Finishing the Project

Hi everyone!!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week. I would say this was another slow week for I am reaching the end of my project. This week I received an email from my advisor stating that I had pretty much finished what he wanted me to do. It was nice to hear because there was a lot of math involved. It felt great to take a break from it all. 

In his email he told me what my values meant. I had previously emailed him what values I had reached for my standard deviations. He replied and transferred those values for standard deviation into scatter. Scatter is pretty self-explanatory. My data regarding the peak magnitude had a scatter of 0.19 dex (scatter units). My data regarding the magnitude at 95% had a scatter at 0.16 dex. was Therefore, I am able to determine distance of a supernova up to 0.16 dex. The typical standard candle (type Ia supernovae) has a scatter of 0.05, so my use of supernovae type IIb added a little more scatter. 

I also calibrated the Hubble Constant again but with the supernovae I used in this part of the experiment. I reached a value of ~69 km/s/Mpc. I didn't use this particular method, so that's one value. I plan on finding another value using the method I have been talking about for the past few weeks in a few days.

He also said that I could start my report. I did start that. I have already written my abstract and am currently working on the introduction. 

I must say that doing this work has been a real eye opener in to the world of astronomy. The math and steps required to reach a value for the Hubble Constant is extensive. It definitely gives me an idea of what to expect in astronomy. I can't say though, whether it has affected me positively or negatively. I do like, however, what my values mean in the world. Sure, finding the values is a task and can be strenuous, but what the result means is always interesting and rewarding. I'm sure you guys find my explanation on how to find the Hubble Constant is not the most joyful and fascinating thing. I do think though that the number I have found is mind-blowing. Just imagine, the universe is traveling at a rate, according to me, of 69 km/s/Mpc, spreading into space that doesn't even exist. I love what I have found, and I hope you guys have liked learning about.

Talk to you next week, as I continue writing my paper.

Thank you,

Max Biwer