I can’t believe this is my final post for EDTC and my astronomy learning project! It’s been a wild orbit of experience, imagination, and cosmic curiosity. I’ve spent a lot of weeks diving deep into black holes, decoding the solar system, and coding planets into motion! But, instead of just typing this up with a super easy summary or constant visuals, I tried something completely new, I turned my astronomy learning project into music.

This week, I took a look at Suno AI, this is such a mind-blowing AI app that lets your make music using nothing but whatever you like! WIth just a few short words, I created an original song that captured what space would feel like, the wonder of galaxies, the mystery of black holes, and the calmness of stars drifting in the night sky.

Why Suno?:

I’ve soaked up space through videos, podcasts, coding activities, and a lot of articles. But SunoAI gave me something no other app did, a way to feel space. Here’s what made Suno AI remarkable.

• Creativity Flow: Instead of me watching or reading, I listened to the music. Suno helped me hear what space may sound like, unusual, gorgeous, and limitless
• Emotional Connection: This music made me pause and think on the scale and curiousness of the cosmos. It wasn’t about learning, it was about feeling something
• Deep Learning: I still have the song “Astronomy”stuck in my head, and I love it! When learning sticks inside my head like this, you know that it worked!

 

Astronomy Soundtrack: Here are the two songs that Suno made for me:
Cosmic Wonders

Astronomy

What I learned about AI: 

Before any of this, I thought AI was all technology driven. But Suno educated me that AI can also be poetic, musical, and expressive. It’s not always about robotization, it’s about greater creativity.

• AI can turn deep thoughts into songs
• Art and Science aren’t opposites, they’re partners
• You don’t need be a singer or sound engineer to compose such emotion

11 Weeks of Astronomy Growth

• I can understand weird ideas such as time dilation and black holes
• I can build musical solar system with NASA’s Hour of Code
• Explore the multiverse, and talk about it with confidence 
• Create space-original music with SunoAI

Sounding Out the Universe:

Over the past 11 weeks, I didn’t just learn about astronomy, I experienced it! From coding the solar system to composing space music, I’ve changed complicated science into artistic expressions.. And this is the real win, learning is at its best when it’s personal, emotional, and a little bit of a wild ride.

So thank you to the universe for being the biggest motivation that I never expected. Also, thank you to the classmates and the prof for riding along on this ride!

The universe has a sound, and this semester, I finally heard it!

Astronomy Soundtrack

Want to hear what space sounds like to me? Here are two of the songs SunoAI created for me: Cosmic Wonders

Astronomy

 

This week, I took a deep dive into the cosmic world of coding, music, and astronomy, and it was out of this world! I discovered an activity from Hour of Code called NASA Space Jam, where I got to make a musical solar system. Yes, you heard that right, planets making music!

What made this activity cooler? I didn’t even know how to code before! This coding activity was beginner-friendly, visualizing and inspiring, but I still learned a lot with real coding skills and a whole new outlook on space.

What is NASA Space Jam?

NASA Space Jam is a fun, interactive coding activity where you can learn basic coding principles to make a musical model for the solar system. Each of the planets becomes it’s own music: While using this website you can:
You can program various planets to make unique musical sounds
Can adjust their speed and rhythm to create loops and melodies
You can can personalize your solar system and listen to how it sounds in motion

This kind activity is a great entry to coding, an idea that combines technology with arts. It made me recall a lot from Chrome Music Lab, another coding website where you can code music and visuals together. If you’re into mixing science and sounds together, this is definitely up your alley!

 

Where Music Meets Astronomy

The most surprising part for me was seeing how music and astronomy joined together through coding. As I arranged each orbit and note, it felt like I was directing a cosmic orchestra. Every loop, sound and movement was mine to build.

This coding activity also helped me better understand how coding is used in space simulations. I got super curious and explored NASA’s real-world tools such as Eye on the Solar System, where you can look at the actual NASA mission data in 3D. This hands-on experiment between what I was doing and what scientists are doing right now made it feel even more significant.

 

Why This Activity is Important in Astronomy

This activity wasn’t about making music, it was a start for me to understand how programming works in cosmic exploration. Timing, arranging, stimulation, and modeling are used in NASA for real missions like the James Webb Telecope and Mars Rovers.

What I Learned This Week

This wasn’t just about playing, it was about learning. Here’s what I learned from my experience with coding:

• Loops and Repetition: I used loops to duplicate musical patterns, just like how satellites rotate around planets
• Variable & Functions: I learned how changing values such as speed, variable affected how each planet sounded.
• Object-Oriented Logic: Every planet had its own properties, (like how a real code object has), and I used the functions to describe behaviours like playing the sounds when a planet moved
  Imagination Through Coding: This has shown me how coding isn’t always about numbers and grammar. Coding can be used to tell stories, design art or even simulate the solar system

In addition, I also checked out the NASA STEM YouTube Channel to see how engineers and scientists use coding in real life missions. Super amazing stuff, and it connected to what I was learning in a small, super fun way!

What if this isn’t the only universe? The concept of a multiverse is that our universe is just one of many, maybe even an unlimited universe, with different laws of physics, taking turns of ourselves, or even different realities.

This week I was diving deep into the science behind the multiverse. What does it mean? Could it be real? And importantly, can we ever prove it?

What Is the Multiverse

The multiverse is the concept of our universe is one of many universes that exist. If this is true  this could mean:

🔹 There are limitless versions of our world, each a little bit different
🔹There may be universes with different physics, where atoms, time or space act different
🔹Our universe might’ve split into different realities every time an atomic event happened

Why Do Scientists Think the Multiverse Might Be Real?

1. Big Bang Theory: If our universe became larger from a tiny point, what if other universes formed in the same way?
2. Quantum Mechanics: Some explanations (like the Many-Worlds Interpretation) suggest that every possible event happens, making a collateral universe, just in different universes.
3. Cosmic Inflation: The quick expansion of the early universe may have made multiple bubbles. Based on inflation theory, different regions might have been inflated into entirely different universes

Different Types of Multiverse Theories

There’s not only one multiverse theory, but there are several, and each one of them mind-boggling in their own way.
(Watch this video from PBS Space Time to see and listen on how they explain visually)

Bubble Universes (Inflation Theory)
1. The point that after the Big Bang Theory, that some parts of space kept getting bigger, making separate “bubbles”, each one a new universe
2. These universes could have different physics, meaning that life as we know it may not exist there

Many-Worlds Explanintation (Quantum Mechanics)
1. Every time an opinion or an unplanned quantum event happens, the universe separates into a different realities
2. This could mean,  there could be multiversal selves of you living in another universe, each making different things happens

Braneworld Theory (Extra Dimensions)
1. This approach suggests that our universe is just a 3D surface (brane) drifting in a higher hyperspace
2. Other universes could be right next to us, but we literally can’t see or interact with the other universes

Could We Ever Prove the Multiverse Exists

As of right now, we can’t directly notice other universes, but scientists are looking for clues:

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB):
Some scientists think if our universe crashed into another one in the past, there might be a strange pattern in the Cosmic Microwave Background.

Black Holes & Wormholes:
Some theories put forward that black holes might be gateways to other universes. If we study them more, we might actually find proof

Particle Physics Experiments:
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is colliding particles together to see if extra dimensions exists, which could point to other universes

Want to Go Deeper?
Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Podcast – An amazing discussion on the Quantum Mechanics and Many-Worlds Interpreation

One Universe… or Infinite Realities
If the multiverse is real or just a beautiful theory, it challenges us how we see the world, and ourselves. It asks an important question of all: What is reality? And how much of it are we even able to know, until scientists find answers, stay interested!

What I Learned This Week

Looking at the multiverse pushed me to think beyond what I usually thought was ‘reality.” I learned that the concept of multiple universes isn’t ust sci-fi, but it’s taken seriously by a lot of scientists and rooted in real theories like quantum mechanics, cosmic inflation, and string theory.
I also learned that even without direct proof, science still studies the frameworks to understand the unknown. Ideas such as Many-Worlds, bubble universes, and extra dimensions aren’t just shot in the dark guesses, they’re ways to describe observations that don’t always fit within our understanding of physics.
Above all, I learned that multiverses aren’t just about other universes, but also a way to reflect our universe. It calls for questions about choices, possibilities, and how small events might lead to completely various outcomes, not just in theory but as well in life.

The Mysterious Universe

When we stargaze at the night sky, we see stars, planets and galaxies. But, did you know that all of the astral wonders form 5% of the universe? The rest of the 5% is a complete mystery, that’s made out of two mystery forces, dark matter and dark energy.

Dark Matter: A clear substance that holds galaxies together
Dark Energy: Is a force that makes the universe expand faster           

These forces are important to the universe’s existence as the very stars we appreciate, but they remain the most perplexing events in science. Let’s look at how these invisible forces  shape the universe, and why scientists are still grasping to understand them.                             

 

 

What is Dark Matter

Dark matter is an invisible substance, we can’t see, touch or interact with it. Actually, it doesn’t radiate any light of energy. So, why are we sure that it exists? Simple, it’s due to gravity on everything that’s around it. It holds galaxies together and makes them revolve in ways that just couldn’t be possible if we relied on visible matter alone.

How Do We Know It’s There?

• Galaxies Spin To Fast: Galaxies rotate way too fast, they should fly apart, but something holds them together
• Light Bending: Light from far away galaxies curves around dark matters
• Dark Matter Structure : Dark matter reacts as a framework that helps form galaxies

 

What Is Dark Matter Made Of?

Scientists aren’t quite sure about this. Some concepts are:
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles: Imaginary particles that could make up dark matter 

Axions: Small particles that could explain dark matter’s weird effects

Primordial Black Holes: Tiny black holes that are left over from early universe

But, for the time being, dark matters continues to be one of the biggest mysteries in science

What Is Dark Energy

In 1998, astronomers found something unexpected: the universe’s growth is speeding up instead of slowing down. This surprise led to the term dark energy. But, what really is dark energy, and how does it work? 

Dark energy is the force that’s accountable for the fast expansion of the universe. It’s invisible just like dark matter, but the effects are undeniable.

How Do We Know It’s There?

• Distant supernovae looks lighter than it does, meaning the universe growth has sped up
• The cosmic microwave background shows proof of horrible energy in space
• The broad structure of the universe matches the predictions that dark energy exists.

What Is Dark Energy?

While scienctsist don’t have all the answers to this, here are some possibilites 

Vacuum Energy: A attribute of empty space that makes a steady force
A New Force of Nature: Scientists think that dark energy could be a new fundamental force
A Breakdown in Einstein’s Equations: What if our thinking of gravity isn’t complete

But, no matter how we look at it, dark energy is one of the biggest mysteries in cosmology, and answering it might change everything on how we understand the laws of the universe.

How Do Scientists Study Dark Matter & Dark Energy?

Although, we can’t see dark matter and dark energy, scientists are busy working to study them using tools:

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory (Launching 2025): This is a new telescope designed to map dark matters across the universe

The Euclid Space Telescope (Launched 2023): This is a space mission that focused on revealing mysteries of dark energy

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC): Scientist are breaking particles together to see if they can make dark matter particles

What I Learned This Week

This week, I’ve come to the realization of how little we actually know about the universe. The stars, planets, and galaxies we see display just a small part of the cosmos. Dark matter is holding galaxies together, while dark energy is pushing everything apart. In spite of all of this technological progress, we still have absolutely no idea what these forces are.

Do you think we will ever unlock the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy? Or are these mysteries meant to remain unresolved?

The Mystery of the Universe Expanding

This week, I look at one of the biggest astronomy questions that I’ve always wondered, why is the universe expanding? At the beginning, I picture space as a cold, empty voice, but it turns out that the universe is anything but that. The universe is stretching, growing, and changing every minute. The fact solely opens up a lot of questions.

•  How do we know the universe is expanding?
• What does this actually mean for the future?
• And, really, how big is the universe?

How Do We Really Know The Universe is Expanding?

 

For most people, they thought the universe was everlasing and constant. But this idea was changed in the 1920s when Edwin Hubble an astronomer came into the picutre.

Hubbles Greatest Discoveries

Evidence That the Earth is Stretching?

What is RedShift?

Picture a person honking their car horn as they drive away, the sound the honk makes stretched out and the sound drops. This happens with light, when a galaxy departs, its light stretches, shifting towards the red end of the spectrum, this is called redshift.

The Big Bang Theory & The Cosmic Microwave Background

If space is stretching, it must have started from a single point. This is where the Big Bang Theory comes in. Approximately 13.8 years ago, everything, such as space, time, matter, blow up from unbelieve hot and a dense point.

As the universe cooled off, it let go of the first light ever, a dim light called Cosmic Microwave Background. This light is still traveling across the universe today. How cool is this?

How Big Is the Universe, Really?

Here’s the mind-blowing part:

• The observable universe is around 93 billion light-years
• But it may be much bigger, we just haven’t see the rest of it yet
• Because the universe expands quicker than light can travel, some galaxies are permanently out of reach, and their lights will never get to us
• Cool Tool

A Look Back In Time

The new James Webb Space Telescope gives us a time machine that looks into the past. It’s a powerful camera that captures light from galaxies that were formed billions of years ago, which was not long after Big Bang Theory. 

JWST Gallery

JWST Explainer Video

The pictures and video  let scientists explore how fast the universe has actually been growing, and what the universe looks like in its cosmic childhood.

What I Learned This Week

The universe isn’t entirely expanding, it’s running outward, faster than we can picture. What started as a tiny spark is now a sprawling cosmic web crossing billions of light-years. It’s beautiful, and it’s just the star of what we can explore.

What Is a Wormhole Exactly?

A wormhole is a hypothetical spacetime pathway through spacetime that can connect two distant points in the universe.

Here’s an easy way to look at it:

• Picture spacetime as a flat piece of paper.
• You want the flat piece of paper to go from Point A to Point B.
• Usually, you would travel across the piece of paper.

But, if you fold the paper in half so that Point A and Point B touch, you can jump across, that would be a wormhole!

But here’s the real catch:  Wormholes would most likely collapse immediately, unless it was held open by something called negative energy, which we have explored as of yet!

Learn More:

Are wormholes real?

What are wormholes?

Can Wormholes Be Used for Time Travel?

This is where things get super crazy! Some physicists believe that if one of a wormhole moves almost at the speed of light, time would slow down for that end due to time dilation. This would mean if a traveler that was entering one end might come out the other end at an earlier time, pretty much travelling back in time.

For a better explanation about this watch this video

Is It Possible to Time Travel? 

Time travel actually happens! Astronauts on fast-moving spaceships often experience time more slowly than us on Earth!
We’ve tested time travel using atomic clocks in aircrafts.
⏱️ This is expected to relativity when time moves slower the faster you go.

Can You Travel To The Past?

The challenge? Paradoxes.

Example: What would happen if you went back in time to stop your grandma and grandpa from meeting each other? Scientists called this the Grandfather Paradox, it’s one of the reasons backwards time travel remains undetermined.

 

What I Learned This Week:

This week has shown me that wormholes and time travel aren’t just cinematic artistry, they come from real physics! 

Just because something is numerically feasible doesn’t mean it does exist in real life! 

The websites and the video made these ideas feel more understandable, and even more fun to learn about! I’m starting to think sci-fi might be closer to science than I really thought!

 

Questions To Wonder About:

• If wormholes were real and stable where would you travel?
  If you were able to send a message to the future or past through a wormhole, what would you say?

 

       

During this week, I look at one of the universe’s most mysterious puzzles, black holes. I used to think black holes were just giant vacuums (LOL), I thought wrong! It turns out they’re more than just giant vacuums! 

Hold on… What is a Black Hole?

A black hole forms when a huge star falls under its own gravity, creating a purpose with gravity that’s so strong, not even light can escape! 

Here are 3 types of black holes you should know:
Stellar Black Holes: They’re born from falling stars
Supermassive Black Holes: Millions – billions of times the Sun’s mass, is usually hanging at the galaxy centers
Primordial Black Holes: Potential remain from  the earlier universe, this is still a cosmic question

Black Holes Explained

Bending Space: 

I read this engaging article about how black holes warp the fabric of spacetime, it’s kind of like putting a bowling ball on a trampoline.  If something gets near, it crosses the event horizon, to the point of no return. After that… well, see you never! Not even light could bounce back!

I listened to a podcast, which then brought science to life through the sound and narration. They talked about how time slows down near a black hole and how much gravity changes everything, even the rules of physics start to shake. 

To end things off, I also watched a video, it showed how scientists utilize math to get a complete understanding to know what happens near these cosmic giants. This video is super visualizing and way less perplexing than it seemed it was.

How Do We Learn Something That’s Invisible?

While black holes don’t release light, astronomers follow the stars and gas surrounding them. When stars circuit something unseeable, fast, and very big, it’s usually a black hole.

Did You Know? Black holes can disappear over time through something that’s called Hawking Radiation. Yes, they can actually disappear. 

What I Learned This Week:

Black holes aren’t sci-fi, but they’re physics in its crazy form. What helped me get a better understanding of black holes was using a mix of videos with visuals, articles, and podcasts. The science then clicked when I could see and hear these concepts, not just read all about them.