wind, and work towards a positive power fusion facility.

We cannot keep putting this off, we need to take the initiative and work to fix the problem.  It is not the sign of an evolutionary fit entity to not adapt to a changing situation.

Finally, if we remove the tax what happens when we put it back in place?  Could people stand to have a 18 cent increase overnight?  We should aim for stability and not just mask the problem.

I would like to congratulate our new officers on winning office and I know they are up to the job.  Secondly I would like to thank this year’s officers.  It was fun, we learned a lot and CAS is doing great.

New officers:

President: Lisa Bacis
Vice President: Russell Reinhart
Treasurer: Jenn Bailard
Webmaster: Sam Johnson Stoever

I am looking foward to Saturday, yeah its gonna be Astronomy Day.

Again congratulations and thanks

Recently I had a math presentation/paper for my differential geometry class. I chose to talk about the isoperimetric problem, which states asks which closed curve, if any, contains the greatest area for a fixed perimeter. My exploration of this subject was mainly focused on the history of the problem, both in its formulation as well as attempts to prove it. Click here to read my paper. If you find any of the topics in the paper interesting I highly recommend that you check out the references.

It is now three days from the end of the semester, and my first year at Cornell, actually its 2 since nothing happens on Slope Day. This year’s festivities, besides the usual, will be the performance of the bands Gym Class Heroes and Hot Hot Heat. I would rank neither of these bands in my favorites, but for a free concert I cannot complain. On a more positive note, the weather for Friday May 2nd is looking up with highs in the low 60’s and a small chance of rain. Lets just hope that the sky is brilliantly clear so we can have some real festivities up at Fuertes Observatory.

Well the result of the COMAP International Math Competition in Modeling came out yesterday and I would like to congratulate all the winners as well as everyone who participated.  While my team was highly disfunctional and I ended up putting the most time into the competition by myself we managed to grab an honorable mention.  I guess the judges saw some merit in our sudoku generation algorithm which backtraced from the final solution using the chaining algorthim.  All in all, I see it as a learning  experience and we were not entirely unsuccessful.  However I am sure that we will not compete again together as a team.  Now that we know what goes into it we can form more harmonious teams for future competition.  Seeing as I am a freshman right now I have 3 more years.  Anyway it was fun, lost a lot of sleep, didnt get to look at the stars, but I learned a hell of a lot and I am stronger because of it.

Complete results

Well it appears that NASA screwed up again and the Apophis asteroid has a chance of hitting an orbiting satellite in 2029 which could change its trajectory to pass through the elliptical window that would alter the orbit to hit the earth in 2036.  Lets all stay calm for now, at least until the Foresight mission determines the trajectory and center of mass to more accuracy.

There are many things that can be done to prevent an earth collision.  And although we have never done them before, with adequate time we can prepare.  Think of it, if this really is on a collision course this will be the first time in history our technology will be tested in preventing a global disaster.  This is an interesting story but fortunately a long way off so we can still divert it.

Well, this past week has been interesting, finally got on the CAS officers mailing list after 1.5 months of bugging and nagging people.  Friday evening Pon gave a lecture for CAS on astrophotography, the lecture was informal and the pictures were good.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy so people didnt stick around too long.  A few other people, myself included, played some music in the dome while playing with the hacky sack.

Anyway I am looking foward to some observing this week, hopefully my schedule isnt too loaded with homework.

This weeks events: Friday: The quarter moon passes near Mars which will be reasonably bright.  Also during this week Venus will start its pass to the sun and will be difficult to see.

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