Becoming a star, two ways

 kw: book reviews, nonfiction, astronomy, astrophysics, memoirs

Sarafina had a tough row to hoe, and has done better than even she expected. If she hasn't already (by this date in July 2023) received her PhD, I expect she soon will, to become Dr. Sarafina El-Badry Nance. In her memoir, Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark, she presents herself to us as one seeking to know the universe as a way to know herself. The memoir is a catharsis for her.

Each chapter begins with a nugget of astronomical or astrophysical understanding, which then leads to events in her life, some of them happy, many of them painful, even agonizing. She is studious, so her response to her parents' unhappy marriage was to work herself practically to death. She survived a year or so with a very abusive boyfriend, blaming herself for his failures, which all too many abused women do. Her father had cancer treatment (it seems he has so far survived, although it was advanced), which led to genetic testing for him, which led to genetic testing for her: she found she was at great risk of breast cancer, and no matter what she did with her breasts, she would have to monitor several potential risks frequently. She chose total removal and reconstruction (something I recall that the actress Angelina Jolie also chose…and so did a friend of ours for similar reasons, but after already having one lumpectomy). Amidst all that, she was, by the end of the book, close to completing her doctorate in Astrophysics.

She had happy moments and happy periods. Her father encouraged her love of astronomy, and encouraged her to ignore naysayers (She reports on several. Be careful what you say to children; you can destroy them needlessly). She fondly recalls sitting outside with him just to watch the sky. She had women friends, and a supportive therapist or two, at key moments in her life. She prevailed.

She studies supernovae (AKA supernovas). Her big discovery so far relates to determining that large amounts of hydrogen remain in many supernovae, between a few percent and 30% of the stars' masses. She doesn't mention whether these are Type 2 or Type 1a, which I wish she had mentioned (Type 1a supernovae provide the key bit of data underlying the hypothesis of Dark Energy. According to that, about 75% of the mass/energy of the entire universe is bound up in Dark Energy, if it exists. I happen to think this proportion, if it is not zero, is greatly exaggerated.).

As a rising star in the astrophysics community, she also became a star in the community of cancer survivors. She researched her genetic condition and her options relentlessly, and reported her Odyssey on social media. Pushing aside a few trolls, she had enormous positive feedback from women who appreciated her work and the knowledge she was able to confer to them.

This book is most touching, incredibly illuminating (in sundry ways), and a painful joy to read.