abbyofthecosmos

[abbyofthecosmos]

Astrophysics/Astronomy Recs

Academic Earth: Astronomy (multiple courses)

Class Central: Relativity and Astrophysics (course)

NASA Astrophysics (govt. website)

MIT Astrophysics II  (lecture notes)

Astrophysics and Cosmology by Prof. Somnath Bharadwaj (lectures)

Matrix Operations by Richard Bronson  (maths textbook)

Linear Algebra by Seymour Lipschutz & Marc Lars Lipson (maths textbook)

The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack (book)

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil de Grasse Tyson (book)

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (book)

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene (book)

The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking (book)

YouTube channels 

[abbyofthecosmos]

Gliese 504b

Orbiting a star 57 light-years away in the constellation Virgo lies the planet GJ 504b, a gas giant that gives off an incredible magenta colour.

With an orbital period of 260 years, and a mass 4 times that of Jupiter, this is one of the lowest mass planets detected using direct imaging techniques. The pink planet is orbiting a star slightly hotter than the Sun, and estimates put the age of the system at around 160 million years old. The planet itself has a temperature of roughly 270°C and is 9 times the distance from its star as Jupiter is from the Sun.

[abbyofthecosmos]

27 • 09 • 23

The start of 4th year! It's crazy how time flies...

Classes are going well so far, and I've made time to enjoy the beautiful Scottish countryside!

Hopefully the peaceful start to the semester lasts a little longer before my workload inevitably gets too heavy. 🤞😌

[abbyofthecosmos]

Hanny's Voorwerp

Hanny’s Voorwerp, which is Dutch for Hanny’s Object, was discovered in 2007 by a school teacher who was participating in the Galaxy Zoo project, where volunteers classify galaxies by their certain characteristics. It is a rare type of astronomical object known as a ‘quasar ionization echo’.

Located roughly 650 million light years away, the object is close by to the spiral galaxy IC 2497 and is about the size of a small galaxy.

The bright, glowing cloud of gas is visible because of a beam of light from a nearby quasar – a bright, energetic object powered by a black hole – illuminated it. This quasar could now be long gone, having stopped beaming light some 200,000 years ago.

The apparent hole in the centre of Hanny’s Voorwerp may actually be a shadow caused by an object close to the quasar that blocked some of the light as it traveled towards the gas.

[abbyofthecosmos]

Japanese Vocab: Countries

Many country names are written in katakana, for example, アメリカ (America). Some are written in kanji such as 日本 (Japan) and 韓国 (Korea). 国 means country, with kunyomi reading くに, and onyomi reading こく.

🇯🇵 日本 ~ にほん ~ Japan

🇰🇷 韓国 ~ かんこく ~ Korea

🇨🇳 中国 ~ ちゅうごく ~ China

🇺🇸 アメリカ ~ America

🇨🇦 カナダ ~ Canada

🇬🇧 イギリス ~ Great Britain

🇫🇷 フランス ~ France

🇮🇹 イタリア ~ Italy

🇪🇸 スペイン ~ Spain

As you can see, many of these have pronunciations very similar to the English, making them easy to remember!

To talk about a person’s nationality, simply add 人 (onyomi じん) after the country name. For example, イギリス人 means ‘British person’.

Example sentences:

私はアメリカ人です。(わたしはアメリカじんです) = I am an American.

出身 (しゅっしん) means someone’s origin, i.e. where they’re from.

私の出身は日本です。(わたしのしゅっしんはにほんです) = My origin is Japan/I am from Japan.

[abbyofthecosmos]

85 tips for language learners

You like a language, learn it. Don’t give up on learning it only because it’s not popular, “useful” or your friends don’t like it.

Sticky notes, sticky notes everywhere. If you can’t remember a grammar rule or a word/structure, use sticky notes.

Study daily, even if it’s for 5 min or less.

Learn the first 100-300 most common words, they are like everywhere.

Duolingo, Memrise and Forvo are the holy trinity for every language learner; everyone uses them at some point.

HiNative will save your ass when you have questions.

“Hakuna matata mais quelle phrase magnifique” Disney is your friend, sing disney songs to improve your pronuniation.

Also, watch disney movies. You know the story already so you can focus on the language.

Watch movies with subs in your target language.

Write daily a short text about whatever you want, even about your socks. In 1 month you’d have learned a lot of new vocab.

Talk, talk, talk. If you aren’t a soial person, talk to yourself, to your pet, to a wall; it doesn’t matter. Just force yourself to think in your target language.

If you are busy, Semper is a good app for learning vocab while doing your daily activities.

Use your target language for basic stuff like counting, groceries, complaining etc.

Change your settings on social media. Many people learned English through twitter, facebook, tumblr etc. This can work for other languages too.

Change the settings of your phone too. You use it 24/24, you know what every thing does there so you could learn the name of those setting in your target language.

If you lost motivation, take a break and remember why you started.

If you hit a plateau, that’s most probably because you don’t know enough vocab.

Understand that your progress will be slow after a while. Accept it and keep going.

Lang-8 is a great place if you want natives to correct your texts.

Langblr community is amazing, if you need any advice/explanation, ask a langblr.

Try out many resources but choose a handful that you’ll use daily.

If you don’t know a word in your native language, you don’t need it in your target language.

Accept the fact that you can’t translate every word one by one. There are special structures, word order, particles etc. your target language might not be as your native one.

If you’re bored, look around and name in your target language what you see.

Try to find a language/motivation partner. You will support and help eah other.

You’ll make mistakes, love that! That means you’re learning and you’ll have funny stories to tell in a couple of years.

If you don’t remember a word, make a mnemonic or write it with your other hand; you’ll focus more then.

Learn words in context; you’ll remember them easily after. Clozemaster and WordBrewery are 2 great sites for this.

When you want to read if you are a beginner, choose a book you know. If you are an advanced learner, choose a new book.

Find online a native to talk to. Tumblr is full of natives and langblrs will love to help. Another choice is to find a chat group.

For slang words check out the youtube comment section. Twitter is a good alternative though.

Don’t waste money on fancy programs. Some can be found for free and some aren’t so good as they claim they are.

When you learn a new word, try to make a couple of examples in your head.

Read articles. They use simple structures and actual expressions; also, they aren’t boring.

Youtube is your friend, don’t be afraid to use it. Watch movies in your target language so you can get used to how real people talk; most programs/apps speak slowly and they try to make themselves clear but that’s not real life.

You’ll have an accent; don’t worry, it will go away after a while.

Age doesn’t matter, everyone can learn a language; you can be 5 or 50, the only difference is how you learn.

Don’t just learn, revise as well.

As a beginner you will translate everything from your native language and that’s okay. People will correct you and you will learn.

If you like to read fanfiction, read it in your target language and use the ReadLang extension when you don’t know a word; it’s faster than google translate.

Beware of those vocab lists you see on tumblr. Not everything might be right.

Flewent is an extension that translates a certain % of what you read in your target language. It’s a fast way to learn new words while doing your homework or whatever.

Prepositions are a nightmare to everyone. To have a more pleasant life, try to find a list with verbs and what prepositions they require.

Children songs are catchy, use them to learn vocab faster.

Pay attention to false friends. They might look the same with a familiar word but they have another meaning.

Try not to learn 2 languages at the same time, especially if they are from the same family. (e.g. French and Spanish)

If you decide to study 2 languages at the same time, try to study in different places and use different colors for your notes.

You learn faster if you use your target language than if you learn Nth vocab lists.

Try to avoid making the same mistake until it becomes a habit.

Idioms can impress anyone but don’t start learning them too early or too late.

If you have to learn irregular verbs, try to find patterns and part them in groups.

Hard work beats talent but when it comes to learning a language, there’s no one who has talent. There are people who have a good memory or can figure out patterns but that can be improved so no need to worry if you progress slowly.

Don’t compare yourself to someone who studied a language for years. Everyone progresses in their own way.

Everyone has another method, if it doesn’t work for you, it’s not the end of the world. Just experiment and figure out what works for you. 

Classes are a waste of time, don’t think to pay for one.

Try to learn vocab that interests you. You’re a Harry Potter fan? Learn magic terms. You like cooking? Learn cooking terms. etc.

Flashcards are a nice way to learn vocab. Make some and study them before going to bed.

Learn chunks of vocab, not single words. (e.g. Buy a bottle of milk; Brush your teeth; Wash the red car.)

Learn cognates.

Use the diglot weave technique. Basically you  insert foreign words into a sentence of a language you already know

Taking breaks is fine but try not to take a break of Nth months.

Decide what skill you want to improve first. You can never improve everything equally so try to focus on what you need/want the most.

Set a big goal (e.g be advanced in French) but remember to have small goals too. (e.g. read Harry Potter by the end of this season)

Watch people talking. Join a chat and “spy” others if you don’t feel like talking yet.

Associate word - image - sound. Don’t just learn plain words, if you learn the word for tree, think of a tree or search an image with one.

Learning a language takes time, don’t expect to know it perfectly after only 1 week.

Immersion is hella frustrating but it pays off in the end.

Don’t study when you are too tired. You have many chances to learn nothing then.

Find someone you admire so they can motivate you.

Use a bilingual dictionary not only for finding specific words but just for the sake of reading.

After you’ve read 1 page/chapter from a book, try to make a summary in your target language.

When you read books, try to see if you can find the audiobook as well. (Youtube might have it) In this way you know the correct way of saying certain words.

Try to make it fun. If it’s fun to have a schedule do that, if you enjoy more watching movies, do that. Don’t make your learning journey a burden.

Break study time into smaller chunks

Know your learning style.

Try to have a notebook/diary/agenda where you write down what you did daily to improve.

When you feel like giving up, think how many new stuff you have learned.

Your attitude plays an import role. Try to avoid thinking how “difficult” a language is, instead think how good you will feel after you learn it.

ReadLang and Linguarana have videos with subs in many languages, if you like learning with videos, give them a try.

Anki is an amazing app with flashcards for several languages so you don’t waste time making them and they have a daily limit of cards so you don’t burnout.

Physically writing down a word can help seal it in your memory. 

Say new words out loud and pay attention to your pronunciation.

 If your target language has another alphabet or a writing system, don’t be afraid to learn it. Take a couple of days and master it.

Always have an app or a dictionary/notebook with you. While you wait for a taxi you can study a bit.

If you don’t understand a grammar rule, search some articles about it, take 2-3 days to understand that concept.

[abbyofthecosmos]

The Crab Nebula

August’s Space Object of the Month is the Crab Nebula, the remnant of a supernova observed by Chinese astronomers in the year 1054. Though they didn’t understand what they were seeing at the time, we now know they were witnessing was the death of a star 6,500 light-years from Earth. The supernova was visible during the day for an entire month, and remained visible at night for a further two years before it faded away.

At the centre of the nebula there is a rapidly spinning neutron star, 30 kilometres in diameter, emitting pulses of radiation as it spins on its axis. This pulsar, discovered in 1968 by Jocelyn Bell, ejects twin beams of radiation resulting in the star appearing to pulse at a rate of 30 times per second.

The nebula itself spans six light-years across, and is expanding at a rate of about 1,500 kilometres per second – 0.5% the speed of light.

[abbyofthecosmos]

13 • 08 • 23

I am back from Canada! It feels like I've been away forever. Sorry for the long time with no updates, now I'm back I can get back in to the fun astronomy and language learning content y'all are here for 😆

If you have any requests for topics you'd like to see on this blog, please let me know!

[abbyofthecosmos]

21 • 06 • 23

I am currently in Canada! I'm going to be spending the summer working at a summer camp in Ontario, working on high ropes and climbing. This is my first time in North America so I'm really excited!

The only downside is you will probably not be hearing from me as much as I'll be super busy, but I'll try and post if I have time.

Hope you are all having a great summer (and please reach out if you have any questions about working at camp 😊)

[abbyofthecosmos]

WASP-47

June's Space Object of the Month is WASP-47; a planetary system located in the constellation Aquarius. It is about 6.5 billion years old and is 870 light years away.

The system consists of a main-sequence star of similar size and brightness to the Sun, and at least 4 planets. A hot Jupiter (a planet with similar characteristics to Jupiter but much closer to its star) was discovered orbiting the star, with an orbital period of just 4 days. Later, three more planets were discovered: a gas giant located in the star’s habitable zone, a hot Neptune further from the star than the hot Jupiter, and a super-Earth closer to the star. The system is interesting, as it is the only planetary system known to have both planets near the hot Jupiter and another planet much further out.

[abbyofthecosmos]

The Night Before Your Exam

Hello, hi there. Recently I made a post about what to do the day of your exam and it’s still getting notes which is amazing. Thank you all. So now, please enjoy these realistic tips for the night before your exam that do not involve perfum, gum, or cramming. Please don’t cram.

Get a good night’s sleep. I know that for many of us this is a major challenge because we deal with insomnia or anxiety disorders that keep us awake. Try taking a warm bath in Epsom salts. Stay in the tub until you break a sweat. Pick your salts wisely because some of them are more energizing (i.e lavender salts are more energizing I have found).

If you are having trouble sleeping because of tension in your neck/back, try to relieve the tension by rolling out your muscles on the floor, or conciously tensing them up for about 10-20 seconds before slowing releasing. The Epsom salt bath really helps with any sort of tension. I have chronic nerve pain from a car accident and it’s one of the few things that help me that is more holistic.

Don’t shy away from melatonin. It works wonders and you won’t feel “hung over” in the morning like you may with Z-Quil. They have melatonin gummies too!

Try lowering your body temperature. Sleep naked. It’s life changing. If you can’t sleep naked (because you live in a dorm) still do your best to keep it cool. Our bodies get tired when their temps are lower.

Additionally, do not cram for any exam. The night before your exam is not the time to be learning any new material. We are way past that. Gently refresh the material that you already know; however, do focus on items you may struggle with. Remember, althetes don’t go crazy hard the day before a game - treat your brain the same way; no heavy lifting.

You may take this time to rewrite your notes. It’s a simple act that can definitely help you to remember.

Try teaching the material to someone else, or if no one else is available - stand in the mirror and give your own personal TedTalk on the subject. Hey, if it works for Sims, right? Remember that if you can teach the material, you know it. Reiterating in your own words is so helpful.

This should go without saying, but eat a good dinner.

Use the “Match,” “Test,” and “Spell” functions on Quizlet. Very helpful.

Have I said do not cram yet?

Lay out your clothes for the morning. The fewer decisions the better.

You’re going to want to wake up with enough time to review your study materials a couple more times, get ready for the day, and leave for the exam early (so that you have time to review when you get there and to ensure you are on time!) So set your alarm in advance.

Make sure that you set out your blue book, calculator, etc. so that you are prepared for the exam tomorrow and you aren’t sprinting across campus to find somewhere that sells blue books.

Triple check that alarm.

Try to limit your use of electronics 30 minutes before you need to fall asleep. I know that isn’t always reasonable though. Just make sure your phone is plugged in so that it is well charged and ON when you need that alarm to go off.

Drink some water.

Don’t drink any coffee or other caffeinated beverage/over induldge in nicotine/or take your *prescription!!!* adderall after 8 PM. Really for the Adderall don’t take it after like 5:30. You will be up all night long, my friend.

Okay last time: do not cram for any exam. That’s like over extertion for your brain and it will take you time to recover. If you continuously pull all nighters to cram you will crash and burn eventually. So just start early on your study plan. You can make time for it, I promise.

Happy studying, realistic students!

[abbyofthecosmos]

My favourite (free!) language learning apps

General:

Duolingo - everyone's heard of this one (and is familiar with its slightly threatening owl mascot). This has been my favourite language learning app ever since I started using it; it allows so much practice, with none of the actual content being stuck behind a paywall, unlike a lot of popular learning apps.

Drops - this is a vocab learning app with many different languages available. The free version offers 5 minutes of learning a day, which doesn't sound like much but is great if you have a busy schedule.

For Spanish learners:

SpanishDict - Primarily a Spanish dictionary, this app also has grammar lessons, vocab lists and conjugation practice. A really great app that I make use of on a daily basis!

For Japanese learners:

Ringotan - a kanji learning app that uses spaced repition learning. You can choose what order to learn the kanji (for example in the order they are introduced in a certain textbook, or following JLPT)

Kanji Tree - similar to Ringotan, but you can choose between recognition, reading and writing practice (so if you only want to be able to read Japanese and don't care about writing, this is probably a better option)

Infinite Japanese - a great app for beginners, this teaches basic vocab such as colours and animals while feeling more like a game rather than study.

[abbyofthecosmos]

The Antennae Galaxies

The Space Object of the Month for May is the beautiful Antennae Galaxies, a pair of interacting spiral galaxies located in the constellation of Corvus. Discovered by William Herschel in 1785, these galaxies possess two long tails of stars, gas and dust, resembling an insect’s antennae. These formed around 200 to 300 million years ago, and are a result of the galaxies colliding, their gravity pulling long streams of gas away from each other.

The nuclei of the two galaxies are slowly joining together to eventually produce one giant galaxy, with a supermassive black hole at its centre. The galactic collision has also resulted in a starburst phase, where there is a rapid formation of new, young stars due to the collision of gas and dust in the galaxies. Of the million of new stars created during this merger, roughly 10% will live longer than 10 million years, with the rest being blue supergiant stars – massive stars with small lifetimes, which consume their nuclear fuel quickly before exploding as a supernova.

The Antennae galaxies are one of the closest examples of colliding galaxies to the Milky Way.

[abbyofthecosmos]

Energy Management

A human-based organization method

click on images for better resolution; images also available here (link to google drive)

Other posts that may be of interest:

Getting stuff done: How to deal with a lack of motivation

Flexible time-blocking: A more breathable way to get things done

The ABCDE Method

[abbyofthecosmos]

12 • 04 • 23

Exam season again! The semesters go by so quickly.

I finally submitted my Computational Astrophysics coursework worth 50% of my grade. It took me so long to make the graphs look pretty! As much as I don't like coding, I have to admit I was sort of enjoying it by the end. 😄

Just 3 exams to do now and I'll have finished my 3rd year of university!

[abbyofthecosmos]

April's SOotM

Starting off April with a really cool Space Object – or should I say system – TYC 7037-89-1. This system is made up of six stars: three pairs of eclipsing binaries which are orbiting each other, 1,900 light years away in the constellation of Eridanus.

The three binaries – A, B and C, have orbital periods ranging between one and eight days. The A binary orbits the C binary every few years, with the B binary orbiting A and C every few thousand years. This complex system is the first discovery of eclipsing binaries within a binary.

The fact that the system is composed of three orbiting binaries would be amazing enough, but the fact that binaries are oriented at an angle so we can see eclipses from all of them, despite the massive distances between them, is even more amazing.

The primary stars in each of the binaries are bigger than the Sun, and about the same temperature, while the secondaries are cooler and about half the size of the Sun. Systems such as TYC 7037-89-1 are really useful in astronomy, as they allow measurements to be made of the sizes and temperatures of stars that have a similar formation history, providing a better understanding of how these stars grow and evolve.

[abbyofthecosmos]

studying and anxiety

a guide on how to study when the thought of it makes you even more stressed

(disclaimer: i’m not a professional therapist or doctor, simply a student who has been dealing with severe anxiety since i was eleven years old. that being said, i don’t have much anxiety around schoolwork or testing, so my advice may not be the most helpful- take what i say with a grain of salt.)

while it has been a long time since i’ve felt anxious about studying, and therefore can’t provide much help with that, i do regularly have to study in situations where i am already anxious or in the middle of anxiety attack. these are some of the things i do to help myself calm down and focus.

calm down. if i’m near panic or feel too restless to sit still, i need to let my body and mind chill before i can even think about schoolwork. if i’m feeling really jittery, a quick walk outside or dancing it out to some high-energy pop music helps me settle down a bit. then i like to meditate, in order to get my focus and thoughts under control.

next, make the space you’ll be studying in comfortable and safe. what this means will depend on what you need during an anxiety attack. some people are comforted by familiar items and coziness, such as blankets, candles, and stuffed animals. when i’m stressed, i usually need a more clean and organized space, with everything put away in its place (or just out of sight) and only the things i need with me. things like tea, fidget toys, and familiar smells can help to ground you as well. if you’re not at home, libraries tend to be a good option, since they are quiet, relaxing, and often familiar spaces. if you’re stuck in school and the library isn’t an option, try an empty classroom or stairwell.

break everything down. when i’m stressed, my executive functioning goes haywire. in order to get anything done, i have to plan out my moves in very explicit detail. this is easiest for me to do on a computer document. first, i write down all of the assignments that i have to get done. then, i break each of them down into smaller and smaller tasks, until they are simple enough that each takes less than a minute and could be easily explained to a child. 

get to work! i usually start with the easiest task, so that i don’t get overwhelmed or start to doubt my abilities, since that would make me more stressed. for me, this is usually math, since puzzles with definite rules tend to calm me down when i’m anxious, and i’m more likely to get stuck on less structured work like english readings or art projects.

don’t forget to take breaks. especially if your brain is dealing with an excess of nerves, and stress, you will need to let it rest and recharge frequently. i like to set a timer where i work for twelve minutes, take a three minute break, and then repeat. if this feels too long or too short for you, feel free to adjust it to fit your needs.

most importantly, go to sleep. i know it’s tempting to stay up late studying or doing homework, especially if you haven’t finished all of your assignments yet, but there is nothing that will make your anxiety worse than sleep deprivation. take care of your body, first and foremost. it’s the only one you’re ever going to have.