Week 0
March 17, 2023
Welcome to my Senior Project blog! My name is Maren Willard, and I have been going to BASIS Independent Brooklyn since 5th grade. For my Senior Project, I am diving into exoplanet research to discover new planets in our universe and develop a deeper understanding of the path that future exploration will take. I have always been passionate about physics and space, and I am excited to further my knowledge. The ultimate goal of this project is to graph and discover a new exoplanet using NASA telescope data and the transit method of exoplanet detection. In order to do so, I am working with Dr. Angelle Tanner, a professor at Mississippi State, along with NASA’s Exoplanet watch to access the telescope archives, to develop a series of light curves with the data, and confirm the existence of new planets. Exoplanet research is vital to directing new telescopes with targeted data, discovering extraterrestrial life, and truly understanding our universe. At the end of the project, I will hopefully produce proof of a new planet as well as a research paper on my findings. For more information please click here. Thank you for reading my blog, and stay tuned for more updates!