Benny Weng ’22

University of Victoria, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Canada

This summer, I worked as a research assistant in the joint Department of Physics and Astronomy in University of Victoria in BC, Canada. I was involved particularly in the Search for White-dwarf Eclipsing Exo-Planet (SWEEP) program, an observation heavy program that probe older white dwarf populations with V-band magnitude of ~17 mag. We looked for planetary transit signals suggesting existence of white dwarf orbiting exoplanets, which would shed some light on what will happen after the Sun goes through the red-giant expansion phase. As one of the founding co-investigators of the research program, my job was to construct an end-to-end automated pipeline with several functions, including but not limited to image reduction, catalog sorting, time series calibration, and preliminary analysis of the features of the light curves.

My mentor, Dr. Karun Thanjavur and Professor Ruobing Dong, were extremely helpful and very responsible scholars. I am truly grateful to them, not only because they were able to help me understand the advanced and highly technical content in the field, as they were very patient to my questions and supportive to my explorations, but also because they really trusted my work, my findings, and my instinct. As I was pushing into uncharted fields in the skies and in the literature, my opinions were respected, and my preliminary findings were valued. My confidence was truly cultivated, as my passion for the field truly ignited.

A general sentiment regarding astronomy and astrophysics is that researchers are dealing with something that is well beyond the scope of human beings, and that these quests are very rarely related to our everyday life. While that is not untrue to a certain extent, I will need to disagree with the statement to a large extent. I have truly come to appreciate human’s persistent quest upon the universe, their resilience, creativity, curiosity, and their capacity to work together as a unified whole—these elements truly touched me; they are in accord with the values that I have held most dear to myself, and being part of one such selfless quest upon our final frontier has been beautiful and inspiring. If there is anything that puts us in perspective, that teaches us to respect the world we live in, that bring us together to conquer hardships as a unity, it will be astronomy and astrophysics. Indeed, astrophysics seems to be one of the very few hard sciences where human seem to be able to drop their entrenched and stubborn prejudices against each other and work together. We realize how small and insignificant we are in the larger picture, but also how capable and great we are as a whole in terms of unveiling the mysteries of the universe, and such power and capacity will only be achieved if we work regardless of race, nationality, gender, and many more arbitrary confinements. Also, looking at the sky has always put human beings in fascination ever since the beginning of our civilization. This fascination has indeed persisted in our being, and it has served its role in attracting new generations into the sciences.

It has been long since I considered majoring in astrophysics, and this internship experience truly solidified my conviction. First, I really got to know my deep fascination with academic research. There really is not anything quite like it—as a researcher, I am always faced with something unknown and new, and cracking these unsolved mysteries is like an addiction. One can easily miss meals and sleep for the continued sustenance for this addiction, as one looks for answers in the least likely parameters of a collective. It is indeed a desperation that needs to be consoled, a thirst that needs to be satisfied, a passion of the most visceral kind that must manifest in something palpable and concrete. It is something I will like to be doing for the rest of my life, in and out of Williams. As for astrophysics, it has really consolidated my fascination for the night skies from some amorphous form into something concrete and clear, as I was gaining knowledge of the celeste and the worlds beyond. I have been familiarizing myself with technical skills such as coding, statistical analysis, image reduction and calibration etc., that will surely further my quest in the astrophysical sciences. Further, as I started doing literature review and Latex paper writing, I am familiarizing myself with the ways in the academia, which will be of great help to my future career.

I would like to express my appreciation to the Estate of James Kellogg for the generosity of this internship. This opportunity has truly helped me study a deep fascination of mine ever since I was a child. It will not be an exaggeration to say that this experience has pulled me closer to my dream, as it helped me recognize my role as a citizen and a human being. It has also exemplified the values that I believe in and hold most dear, as I will be sure to contribute my share as I grow to future generations of Williams students and young people with dream and passion.