My name is Zach Hemler, and I’m an aspiring Astronomy & Astrophysics major at Penn State. I grew up in a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania called New Cumberland. When I was a very young, my parents would take me to the kid’s section of the New Cumberland Library almost every day, and I read everything I could manage for hours. During one of these reading binges, I stumbled upon my first science book. The book’s explanations for the things I saw astounded me, and the more the book explained, the more questions I had. Anyone who knew me at this time in my life was generally annoyed by me, solely because of my relentless questioning. My parents, who were forced to deal with me, were stumped by sincere questions like, “What if the Earth was a triangle?” or “Why did the Sun happen?”. I wanted to understand everything. I still do.

Over the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of taking a PSU honors English class called Rhetoric & Civic Life. While, as with any class, there are basic guidelines behind our projects and activities, this course gives students a great deal of freedom to write and speak about whatever it is that they find exciting and important. This website, “Planet Zach”, is a compilation of some of the best work I’ve done for RCL, and reveals my interests: The wonders of our universe, and humanity sustaining itself so we can appreciate these wonders indefinitely. Hopefully by reading and listening to a few of my papers, blog posts, and podcasts, some of my passion for these topics will rub off on you. Enjoy.