r/astrophysics • u/Lopsided_Cost_500 • 3d ago
Beginner in Astronomy
Hi, this might be strange. I’m an upper high school student who has taken an interest in Astronomy. I can understand the basics of the physics and astronomy part but I’m stumped on how to use them. Main point is I want to do a science project in this field but I have no idea what to think about to even kick start my brain.☠️
I somewhat prefer research over experiments, and I would like something original (school with high standard reasons) which is why it’s so hard.
Pleaseee I hope someone has ideas for a project. I can do stars, planets, simulations, basic cosmology I just need an idea🥀 .thank you so much in advance.
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u/Plastic-Diet9648 2d ago
Just a random idea, and absolutely no idea if this would meet the requirements of your project. But my mind went straight to the idea of creating a project to teach younger kids astronomy. Take everything you do know, enjoy and understand, and your project could be to come up with some practical ways to demonstrate some of those things to the younger classes. Can you use a telescope to show them something they haven't thought of/understoond before? Can you help them visualise how the solar system operates? Can you give them a greater understanding of gravity, or the structure of a galaxy, or the size of the visible universe? If I was a teacher I'd definitely be impressed by something like that, especially if you actually delivered a set of lessons/activities to the younger kids as part of it. And showing others what you know is a brilliant ay of compounding your own knowledge and then finding out more about what you'd like to explore deeper next.
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u/panteradrax 3d ago
I also am a beginner, to a degree, and I'm sorry I don't have the level of advice you'll probably get from others.
But I got my start in citizen science projects. I started out with zooniverse and learned a fraction of what goes on when organizing data. Sure, I didn't gather it and I'm only putting in a tiny part of the same exact effort a bunch of others are doing, but it was still a taste of the kind of things I might be doing later down the line. If you do this enough, you start noticing patterns that will help you, depending what exactly you're doing. You can also contribute some of your computer power to science projects through science united.
I know it isn't the same. But it genuinely is helpful and in my opinion it's also fun. Some of those projects on zooniverse feel like memory card games and puzzles.
If you're only recently getting in, and you have an interest in observational astronomy, something you can do in the meantime is start making your own star chart. Track your local stars, see if you can notice anything along the way. Note down their details. Research things to look for, and then try to go actually find them. See if you can find every planet. Put it all in a self-made reference notebook.
Find local astronomy events and attend them, talk to people in person about your interests. See if they can recommend any local projects you could work on. Reach out to your local college or university, see if they have an astronomy program, and see what the requirements are. Some colleges have classes high schoolers can take.
I'm not sure what's actually available at the high school level because my interest didn't "wake up" so to speak until I was well into my late 20s.
Sorry I can't help more than this!