Astrophysics graduate student, Andrealuna Pizzetti is scheduled to give a talk about one of her favorite subjects–the moon–at TEDxMirandola in Italy this Saturday, June 24! Pizzetti will discuss how the world, society, and technology would look if the moon were destroyed or had never formed.
“If you think about the 1950s and the ‘60s, everyone wanted to go to the moon. So, if there was no moon, how would that have looked?” asked Pizzetti, “How much different would the Space Force and our upcoming space missions look if we had never been to the moon?”
Pizzetti will dive deep into these questions, using the knowledge she has gained from following her passion for the stars.
After earning her bachelor’s degree at the University of Bologna, Pizzetti decided to pursue her doctorate in physics at Clemson under her adviser, Dr. Marco Ajello to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an astronomer. “When you do a Ph.D., you really need to love what you’re doing,” she said. “Since I was a kid, I’ve always been in love with astronomy.”
When she was 10, Pizzetti got her first astronomy book, and her mom took her to the local observatory. Eventually, she began to volunteer at that same observatory. “For 12 years before coming to the U.S., I used to volunteer in the local observatory. That’s a place where I feel happy, and when I talk about stars and what you see in the sky.”
Pizzetti still has a passion for astrophysics outreach. She is part of a YouTube channel called On Planet Nine. The channel breaks down astrophysical topics and explains them for all people to learn. “I can explain to you the same phenomena with equations, but also with words and in different ways so that you can understand,” Pizzetti said.
Her TEDx talk is another opportunity for Pizzetti to talk about what she loves and to educate people through an accessible platform. She strives to make intimidating topics like astronomy and physics something everyone can learn about. “Everyone always tells me, ‘Oh, you must be a genius because you do astrophysics.’ It’s like, ‘No, that’s not true. I’m just a normal person.’” Pizzetti’s love for the stars and for teaching people about them fuels her ambition to become an educator one day. “You just need to find the right language to explain to people even the most difficult thing, and that’s something I’ve always loved to do,” she said.
Adapted from Clemson News.
