Need Ideas for a Physics Astronomy EE for IB

[Da_Rex]

TL;DR Summary: I had a physics EE idea for finding the age of Andromeda using data from the university our school is linked with, however this turned out to be near impossible, therefore I wanted to find more doable things.

Need Ideas for Physics EE

 

[Ibix]

What's EE and IB in this context? How much time do you have to work and when?

 

[Da_Rex]

What's EE and IB in this context? How much time do you have to work and when?

EE is a Extended Essay that is around 4000 Words, and IB is International Baccalaureate, which is in simple terms just a harder version of high school. In order to pass the IB I basically just have to write a EE on something I'm Interested in which is astrophysics, but since I've basically never learnt anything about that topic, might be a little too difficult to do something like finding the age of a galaxy using HR Diagrams and etc. For this work I basically around 2-3 months of time to do it, which most of I will do in Summer so June July August.

 

[FactChecker]

Since you are interested in astrophysics, the hot topic these days are the results being obtained from the James Webb Space Telescope. I think that you could easily write a 4,000 word essay on that subject and learn a lot in the process. I encourage you go farther than restating old knowledge. There are new things being discovered every day and studies that will be done very soon. You can start by getting some current information on Dr. Becky's YouTube channel. Here is an example.

 

[Da_Rex]

Since you are interested in astrophysics, the hot topic these days are the results being obtained from the James Webb Space Telescope. I think that you could easily write a 4,000 word essay on that subject and learn a lot in the process. I encourage you go farther than restating old knowledge. There are new things being discovered every day and studies that will be done very soon. You can start by getting some current information on Dr. Becky's YouTube channel. Here is an example.

Thank you very much for your guide, I'll look at it in more detail and is it possible to perhaps dm you if I have more questions?

 

[berkeman]

write a EE on something I'm Interested in which is astrophysics

Well, you can first think of resources where you may get ideas about astrophysics topics, and then look through those resources to see what catches your eye...

For example, do you check the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) regularly? Each day there is a new (usually amazing) photo or illustration of some interesting object or phenomena, along with a description of it. You can look through the last couple of months of pictures to see what kinds of interesting ideas they bring up:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

You can also do a Google search for astrophysics topics for project, which will give you lots of nice resources to read through for ideas. Here is the hit list that I got when doing that search (using Firefox browser on my laptop):

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=astrophysics+topics+for+project

 

[FactChecker]

Thank you very much for your guide, I'll look at it in more detail and is it possible to perhaps dm you if I have more questions?

Lesson #1: If you are not asking the right person, you are wasting your time.

I am just a casual amateur and probably not the right person to discuss this subject with. The people on the Astronomy and Astrophysics section here are the right ones to discuss these things with. If you see a good YouTube video the comment sections can sometimes get you some good answers to questions. You have to be selective about who and what you believe in those YouTube comment sections.

 

[Klystron]

In the 'oldie but goodie' list of astronomy essay topics consider an essay on Sol, our local star. Plentiful data and photos, plus you can conduct your own observations with correct eye protection.

The very first 'camera obscura' before chemical photography, used a dark room with a beam of sunlight entering through a small hole at the correct time of day displayed on a wall or screen. Early optic experimenters including Isaac Newton intercepted the sunbeam with mirrors, lenses and prisms to study the nature of light. At this moment I am looking at a brilliant solar spectrum (rainbow) generated by sunlight entering a glass prism on my desk.

Search around PF for threads on sunspots. Several members study Sol and document sunspot activity, accompanying magnetic storms, and extremely cool CME (coronal mass ejections).

This begs the question: is our Sun a variable star? Will Sol sit demurely in its place on the H-R diagram for most of its existence or surprise us? Considering the vital importance of the answer to life on Earth, this subject could provide an interesting essay. See also Helium flash.