ASTRO 1195: Observational Astronomy

By: Isabel Caro '18 As a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, I am expected to take some math/science courses to fulfill certain requirements. I decided to choose these courses wisely and have some fun – so I enrolled in Astronomy 1195: Observational Astronomy. ASTRO 1195 is an introductory course that gives students (like me!) the opportunity to learn about the intricacies of outer space.

The course is jam-packed with important and interesting information including the relationship between the moon, the sun and earth (namely, how it affects our lives), how stars exist, what they are made up of and how they die, plus much more! In addition, since it’s an “observational” class, we have the privilege to use Cornell’s very own Fuertes Observatory (since Cornell is oh so resourceful). We meet once a week on Wednesday evenings to observe the moon, other planets such as Saturn, plenty of stars, globular clusters and even other galaxies –it’s mind blowing! The class has been particularly rewarding personally because I’ve found myself walking to class looking for the position of the sun and determining where we’re located in the solar system, what time it is, or even just appreciating how far away that big ball of gas really is. I feel much more cognizant of my surroundings thanks to this class. I know how to measure longitude and latitude and locate constellations that I could never see before. Sometimes I even have existential thoughts: what is our purpose here when we exist on such a small scale, compared to the massive universe? Plus, as Professor Stacey always says, we can bring up these cool topics and tools that we’ve learned at the dinner table to show off our knowledge!

On September 27th there was a total lunar eclipse i.e. super blood moon that we were lucky enough to witness! This phenomenon is very rare: the last one occurred in 1982 and the next won’t be until 2033. I’m very thankful to have been taking this class during a year it happened because I’ve conveniently been studying the subject! This class is just one example of how special a Cornell University education can be, especially in a college as versatile as the College of Arts and Sciences!