Megan Li

Third-year Physics/Astrophysics major, Muir College

What research programs have you been a part of?

TRELS Fall 2020 & Spring 2021, FMP 2020.

Presentation Title & Faculty Mentor?

My presentation is "Active Galactic Nuclei," and my mentor is Dr. Karin Sandstrom.

What has been the most surprising/strange thing you've discovered about your research topic? 

The most surprising thing that I've encountered was science that wasn't quite finished. In classes, I only hear about theories and facts that have been proven many times over. When I test them in the lab, there are expected (and correct) results. However, in research, questions remain unanswered, and I have the privilege of trying to answer them. One example of this was the galaxy NGC5253 (PGC48334) which does not yet have a definite answer as to whether or not it has an active galactic nucleus. In my very humble opinion, it does, and its center is just as active as the conversation surrounding it.