#thestemstar

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

This is what happens when a star is sucked in by a black hole

via NASA

When a star is swallowed by a black hole, a huge jet of plasma shoots out, plasma spans hundreds of light years. While some remains of the star are sucked into the black hole, the rest is ejected out into space at high speeds. 🤯

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

The Great Conjunction | Winter Solstice 2020

via ABC News

On this day in space, the planets Jupiter and Saturn meet close together in the sky, in an astronomical event known as the great conjunction.

Also known as the Christmas Star or the Star of Bethlehem, these Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions happen once every 20 years. The last one was in 2000, however 2020 marks the year where Jupiter and Saturn have been the closest, something that has not been seen since the year 1623. And the last time the planets were this close to each other at night, when the sun's glare didn't make it impossible to see, was in 1223 — nearly 800 years ago!

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

astronauts inventing dance moves:

Credit: NASA

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

Happy Halloween folks 👻

Please enjoy this image of the Ghost Nebula.

The Ghost Nebula is a reflections nebula located in the constellation Cepheus. It is over 2 light years across and about 550 light years away from us.

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

being the only girl in my engineering class

Yesterday concluded my second day at school in-person, which also concluded my first week back to school. And, something happened, and it’s still kind of bothering me... so I want to talk about it with the internet (if the anyone on the internet is even reading this).

So, the day started out pretty normal. Get up, brush my teeth, make lunch for school, get my backpack and other supplies ready, put on my shoes, etc. And after leaving my first class of the day (which was band class if you were wondering), and I head to the second class I had for the day, which was the long-awaited, highly-anticipated, and held in the utmost regard, my engineering class. 

And when I walked in, I stood there really awkwardly for a few seconds and decided to sit near the door. Then I did one of those maneuvers and decided to sit in the seat in front of the seat I originally chose. So after I sit and put my stuff down on the floor, I look around the room and...

ALL OF THEM WERE BOYS. Even the teacher. I was literally the only girl in that room. I know that engineering is a male-dominated field, but I thought that there would be at least one other girl in that class. And to top it all off, they all seemed to already know each other, I was also probably the only freshman in there. I just sat there and hardly said anything during class. I just did what I was told. And when I did talk, I felt like the whole room got kind of quiet, maybe it was to be respectful and listen when someone was given permission to talk, or maybe it was because I was the only girl in there, who knows?

So, as you can imagine, I felt really out of place, like I didn’t belong in there, even though nobody was telling me that I shouldn’t be there. Now, does this mean I’m going to drop out of the class and decide to pursue a different career path... no. I know there are probably going to be more classes like this in the future as I pursue this career, but I just have to make peace with it if I want a career in engineering. For now, this is just a part of life.

Also, if you were wondering what percentage of engineers in the workforce are women:

13-14%. It was like this 2012, in 2016, in 2017. And it probably STILL hasn’t changed in 2020. I mean, the percentage of women with intentions to major in engineering have definitely increased, but according to an infographic by the Society of Women Engineers, 32% of women switch out of STEM degrees in college and only 30% of women who earn a bachelor’s degree in engineering are still in the engineering field 20 years later.

As you can see, these numbers are abysmal. So, once I become an engineer, I’m going to advocate for more girls in STEM and engineering. We’ve got to bring these numbers up. But, until then, I’m going to keep going to that class while also trying to adapt to this new environment. Here’s a tip: when you’re a girl going into engineering, be prepared mentally. Because you probably are the only girl in there.

ATTENTION: This is by no means a reliable source of information. It is merely only the workings of my mind and research. Please refer to a more thorough and credible source of information. Thank you.

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

I just compared my school's football team to a cell membrane 😑

So... a few minutes ago, I compared my school's football team to a CELL MEMBRANE. I'm in the marching band and we're playing at a game, I was watching the players line up facing each other, and earlier that day, I was learning about cell membranes and it just reminded me of it. Like, the teams are a lipid bilayer and there controlling what's coming into their area -- just like a cell membrane. Does anyone else think that football teams are like cell membranes???

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

Do you ever wonder why it hurts when we accidentally bite our tongue, but when we bite it intentionally it doesn't?

[myeverexpandinguniverse]

My iOS14 Home and Lock Screens

Check out my new iOS 14 home screen! I didn't think that I would actually use it, but it is actually super aesthetic and makes my phone so much more... simplistic. ☺️