My first memory of astronomy was when I was 5 years old I was lying in the snow here in Sweden watching the stars. That's when my interest in astronomy started. I was trying to get my dad to buy me a telescope, but he never did. He thought that I was going to keep up my interest for a couple of weeks and then become fed up with it.
My interest for astronomy never died. My dad worked as a civil engineer at Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and he taught me physics at a very early stage in life. That's probably the reason for me studying physics today: The more you know about a subject the more fun it usually gets. But astrophysics, I don't know how I ended up with that. It must have been these nights when I was lying in the snow watching the night sky. I have always been curious about astronomy, but my dad always told me not to educate myself in that subject. Astronomy = no job and low salary. Probably true, but no matter how I tried not to get stuck with astronomy I just couldn't resist.
When I was about 12 years old I put all the astronomy articles I could find into a folder. When I was 16 years old I often watched the night sky, but never so my friends could see me. I was too cool to be considered a geek. When I was 18 I wrote a paper about the Big Bang theory to complete my upper secondary education. After that I created my webpage, AstronomiGuiden, which is now probably the largest homepage for amateur astronomers in Sweden. I started to work as a salesman but got fed up with that and that's when I started my University education in math, physics and astrophysics.
Now, I'm almost finished with my master's degree and once again I'm standing on the verge to something new, a PhD. Do I really wanna do this? The answer is clear: Of course! Am I smart enough? I hope so... I have to admit it's kinda a scary, but my entire life has been about astronomy so this is probably something I'm supposed to do. My interest is too strong and will pull me back to astronomy if I try to resist.
But like a PhD isn't enough. In the middle of this I've decided to apply in Australia. The professors at the astrophysics department in Uppsala say that I'm welcome to do my PhD there and one professor at the University of Stockholm said the same thing. But noooo, I'm gonna go to a country where no one knows about me. Why take the easy road? Well, I hope this works out well in the end!
Well, today I realized that an astronomy club has sponsored my homepage with a kinda large amount of money. Yay! That is great and now I can hire someone to work with the website. Awsome!
Are you interested in astronomy?
Posted by
Åsa Karlsson
| Courses I've studied at Uppsala University Math Introduction to Mathematics 3 points Algebra MN1 7,5 points Analysis MN1 15 points Linear Algebra MN1 7,5 points Analysis MN2 15 points Fourier Analysis with Applications 7,5 points ---------------------------------------------------- Math total: 55,5 points (60 points = 1 year) Computing Use of MATLAB 7,5 points Scientific Computing NV1 7,5 points ---------------------------------------------------- Computing total: 15,0 points (60 points = 1 year) Physics Science in Society MN1 7,5 points Quantum Physics and Astrophysics 9 points Mechanics MN1 7,5 points Mechanics MN2 7,5 points Wave Physics NV1 7,5 points Mathematical Methods of Physics NV1 7,5 points Electromagnetism MN1 7,5 points Solid State Physics MN1 7,5 point Thermodynamics MN1 7,5 points Statistical Mechanics MN1 7,5 points Theory of Special Relativity 4,5 points Quantum Mechanics MN1 7,5 points Electromagnetic field theory MN1 7,5 points ---------------------------------------------------- Physics total: 96,0 points (60 points = 1 year) Astrophysics The structure of the Universe 7,5 points Introduction to Astronomy 7,5 points Principles of Astronomy MN1 7,5 points Astrophysics II 5 points Physics of the Planetary System 10 points Radiation processes in Astrophysics 10 points Galaxies 10 points Cosmology 10 points Dynamical processes in astrophysics 10 points Celestial Mechanics 5 points Observational Astrophysics I 5 points Observational Astrophysics II 10 points ---------------------------------------------------- Astrophysics total: 97,5 points (60 points = 1 year) Thesis Image reduction and dust map construction of the local galaxy UGC08012 by using NOT observations | bryt | About Uppsala University Uppsala University (Swedish: Uppsala Universitet) is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded as early as 1477, it is the oldest such institution in the Nordic countries, and for centuries has been one of Europe's most renowned seats of learning. One of the main centres of higher education in Europe, the university rose to pronounced significance during the rise of Sweden as a Great Power at the end of the 16th century and was then given a relative financial stability with the large donation of King Gustavus Adolphus in the early 17th century. Uppsala also has an important historical place in Swedish national culture, identity and for the Swedish establishment: in historiography, literature, politics, and music. Many aspects of Swedish academic culture in general, such as the white student cap, originated in Uppsala. It shares some peculiarities, such as the student nation system, with Lund University and the University of Helsinki. Uppsala belongs to the Coimbra Group of European universities. The university has nine faculties distributed over three 'disciplinary domains'. It has about 40,000 students (20 000 full-time eq.), and about 2,000 doctoral students. It has a teaching staff of 4,000 (part-time and full-time) out of a total of 6,000 employees. Of its annual turnover of around 4.3 billion SEK (approx. 715 million USD), approximately 60% goes to graduate studies and research. Architecturally, Uppsala University has traditionally had a strong presence in the area around the cathedral on the western side of the River Fyris. Despite some more contemporary building developments further away from the centre, Uppsala's historic centre continues to be dominated by the presence of the university. Source: Wikipedia |
Newspapers I've been in Newspaper: Populär Astronomi, Sep 2009, No 3, Year 10, Page 22 Language: Swedish About: My homepage, my education and astronomy interest, and me moving to Australia. Pages: 4 Newspaper: Upsala Nya Tidning, Dec 7 2008, B6 Language: Swedish About: My homepage and my astronomy interest Pages: 4 | bryt | Articles I've written Popular scientific Newspaper: Populär Astronomi, Sep 2009, No 3, Year 10, Page 30 Language: Swedish Swedish title: Behövs verkligen mörk materia? English title: Do we really need dark matter? About: The MOND theory. Pages: 4 Popular scientific Newspaper: Populär Astronomi, Sep 2008, No 3, Year 9, Page 32 Language: Swedish Swedish title: Solens nya innehållslista English title: The Sun's new content list About: The chemical abundances in the Sun according to Martin Asplund et al. Pages: 4 |
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