Recent Events

2nd ANNUAL Physics Visitation Day

Saturday, November 5, 2011
9:15 am to 3:00 pm

For more information go here.

Summer 2011 Internships in Astronomy

May-July 2011
Orangeburg, SC

SC State is currently hosting the 4th annual POCA Undergraduate Summer Internship Program in Astronomy. This NSF funded program is similar to the NSF REU programs. However, the SC State program targets students who typically have little or no previous experience in astronomical research. Students are in residence at SC State for eight weeks and conduct research as well as receive an overview of the field of astronomy.

For more information go here.

Funding is provided by NSF to SC State under the award AST -0750814

Earth & Space Science Workshop for Middle and High School Teachers and Students

June 27 to 30, 2011
South Carolina State University & Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College
Orangeburg, SC

For more information go here.

Coudé Feed Telescope

Observing at the Coude-Feed at KPNO

May 16-19, 2011
Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ

PI Walter continued the POCA project’s long term study of RV Tauri and Semi-Regular variables with another successful observing run at Kitt Peak National Observatory using the Coude-Feed Telescope. Three nights out of four were useful, with one night lost to weather. Blue spectra (3700-5100 angstroms) were obtained including stars that were simultaneously being observed from space by NASA’s Kepler Observatory as part of a program lead by Walter, Cash and Howell.

Above: Photograph of the Coudé Feed Telescope by Dr. Walter.

Travel to NASA Ames

May 10-11, 2011
Moffett Field, California

Drs. Cash and Walter traveled to the NASA Ames Research Center to work with astronomers in the Kepler Guest Observer Office . They examined light curves of stars taken by the Kepler Observatory as part of their NASA-funded study with colleague Dr. Steve Howell who is the Deputy Project Scientist for Kepler.

Coudé Feed Telescope

Coude Feed Telescope Observing Run

March 30 - April 2, 2011
Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, AZ

Dr. Walter used the Coude-Feed Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory on three good observing nights out of four to acquire specta in the blue (3700 - 5100 angstroms) and red (6400-9000 angstroms) of a number of RV Tauri, Semi-Regular and peculiar stars. Some of the objects were being observed simultaneously from space by NASA's Kepler Observatory as part of a program lead by Walter, Cash and Howell.

Above: Photograph of the Coudé Feed Telescope by Dr. Walter.

2011 Meeting of Astronomers in South Carolina

The MASC 2011 meeting at South Carolina State University was held on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

For a summary of the meeting go here.

American Astronomical Society Meeting

January 9-13, 2011
Seattle, WA

Three SC State students and two astronomers will attend and present at the 217th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The students include math major Eva Nesmith and physics majors Bryan Pugh and Jared Lalmansingh. Faculty members Drs. Jennifer Cash and Donald Walter will also present their research results. Support for their research is provided by NSF to SC State under its POCA award AST-0750814. More

American Association of Physics Teachers National Meeting

January 8-12, 2011
Jacksonville, FL

Dr. Daniel Smith, an SC State physics faculty member, will attend and present at the 2011 Winter Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. Support for his research is provided by NSF to SC State under its POCA award AST-0750814.

Physics at SCSU

atomic symbol

Physics majors at SCSU acquire the background to pursue graduate studies or a number of career options including medical physics, astrophysics, electrical engineering, computer systems engineering, materials science, and technical business management. Courses in nuclear engineering combined with a physics degree can lead to careers in fields such as environmental science, reactor engineering, and nuclear medicine.

Partnership in Observational and
Computational Astronomy (POCA)

NSF logo

POCA, funded under an National Science Foundation Program: Partnerships in Astronomy and Astrophysics Research and Education (PAARE), represents a partnerships between South Carolina State University, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and Clemson University. The mission of POCA is to develop an effective, long-term partnership that combines the strengths of the three institutions to increase the scientific and educational output of all the partners with special emphasis on enhancing diversity in the field of astronomy.

Minority Consortium for Earth and Space Sciences

balloon launch

The mission of MUCESS is to increase minority participation in the Earth and space sciences. This includes faculty and student research, K-16 education and public outreach.

Robotically Controlled Telescope

telescope

SCSU is a charter members of the RCT Consortium which has taken over management of the 1.3-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, approximately 50 miles west of Tucson, Arizona. The telescope is currently being refurbished in order to make it robotic. When fully operational, the telescope will be capable of observing in any one of three modes, manually on-site, remotely in real time over the Internet, or robotically without human intervention.

NASA Programs

Center for NASA Research & Technology

CNRT telescope

From August 1995 through February 2009, NASA funded research, educational and public outreach programs at SCSU. This link will open a collection of web pages describing these programs.

Hodge Hall
Weather Station

Hodge Hall
Lightning Detector

Hodge Hall
Computer Lab

Cosmology for Non-Science Majors

cosmology

Cosmology is the scientific study of how the universe began and evolved, and the people who do this work are called cosmologists.

Go to web site