Finale – Culminate Post

I learned much more than I thought I would in this course. Before taking this class, all I really knew about our solar system was that there are 8 planets (and Earth is the third one), the asteroid belt is a thing, Jupiter is big, and Saturn is the planet with pretty rings. I didn’t know everything in space was so far apart (even our moon is much farther than I thought it was). I had no idea Venus was such a hot, cloudy, and fascinating hellscape. I didn’t know the asteroid belt was so much calmer than how it’s portrayed in movies. I wasn’t aware that the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud even existed. I didn’t know Jupiter and Saturn were basically the same size/radius (I always thought Jupiter was bigger). I didn’t know comets had two tails. I didn’t know Jupiter has a volcanic moon that spews sulphurous gas into space. I didn’t know Saturn had a moon that spouts geysers of ice into space. There was just so many interesting things this class taught me about all the worlds and objects in our solar system and throughout the rest of space. It all made me excited about the possibility of expanding/improving space travel so we can learn even more about the things farther away from us.

The only reason I regret taking this class this semester is because I liked it so much. I sincerely wish I had more time here to take more astronomy classes and learn more and more about what we know of space and everything in it. At the same time, I’m glad to have taken this class my last semester as an undergraduate because it’s been one of my favorite classes I’ve taken here. I actually learned a lot of interesting things, and this class was fun. It felt like a great way to finish up my time here.