Senior Spotlight: Genesis Ocon-Rosario
January 28, 2022
We’re in our second semester of this school year and seniors are still working hard on their senior projects! Juniors might want to start thinking about their projects around now so the decision doesn’t sneak up. The possibilities are endless and each project is unique to every student. In this article, we’ll take a look at Genesis Ocon-Rosario’s senior project.
Ocon-Rosario’s project takes us to outer space! The driving question behind her project is “Through moon observation and calculation, how can I prove that gravity is both the weakest force and most important in our universe?”
To prove that gravity is both one of the weakest and most important force in the universe, she observes Earth’s moon and Jupiter most nights.
Even on cloudy nights, she works on calculations using her observations to discover Earth’s and Jupiter’s masses. These calculations then help her figure out the sidereal and orbital periods of both. All this ties back to gravity and how it creates life as we know it.
Ocon-Rosario works closely with Dr. Susan D’Amato, a retired physics professor from Furman University. She uses her extensive astronomy knowledge to helps Ocon-Rosario with her calculations and application of her findings.
“My favorite part has been learning how to apply data that I’ve collected myself into formulas and figuring out things like the Earth’s mass,” Ocon-Rosario says. “It’s crazy to me how that could be possible just by observing the position of the moon but here we are.”
We wish the best of luck to Genesis Ocon-Rosario as she continues with her project!
