The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has finally reached its orbit at Lagrange point 2. There it will stay in the shadow of Earth to take pictures. Now these won’t be ordinary pictures, while the Hubble Space Telescope has been taking photos in the visible light spectrum, the light we can see, the JWST will be taking photos in the ultraviolet spectrum. This will allow us to effectively see through any sort of cosmic clouds which have previously blocked our view. The photos will be taken in the ultraviolet, translated into black and white, and then colorized to give us some of the most incredible pictures we have ever seen. The telescope can’t take photos right away though, it will take about six months to cool (it needs to be -233 C to detect ultraviolet light) calibrate, and undergo incredible amounts of testing. When photos begin to be taken and released our understanding of our universe as we know it may very well be flipped on its head.
Well, some debris might muck up the International Space Station. The Russians did a counter-satellite missile test, destroying one of their own satellites. While this practice is not uncommon, as it is done by many countries including the United States, most of the time it is done to satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Russia, however, destroyed a satellite in a much higher orbit, causing many large pieces of trackable debris, though these are not the real danger, it also created thousands of small untrackable pieces headed straight to the ISS. The astronauts onboard the ISS had to go into the small escape capsules on the station and wait until the ISS was out of the debris field. This has caused massive uproar amongst countries that have satellites in Earth’s orbit. It has not only put experiment and surveillance satellites at risk, but it also puts the lives of the entire crew of the ISS into harm’s way. As of today, the majority of the debris has fallen into Earth’s atmosphere and burned up leaving the ISS in the clear and allowing the crew to continue their duties on the station.
So, as many of you already know, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched a couple weeks ago. Now that might not seem like such a crazy thing, but it most definitely is. This telescope is the most complex telescope humankind has produced to date, it has the ability (hopefully) to see the first light emitted from the Big Bang 13 billion years ago. Now that fact is confusing to some, how can we see back in time? Well, basically, light has a speed of 299 792 458 m / s to be exact (approximately 670616629 mph). We measure this in terms of distance, as lightyears. Say a super bright lightbulb is turned on somewhere ten light-years from earth, it would take ten years for the light to reach us so that we could see it. Now if we take that principle and scale it up, the further we look, the longer it’s taking for us to see that light, so if we look at something 13 billion lightyears away, then we are seeing 13 billion years in the past, and since the universe is constantly expanding finding something 13 billion lightyears away is not very difficult. Anyway back to JWST, it will be in an orbit we have called “L2” which is just behind the Earth so it will constantly be in Earth’s shadow, it will be 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the earth, which is far past the moon. From that orbit, it will take pictures. A lot of pictures. Of course, our time with the JWST is limited so NASA has allocated certain hours for researchers for an approved project. This telescope will bring in a new era of research, we may learn the origins of the universe, and if not we will still learn so many things from this telescope. Things like planets with potential life, we will learn about the formation of galaxies, and many many more things. I am excited to see the pictures this incredible telescope will take.
As of last week, I have now gotten covid two consecutive winter breaks. My take on Covid, at least how it affects me, is that it is more of an inconvenience than anything.
Not being able to taste sucks. It makes food borderline unenjoyable. I have been postmating food from all over trying to get a taste of something, but it all tastes like nothing. It straight-up sucks.
Other than that, I am congested and whatever, which isn’t too bad at this point, and I have brain fog. Maybe I don’t have brain fog but it is a solid excuse to procrastinate.
The most annoying parts are not being able to see my friends, play soccer, or stay caught up on school because I have a LAUNDRY LIST of shit to do, half of which I don’t even understand.
I am kind of concerned about OVS’s covid approach. Without guidelines changing, I predict that school will just become a place where the new variant spreads semi-easily. I hope that school provides online as an option at least, as leaving students who are sick in the dark about their schoolwork makes it very difficult to keep up, and if I hadn’t already had covid I would want to have the option to not have to go to school and get covid.
So, as of right now my test results haven’t come back, but I’m pretty sure I have covid. My mom and dad both came back positive when they were tested, and seeing as I have been quite sick over the last week I’m pretty damn sure its covid. My mom is holding out hope that I’m negative so I can go to school, but I’m less optimistic. The actual sickness hasn’t been all that bad most of the time. The worst part for me are the headaches and the dizziness. Plus I’ve had these weird things I call “brain shocks” that I normally get when I miss my meds. I really don’t know how to describe them other than brain shocks. Thats like what they are, they suck ass though. When I was taking a different medication, Pristyq, they would get so bad that I would blink and get them. They suck, a lot. Anyway, I’m hoping I can go to school soon but I kinda doubt it. I probably won’t be back till next week, which sucks because I’m gonna get behind in AP chem and that is not good at all. Luckily it gives me more time to work on my research paper for english that I still have not finished. Anyway, long story short, don’t get covid, its not a vibe.
I understand that the school gym is not perfect like the gym from other schools because of Thomas Fire. Part of our campus has been burned, therefore, our gym has to move out to the small place behind the bathroom so we have enough room for classes. The mud covers all the equipment in the gym and the smell of the rusted dumbbell makes the atmosphere in the gym more like a “real” gym. However, the maintenance is really bad, the number of people and the direct sun cause all the equipment to rust and break. Last week, one of my friends went to the gym and he literally got hurt when doing the bench press; the bracket of the bench broke. Although weightlifting is not a competitive sport like basketball and soccer, the school should be still taking the weight lifter seriously. Not many students want to become a bodybuilder, but there are a few who are serious about fitness.
The purpose of doing fitness is not only want to have a good body shape but also to build a good lifestyle; a healthy lifestyle. It’s important to have a regular routine of eating, sleeping, and working out. Eating too much protein powder and meat will only break your body, therefore, finding the balance of eating vegetables and meat is really important to become healthier and stronger. The only way to get stronger is to keep working out, and the use of having a long good sleep is to let the muscle rest and let it rebuild to a stronger muscle.
If you are curious about my workout routine here it is:
So ya boi was driving to get lunch during his robotics meet, and basically he slid out and hit a pole. He all good tho so like we chillin but the car is not chillin. There was a lot of oil and transmission fluid leaking and power steering fluid all over the place. But it might not be super bad because the side that hit the pole is the one with all the fluid tanks so I guess we’ll see.
Technically the computer isn’t in my backpack (because I’m typing on it currently) but I packed it this morning so it counts. I have a either 2017 or 2018 (not sure) MacBook Air and it’s covered in stickers. My charger is also in my backpack. It’s the old kind that attaches magnetically and it’s kinda wide.
I always have my main binder in my backpack because I keep most of my papers in there. I have dividers for each subject and an extra for my English essays. The binder is green and it’s like 2 inches thick I think.
My Spanish Binder
I have a separate binder for Spanish because my teacher requires it. It’s purple and an inch and a half thick.
My Subject Notebooks
The academic classes I have today are journalism, math, and Spanish. I also have my chemistry notebook because I’m gonna do the homework during my study hall. My journalism notebook is purple, my math one is orange, my Spanish one is blue, and my chemistry one is yellow. I’m aware that my color choices might be controversial. Honestly, I just randomly assigned the colors at the beginning of the year. I kinda regret that choice now, but I deal with it.
My Pencil Pouch
My beloved pencil pouch has seen all of high school with me. One of my mom’s friends gave it to me in eighth grade. I keep a phone charger, hand lotion, chapstick, pencil lead, a fidget toy that’s a stick with glitter in it, a bit of trash, a Sharpie, an eraser, several black pens, lots of colored pens, a few highlighters, and my one favorite mechanical pencil in it. It’s pretty nifty.
My Glasses
I have reading glasses that are blue-light blockers. The frames are dark blue and white. They’re RayBan.
I always bring some manga with me if I know I have a free block or study hall and don’t have a ton of work to do. I’m working on volumes 7 and 24 right now. I have about 11 My Hero Academia manga and these are the last two I haven’t finished yet. I’m looking forward to getting more manga for Christmas.
My trusty TI-84 Plus CE always stays in my backpack. I’ve had it since last year. It’s the rose gold edition.
Here’s a random picture I found of the same kind of calculator I have.
Tissues
I have tissues in my backpack because you never know what could go down at school. By that I mean getting a nosebleed or having a bad allergy day.
Some Candy That’s Literally Over Two Months Old
I’m not kidding. I have several packs of M&Ms from the first day of school when all the students got candy thrown at them. I wonder if they’re still intact or if they’ve melted and re-solidified too many times for them to be recognizable.
Some #2 Non-Mechanical Pencils
You never know if you’ll completely forget that you have a huge standardized test, so I have some #2 non-mechanical pencils just in case. I’m always ready to take a PSAT.
A Dinosaur Pop It
He’s a T-Rex and he’s rainbow colored. I got him in France over the summer for like €5. Pretty good deal. He’s very precious to me.
My Rescue Inhaler
I have asthma so I carry a rescue inhaler with me just in case. It’s the blue kind.
A Little Bag of Crystals
Gotta keep the vibes good.
My Afternoon Medication
I take the quick release for my ADHD meds around 2pm. I keep the pill in a little pill holder I got in Barcelona. It has a Gaudí lizard on it.
An Extra Mask
Just in case.
My AirPods
So I don’t get bored during my free block or have to be the person listening to the assignment out loud. They have a turquoise case.
A Cliff Bar
I get hungry sometimes. I like the original chocolate chip kind.
A Pair of Earrings – I Was Wondering Where Those Were
While checking my backpack to make sure I didn’t miss anything, I found my India agate crystal earrings. I haven’t seen those for a few weeks now. Glad I know where they are now.
They’re shaped like this except they’re earrings and they’re dark green.
So my friend and I decided to make a Minecraft server for some school friends.
Photo credit: Google Play
It’s going pretty well except that I cant seem to figure out how to give people permission to do certain things. and some kid accidentally destroyed my villager trading hall. Anyway its pretty cool cause like I just log on and chill. It’s a really good de-stressor after work or school or a particularly bad conversation about some dumb drama or another such emotional topic. I love Minecraft its frickin sick like actually, it’s so nice to have. I know I sound like a nerd but I actually love it. It is so fun and it is just a distraction from everything thats going on you know. I don’t have to sit there with my own thoughts. Anyway, Minecraft is awesome.
So basically after soccer practice the last couple of days; Eugene, Logan, Ben, and Emanuel have been making dumb TikToks. They’re pretty cool, we tried to post one where the camera followed Ben into the bathroom and he started dapping everyone up, except everyone was in weird spots, like Caleb was in the weird corner spot where everyone throws their smelly sh*t, Emanuel was on top of the lockers, I was in a stall barefoot and morgan was “peeing” with his pants at his ankles. Unfortunately, TikTok took it down for violating community guidelines, so the next day we did it again but morgan had his pants on. Anyway, u should follow TikTok the username is ‘lemmelineuupbud” there’s a bunch of videos on there one even has like 20,000 views.
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