Flares, comets, asteroids...

Yes, once again (following event1 and event2), we took Astronomy to the Market. Last Saturday was the first in the new Spring 2012 series to feature safe solar observations, edible comets, asteroid collisions, along with answers, many answers to your questions about the Universe at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market. The plan is to show off our science corner every last Saturday of the month, so be there if the Sun is up and not behind (too many) clouds!

Here are some little snippets of what were we up to:

-watching the solar flares (Nathan DiDomenico at the telescope), most probably related to the raging solar storm that hit us (the Earth) on Jan. 23 (did you feel it? there have been quite a few technical difficulties noted at the radio, as well as some internet glitches):

-the comet making: our own Julia Child (a.k.a. Anthony Saikin) is explaining how the real dirty snow balls (i.e., the real comets) and their beautiful tails can be simulated with just a little passion for cooking and, obviously, for astronomy (not to forget the liquid nitrogen though):

-in case you worried about it, we (mostly Jimmy Corcoran) did catch the Sun on our sunspotter, with and without clouds:

-our new addition to the group, Jonathan Iredell, oversaw the asteroid experiments:

Shanil Virani, Planetarium & Recruiting Director

The Department of Physics and Astronomy is delighted to announce that Shanil Virani will begin his duties full-time as Director of the John C. Wells Planetarium in January 2012. He brings planetarium experience both from Yale University as well as JMU. He is an enthusiastic and capable educator and is already working to move the planetarium program forward.

With our annual planetarium attendance near 10,000, there is already a vibrant program in place. Shanil already has many ideas for extending the reach of our programs both on- and off-campus. If you would like to discuss ideas for how the planetarium as a full-dome video facility, a star projection facility or as a unique auditorium can fit with your educational plans, please contact Shanil at viranisn@jmu.edu.

The Wells Planetarium is an amazing venue with capabilities unique among planetariums of its size. Come join Shanil in exploring the universe with the greater JMU community.


In addition to Shanil's duties in the planetarium, he is also charged with student recruiting. As many know, Dr. Jon Staib continues to orchestrate our winter recruiting/scholarship efforts that have done so much to grow our department into a nationally recognized program. However, since he retired several years ago, we've been living on borrowed time, hiring him part-time to continue with his successful approach.


This spring, Jon and Shanil will work together on the recruiting to pass the baton on to Shanil for the future. This combination of outreach and recruiting put Shanil in a central position to take our department to the next level in our quest to be the biggest, best and most amazing undergraduate physics department in the nation.


Join us in welcoming Shanil to his new position.

Bad Science Movie Night Was A Success!!

This past Thursday evening (April 7), approximately 40 JMU students came out to the Planetarium in Miller Hall to watch "The Core"! The event was clearly popular and a resounding success!! Given that this was the first time such an event was held at the Planetarium, and students really didn't know what to expect, the fact that the Planetarium was effectively at capacity in terms of good seats to watch the movie on the big dome means that students are interested in science and how it is presented in pop culture.

And they didn't leave disappointed. There were no technical glitches with playing the movie, although I had minor issues at the end of the night in getting my powerpoint presentation to display on the dome. :) Nearly half of the audience remained afterwards as we debunked some of the really bad science presented. Every movie requires some suspension of disbelief, and they did get some of the science right, but seriously, where did all the rotational energy of the Core go when it stopped rotating?!?

The night was such a success that we will definitely make this a regular event in the Fall! If you have movie suggestions that you would like to see on the Dome, please email me!

A big thank you to the Dept. of Physics & Astronomy for providing funding for pizza and drinks, and in particular, to Kim Emerson for looking after all the details! The students really appreciated it!

Shanil Virani

Bad Science Night at JMU's Planetarium!

“The only way to save Earth from catastrophe is to drill down to the core and set it spinning again.”

The science in this "so bad it's kind of cool" movie speculates what might happen to us if the Earth lost its magnetic field. It turns out that the magnetic field of the Earth is changing, and the Earth’s magnetic field does protect us from charged particles in the solar wind, but the movie is not scientifically accurate.

We’ll enjoy some snacks and drinks, watch the movie on the big dome in 5.1 surround sound, make fun of the bad Hollywood science, and then talk about what really happens when the Earth’s magnetic field flips over every few million years.

Interested? RSVP: jmu.planetarium@gmail.com

Thursday, April 7 @ 7pm, Miller Hall

Saturday Morning Physics Lecture 5: Let's Get Small: Studies in Nanophysics

This past Saturday, Feb 19, Profs. Chris Hughes, Scott Paulson and Costel Constantin presented the 5th lecture in our Saturday Morning Physics program. The title of their presentation was "Let's Get Small: Studies in Nanophysics". Approximately 50 students, teachers and parents learned about why nanoscience is so exciting! From hands on activities, like DNA origami which everyone loved, to having the 3 faculty members discuss their science, a great time was had by all. Slides and the video podcast of the event will be available on online at our facebook page and the department's SMP Outreach page.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to a close. This Saturday, Feb 26 at 9:30AM, Prof. Brian Utter will present the last talk entitled "Jamming, Avalanches, and Unpredictability: Nonlinear Dynamics and Complexity in Granular Flows". In the afternoon, we will have a special treat as Physics & Astronomy Chair, Prof. Steven Whisnant, will deliver the closing talk entitled "Outlook on College/Career Path in Physics". Please join us!

Saturday Morning Physics Lecture 4: Exploring Fundamental Ideas About How Our World Works: Tools and Challenges

Incredibly, our inaugural Saturday Morning Physics @JMU program is quickly coming to a close! This past Saturday, we had our 4th lecture in our 6 part series. Prof. Kevin Giovanetti gave a great talk on "Exploring Fundamental Ideas About How Our World Works: Tools and Challenges" to a large room of ~50 high school students, their parents, and even a few teachers. :)

You can find a podcast of his talk (don't miss his exploding pop can demonstration!), presentation slides and photos of the event at our Physics & Astronomy SMP Outreach webpage.

This coming Saturday, our 2nd last lecture (!) of the series, will feature Prof. Chris Hughes who will talk to us about Let's Get Small: Studies in Nanophysics. Nanotechnology/Nanoscience is one of the really "hot" areas in Physics today so this promises to be a great talk! Please join us this Saturday (Miller Hall, Room 1101) at 9:30 for Prof. Hughes' talk to learn more about this exciting area of research!

Saturday Morning Physics Lecture 3: A Tale about Fundamental Ingredients of Our Universe and the Interactions Between Them

We are now half way through our inaugural 6-lecture program, Saturday Morning Physics at JMU!!

This morning Prof. Niculescu of JMU Department of Physics and Astronomy talked to us about "Building Blocks for the Budding Scientist: A Tale about Fundamental Ingredients of our Universe and the Interactions Between Them".

Podcast and pictures to follow!

Saturday Morning Physics Lecture 2: Unveiling Star Formation

This past Saturday, Professor Harold Butner gave a fascinating talk entitled "Tracing the Invisible: Star Formation Behind Closed Curtains" as part of the inaugural Saturday Morning Physics program. Well over 50 participants and their parents attended the talk and the accompanying planetarium show "Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity". The lecture was taped and will soon be available to be streamed online at: http://csma31.csm.jmu.edu/physics/Public/saturday.html

You can also find photos from the event and Prof. Butner's slides at the same location.

This upcoming Saturday, Feb. 5, Prof. Gabriel Niculescu will deliver lecture 3 entitled "Building Blocks for the Budding Scientist: A Tale about Fundamental Ingredients of our Universe and the Interactions Between Them". You can find more details about this lecture and the remaining SMP lectures at http://csma31.csm.jmu.edu/physics/Public/saturday.html as well as via our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/SMP.JMU

Shanil Virani

Fall semester has ended

Today was the December graduation ceremony. The house was full and everyone was happy and cheering. Three of our majors graduate this semester and we are indeed proud of them.

We're at the halfway point of the academic year. At this point we pause to catch our breath and celebrate the season with friends and family. We here in the PandA wish everyone a safe and happy holiday.

In January we are all busy again. Dr. Butner has a full schedule for the spring seminar series already. Among the visitors are James Green the Director of Planetary Science at NASA and Gary White the Director of the Society of Physics Students.

The Saturday Morning Physics program promises to be exciting. Enrollment is at capacity (about 60, last check) and we are preparing for bringing the excitement of physics to many students, parents and teachers in the region. The high school physics video contest is well advertised and we already know of several schools in the area that will have students entering.

We have many dedicated students working on research with our faculty preparing for the spring symposium (last year's is here). Several students will also be using the symposium as a preparation for taking their work on the road to regional and national conferences. We will recognize our outstanding students at the annual honors banquet on Wednesday April 6.

The first installment of our planned applied nuclear physics track will be offered this spring. Dr. Banu will teach a new course in introductory nuclear science and a lab to go with it. The new Madison Radiation Laboratory (the old RMH Cancer Center) is slowing beginning to take shape as we start through the licensing process so we can the turn on our linacs and x-ray machine.

A busy year ahead, indeed. Stay tuned as we move forward with these exciting programs.

Oh yeah. I forgot. We will also be teaching.

Video Contest!

Here in the PandA@JMU, we are always excited by new opportunities to learn and explore new physics phenomena. We want to get you excited as well, so we announcing the First Annual Video Contest. This is where you create a video to compete for cash prizes for you and your school. Here's how it works: your team creates an original video which demonstrates and explains something related to physics. You submit it to us for judging and the top 5 teams will be invited to JMU for an awards presentation.  All finalists will receive a monetary prize.

To submit an entry in this contest, a video less than 3 minutes in length must be emailed to Scott Paulson. The deadline for submissions is 9:00 a.m. EST March 14, 2011. All standard video formats will be accepted.

For complete details, visit the video contest web page.

Meet the Scientist: Saturday Morning at JMU

In spring semester 2011, PandA in collaboration with the Office of Outreach and Engagement cordially invite high-school students and secondary-school teachers to take part in an engaging learning outreach program.

Participants will explore fascinating cutting-edge research topics in physics and astronomy in six easy-to-follow scientific lectures. Each lecture is followed by a visit to the John C. Wells Planetarium. There will be interactive quiz sessions... fast-paced competitions using electronic clickers to buzz in with a response. The students will have the chance to win prizes and review what they have learned at the end of each Saturday morning lecture.

Certificates of attendance, College credits for students and CEUs for teachers can be earned.

No pre-requisites necessary! (except for your curiosity…)

Register soon and Start your adventure! For details see our web site for details.

Keep up with the fun and excitement on our SMP facebook page as well.




To go directly to the registration page and bypass the department page, visit official registration page here.

Elkton Middle School Physics Lab! Part II

Execution of the plan:

When we got to Elkton Middle School we started with the Lenz’s tube. Rick tricked the students into thinking that if the person holding the tube was better at sports, than the metal slug would fall slower, which really got the boys upset when they found out the girls were better at sports than them. Of course we had to tell them the truth that he had been switching the metal slug with a magnet, but made a perfect lead into that day’s activities. We then broke the students up into two groups of four where one group would be building and experimenting with electromagnets and the other group would be doing Galileo’s experiment.

The students loved building the electromagnets and it sounded like Laura and Curtis were running their own little gossip table, but it wasn’t gossip, it was physics. It seemed to really peak their interest when after building their electromagnets, they actually worked and in fact had a little competition going to see who could get more paper clips on their magnet. Our winner of the day with a total of 80 paper clips (the picture to the right shows about 25 paper clipsThen they were asked why some people would have more paper clips than others, showing them that more coils would actually produce a stronger magnet. The students were also asked if this effect could happen backwards, or if you could use a magnet to create a current by moving that magnet through a coil of wire.

While Rick was running Galileo’s experiment all we heard was a constant 1….2….3….GO, as they were trying to synchronize their stopwatches to when they were dropping the carts down the tracks. There were constant measurements being taken of the height of the drop to how far is rolling down the hill to how much time does it take to get there. They were really excited to see that when they put their data that they measured into the excel program, they were able to get really close to the acceleration due to gravity. We were able to get 9.5 m/s² and 10.5 m/s² by running this experiment, which was really close.

Then we brought all of the students back together to show how what they researched today helped them out with solving their initial problem of how the Lenz’s Tube worked, with the induced magnetic force pushing back up against the force of gravity to slow it down!

Elkton Middle School Physics Lab!

Planning out the strategy:

Laura Simone, Curtis White, Rick Dunlap went to Elkton Middle School with Lynn Lucatorto to share a little physics. Here's there story:

We wanted to find a unique way of explaining Lenz’s Tube to middle school students that would break it down to help them to see the forces that acted on the magnet as it fell through the aluminum tube. To do this we needed to look at the electromagnetic force as well as the gravitational force. We decided to break it down into two labs: building and testing electromagnets and Galileo’s experiment to find the acceleration due to gravity.

The idea of electromagnets was thought up as a great way to show the relationship between electricity and magnetism as well as it would a great project for each of the students to make and would be able to take home with them. Curtis and Laura had to figure out what materials were needed and what was necessary during the construction to make sure that it went smoothly. A simple idea was to wrap a copper wire around a non-galvanized nail and connect it to a D battery.

Galileo’s experiment for finding “g” by rolling balls down an inclined plane was used because up until this point the students know that gravity is pulling them down, but did not know how fast. So this would give them the chance to measure “g” themselves.

To do this, Rick set up a frictionless track and cart on a movable stand that would allow the students to change the height and therefore chance the angle that it dropped at. They would then be able to time each drop at each angle. The math did seem a bit difficult so an excel spreadsheet was created to help them out with that.