Tuesday, January 12, 2016

JMU's presence at the 227th American Astronomical Society Meeting


The Winter meeting of this year's American Astronomical Society (AAS), the 227th overall,  held last week in Kissimmee, Fl, witnessed the most significant JMU presence yet, featuring five members of our Physics and Astronomy Department:  two of our undergraduate students, Catherine Witherspoon and Jason Ferguson, along with Anca Constantin, Keigo Fukumura, and Sean Scully (faculty).

The winter AAS meetings are the largest gathering of american astronomers anywhere, and the AAS refers to it as the "superbowl of astronomy."  Besides multiple and parallel science sessions, as well as workshops and splinter meetings, at these meetings official AAS business happens, prizes are awarded, job interviews are held, textbooks and telescope equipment are presented and purchased, collaborations are forged, and some of the biggest announcements in astronomy are made.

Basically, the pulse of the Universe is taken, one talk or poster at a time.
Work presented by JMU affiliates and their collaborators include new results on:


1. Searching for signatures of black hole accretion in centers of
bulgeless galaxies using new data from the Large Binocular Telescope


2. Understanding the potential links between the water megamaser
activity and nuclear galactic obscuration using data from the
Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer


3. The nature of the ultraviolet and X-ray absorbers present around
supermassive black holes, via novel modeling of the global magnetic
fields originating from the black hole accretion disk 


4. The mid and far infrared luminosity density and the Gamma-ray
opacity of the universe



Catherine and Jason's work has been supported by the 4-VA Collaborative at James Madison University, University of Virginia/NRAO, and George Mason University.  

Catherine's thoughts on her first AAS meeting: one of the best parts of the meeting was the Annie Jump Cannon Award talk about the dynamics of planets, stars, and black holes in triple systems. The speaker made most of her work understandable even to the lowly undergraduate, which was nice because there were some talks where I barely understood more than a few sentences at a time. However, the presentations opened up my eyes to entirely new areas of astronomy that I didn’t know existed and the other astronomers were always willing to chat with me about their research as well as my own research. This AAS meeting was an amazing experience that I hope to have again in the future.

And here are Jason's: an inspirational experience. I had the chance to meet many important astrophysicists from all over the USA including from the NRAO and NASA. I learned about what has been discovered this past year by the astronomical community as well as what is in store for the future. I presented my own research at a poster session during the conference, and I was able to do invaluable networking with other conference goers. There was an undergraduate session where I acquired information about various graduate school programs and internship opportunities. I am so excited for my next AAS!




Saturday, January 09, 2016

Nuclear Science Summer School for Undergraduate Students at Michigan State University


Michigan State University will be hosting the 1st Nuclear Science Summer School (NS3) during the period of May 16-21, 2016!

NS3 is a summer school for undergraduate students that aims to introduce the participants to the field of nuclear science. NS3 will offer lectures and hands'on activities covering selected nuclear science topics and providing an overview of the field. The school activities will take place at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and will include lectures by local and visiting researchers, nuclear physics labs, a tour of the facility, discussions with graduate students and faculty, and social events. 

Who can apply
NS3 invites applications from Physics Majors in US institutions. Prerequisites are Calculus, Introductory Physics I (Mechanics and Waves), Introductory Physics II (Electricity, Magnetism, Optics) and preferably Modern Physics. Students should be at their second or third year of study at the time of application. Preference will be given to students who have limited opportunity at their home institution to attend a Nuclear Physics Class or Nuclear Physics Lab class. Applications from women and students from underrepresented minorities are strongly encouraged. 

Cost
Participation in NS3 is funded by the National Science Foundation and NSCL. Local expenses (accommodation and meals) will be provided. In addition, participants will receive up to $500 (actual cost) towards their travel to and from MSU.


Application Deadline: February 15, 2016 

For more information please visit the NS3 website: http://nscl.msu.edu/researchers/NS3.html or contact the NS3 organizers at: ns3@nscl.msu.edu