Am I Glad That's Over!!!!

[renormalised]

Not long finished my exam for GAC (galactic astrophysics and cosmology). What a pain in the butt it was...I don't know whether I've passed or not (I hope so) but I'm not happy with a few questions. This year hasn't been the best, so if I just scrape through I'll be happy.

I need a long holiday!!!

[Enchilada]

All I ever learnt about GAC, was it is a long way to the galactic centre, and of course, my "U, Vees, W's". As for the cosmology, well, the Creator had a sense of humour :rofl:

Anyway. Hope you make it! :thumbsup:

[Nesti]

Well done mate! Sounds like you're putting in the hard yards anyway.

Where is it you hope your studies will take you, are you wanting to work in the field?

You'll need to lose that heratic streak unless you're thinking of SETI type stuff.

Cheers
Mark

[renormalised]

I've always had a liking for SETI...I'm the type who doesn't listen to the naysayers where the bugs upstairs are concerned. Or, if I have an idea, I'll follow it through. I don't just go and throw the towel in just because everyone else thinks I'm wrong.

Right now, I'm just looking at one day at a time, but I'd like to get into planetary geoscience/exoplanetary studies, teach maybe. If I was lucky enough to get a chance to do some SETI work, I'd jump at it. Even work as an assistant at an observatory, planetarium/museum or university (tutor) would be great.

I don't know whether I'll go onto a PhD or not...if I felt like I have during the year, I doubt my head would cope (haven't been the best healthwise), but that's for the future to decide. Who knows what it will bring.

[jjjnettie]

All the best with your results Carl. I'm sure you've done fine.

[sjastro]

Best of luck Carl.

Regards

Steven

[avandonk]

Congratulations for even doing the hard yards! But can I suggest you steal a few books froms Rimmers cabin in Red Dwarf to make you pass the exams he never could.

Let me guess a question

If galaxy A was aproaching galaxt B at 0.2C closing speed and they were ....

I don't even know the questions!

Bert

[renormalised]

Thanks for the congrats and encouragement...helps put a smile on my face:D:D:thumbsup:

[renormalised]

I know the rest of that question.... made of chocolate, what would happen if a large intergalactic strawberry was to jump out of hyperspace in between the two galaxies??:P:D:D

[Nesti]

If I plagiarize, "That's nonsense, everybody knows its Tortoises on top of Tortoises, all the wee-down". :P

[DavidU]

Good on 'ya Carl. That's a lot of hard yards.:thumbsup:

[sjastro]

Must be true. Bertrand Russell coudn't refute it.

[Nesti]

Must be...Carl says its true too! :D:D:D:P

[renormalised]

Yeah....Al-bit Einstoned:P:P:D:D

or, is that Einstuffed:P:D:D

[Ric]

Hi Carl, you'll probably do better than you think.

I remember a few exams like that in my Uni days mainly in Geophysics, it was pretty full on stuff.

Cheers

[Robh]

Carl,

All the best. Along that "yellow brick road", those exams will be just a distant memory!
Looking forward to your continued insights.

Regards, Rob

[renormalised]

Yep, I know what that's like. You'd never believe that rocks could be so steeped in maths!!!!. And then, just to confuse matters more, they throw you a stereonet and ask you to plot some obscure foliation axis that was masquerading as some D3 crenulation cleavage!!!!. Structural work was never one of my finer points, I could take it or leave it. Handy to know but not something that really grabbed my attention. Far more interested in ore deposit geology, petrology and the like.

[renormalised]

Thanks Rob, much appreciated:D

[AstralTraveller]

I reckon you'll do fine. You sound like the type to do the work, you've done enough uni to have the study skills and you're clearly no idiot. You must know that mature age students typically do well; they are there for a good reason (not just because uni is the thing you do after school), they know what the real world expects and they don't have a teenagers social life to support!

It might be like my physical chemistry subject. Reaction orders and spectroscopy were easy but the major part of the course was thermodynamics and I was woeful at that. Naturally I did well at the practicals (that is just technique not knowledge) but I came out of the exam thinking I had failed it, but hopefully not badly enough to fail the course. I wound up with a high distinction! Apparently the other students were even more confused than me and the marks were scaled to hell.

Anyway, all the best and let us know how you go when the marks come out.

[renormalised]

Next year things are a little different...no more exams. Just thesis and lit' review. Will be easier in some respects but harder in others. Nothing I haven't already experienced before...I already have a published paper which I was a contributor to (no big deal, though) apart from a thesis for a PGDip, so I think I'll be able to navigate my way through next year without too much hassle, I hope:D

[AstralTraveller]

First rule of thesis production: "The printer will break down the day you go to print." Seen it too many times.

[renormalised]

Yep, heard about that one before:P:D

Or they're short on ink/paper, the typesetter/printer is sick that day, or they're closed for some reason, unexpectedly.

That's like looking for reference material...it's an absolute certainty that the journal article and/or book you're looking for will be already on loan to someone else, supervisor/other academic, or temporarily lost.

[multiweb]

Back to School? You're a brave man. ;)

[Octane]

Carl,

Congratulations on finishing the semester.

I graduated in 2003 (computer science). I sometimes miss the feeling of being at the "zoo". The computer labs used to be packed to the rafters with students pulling all sorts of weird hours trying to get their assignments finished on time. Man, the heat and stench that used to emanate from the labs... :rofl:

Regards,
Humayun

[renormalised]

All nighters...favourite party time for students. Oh, yeah, and to do work too:P:D

[dumdidum]

:hi:

You'll be fine Carl :P

I thought AIN was more difficult given the time constraints

[renormalised]

Where you been:P:D:hi:

What did you think of the paper??

[dumdidum]

Lurking as always :lol: I've had about 4 hours sleep since Saturday morning so no regrets in moving to part-time next year if I pass these two courses :P

I thought the questions were quite difficult, but still very fair considering it was an open book exam. Some were a bit easier and shorter than others, which was a little strange considering they were equal in terms of marks..I still ended up using the full 24h though as I'm a slow worker. What did you think?



I also felt at times like my head was going to explode, but there's always this really satisfying feeling I get after solving a particularly hard tute question - almost makes it all worth it :P

[AstralTraveller]

OK, this conversation has raised a few questions (which you can answer after a nice sleep).

What is the course and who runs it?

It sounds to me like distance education (one of you in Townsville and one in Sydney). So, how do they make sure you do the exam under exam conditions? I'm not suggesting you would do anything underhand but you must know not all students have such scruples. What's to stop you having a famous astrophysicist by your side, or at least someone who did the course last year? (FWIW students who do cheat are only fooling themselves and eventually, I would hope, everyone else sees them for a fool too).

Moving to something nicer, do you have a thesis topic for next year?

Now what does that meen in lay terms? :lol:

How did you get the topic? Assigned, chosen, consultation, pick-from-list?

Will you get your own instrument time or do you use data already collected?

And, fall in love with the topic; it's the only way.

[renormalised]

OK...here's the course.... Astronomy at JCU (http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/)

And yes, I had Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Ed Witten and Uncle Al sitting in the living room with me whilst I was doing the exam:P:P:D:D (I wish!!!:P)

The exam is open book and we're given 24hrs to do it in, so basically we can use all the resources at hand to complete it. Still doesn't mean you're going to pass. That depends on whether you answer the questions correctly, which means knowing how to use the information you have.

As for myself, I haven't thought of a specific topic, yet. We choose our own topics within the purview of the overall aspects of the course, but they can range the full gamut of astronomy/astrophysics, including the education side of the subject. If we have to use instruments, then that would be discussed with our supervisor and the faculty. We may even use our own, if we have one and it's appropriate. Or we could do it primarily from written sources and databases, if that is the way to go. Depends on what you choose to do.

And quite frankly, sitting an exam setup by those guys would be scary!!! I would feel like a pale blue dot slowly evaporating away whilst being strung out in curved space:P:D

[Ric]

Printers :eyepop:

Sheer Luxury :D

My thesis was done on a Hermes Baby typewriter, mind you the year was 1979 :lol:

Ah yes the joy of changing ribbons when they ran dry, those where the days. :lol:

Cheers

[renormalised]

Some of the questions took a little while to get your head around whilst others were pretty self evident. I did find the weighting of the questions a little curious as some of those questions didn't seem to be worth as much as others....I suppose depending on the difficulty level for each question.

Tell me about it!!!. Especially when some of my answers didn't seem to make sense in the context of the question. I ran through several of the questions a number of times. Hopefully, I at least get part marks for the attempt. But I hope I get full marks, of course. What makes it worse is having arthritis and such like I have, I can't sit for too long without stiffening right up. That and also with compacted disks in my neck and lower back don't help either. Adds an extra degree of difficulty to the work.

[dumdidum]

For a history of the degree: http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/pagea.shtml

You don't need to necessarily have a degree in maths or physical sciences for the masters as I enrolled with just a Bachelor of commerce. Basically for the first four subjects (coursework) the lecturer uploads a different topic each week with some questions which are answered by the student and then sent back for marking. There are a few quite sizable practical assignments/reports throughout the term which involve using downloaded software to simulate lab work. The penultimate subject involves choosing History of Astronomy or Astrophysics for your specialisation I believe, whilst the last is a project/thesis.

In my case I don't have any illusions of turning this into a career, at least not for the foreseeable future. Simply, put I don't have great confidence with the mathematics and physics, which basically sums up astronomy :P This is just an interest I've always had so doing that would defeat the purpose of the course. So for me, a PhD is probably out of the question (assuming that they'd accept my application of course).



Yeah, as usual the textbook questions were a bit harder I think. I'd assume it's the processes and working out which should account for the majority of the marks. It's hard to know for sure the scaling though as everybody is at such a high standard!

Sitting in a chair whilst staring at a computer screen for 24 hours is not a pleasant experience that's for sure. I may have to get the chiropractor to 'crack' my neck and back...I have mild scoliosis so also feeling a little worse for wear.

Anyway, if I pass this term, I've decided to choose Astrophysics, hope to see you there :)