Astrophysics and Astronomy, MS postgraduate personal statement example

Personal statement example

The secondary eclipse was shallower than my model said it should be. In the second term of my final undergraduate year I had downloaded a TESS light curve for a detached eclipsing binary from the public archive, cleaned it with the lightkurve package and fitted it with a simple model of two spheres. The primary eclipse fitted well. The secondary one did not, and for a week I assumed I had made a coding error. Eventually, working back through the geometry with my supervisor, I realised I had fixed the orbit as circular. Once I allowed a small eccentricity, the timing of the secondary eclipse moved away from phase 0.5 and the fit improved. That fix taught me less than the week of looking did. It showed me that astrophysics often begins with a measured number that refuses to agree, and I want to spend more of my time where that happens.

The project covered six systems selected from a published catalogue. For each, I used a box least squares periodogram to confirm the period, then fitted eclipse depths and durations to estimate radius ratios and the ratio of surface brightnesses. I did not attempt to derive absolute masses, which would have needed radial velocity data I did not have, but I compared my radius ratios with literature values and discussed where the disagreement was larger than my uncertainties. Two systems showed spot-like modulation outside eclipse, which I removed with a smoothing filter. I said in my report that this choice could bias the eclipse depths, and I tested it by varying the filter width. The project gained a first-class mark, but the main thing I took from it was a working habit: write down every assumption, then try to break it.

My degree gave me the foundations I need. Modules in electromagnetism, quantum mechanics and statistical physics were demanding, and I did best in an optional astrophysics course covering stellar structure, where I enjoyed seeing how the equations of hydrostatic equilibrium and energy transport fit together into the main sequence. Outside lectures I worked through parts of Carroll and Ostlie's An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, especially the chapters on binary stars, because I wanted to understand why eclipsing systems have been so valuable for measuring stellar masses and radii. My programming started with Python in a first-year lab and grew mostly through the project. I would now like a more formal grounding in numerical methods and Bayesian fitting.

Since graduating I have worked four days a week in a bicycle repair shop. Most of the job is undramatic: replacing chains, bleeding hydraulic brakes, explaining to customers why a cheap repair now may cost more later. I have become patient with problems that have several possible causes, and I can explain technical things plainly to people who just want to get to work. On Saturdays I help my uncle on his fruit and vegetable stall, which means early starts, quick mental arithmetic and lifting crates in the rain. Neither job is about stars, but both have kept me organised and dependable.

I also ring bells at my local church. Change ringing is a method-based activity in which each bell follows a set pattern of positions, and learning Plain Bob Doubles took me most of a winter. I enjoy it because it rewards concentration and depends on everyone keeping time together.

At postgraduate level I hope to develop my interest in stellar astrophysics, particularly binary stars and what precise photometry can reveal about stellar evolution, while staying open to related areas such as exoplanet transits, which use many of the same techniques. I would like to learn spectroscopic analysis so that I can combine light curves with radial velocities and ask fuller questions. I am ready for the step up in independence a master's requires, and I want to keep chasing the shallow eclipses that do not fit.