An article published recently in The Astrophysical Journal of Letters, “Confirming Interstellar C60 + Using the Hubble Space Telescope”, co-authored by Professor Jan Cami, has been featured in recent editions of both AAS Nova and Forbes.
Abstract
On Thursday April 18th, 2019, Pubuditha Abeyasinghe gave a public lecture on her thesis topic: “Calculating the Dimensionality of the Brain, and other Applications of an Optimized Generalized Ising Model in Predicting Brain’s Spontaneous Functions”
She then successfully defended the thesis. Pubuditha was supervised by Dr. Andrea Soddu
Congratulations Pubuditha!
On Tuesday April 16, 2019 the members of the undergraduate thesis course, Physics 4999, presented their research talks.
The course was overseen by Professor Giovanni Fanchini.
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Colin Metrow |
Studying electroencephalogram data through the lens of quantum mechanics.
(supervisors: A. Soddu / B. Stojanoski) |
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Luke McFadden |
Bolid measurements through seismic and infrasound detections.
(supervisor: P. Brown) |
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Matt McCready |
Photoconductivity and “memristive” properties of oxoverdazyl radical memory devices.
(supervisor: G. Fanchini) |
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Nastaran Ghafouriansahraei |
Analyzing rotational axes orientation of Be stars in open clusters.
(supervisor: A. Sigut) |
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Josh Bazely |
Comparing properties of well-known reflection nebulae using a principal component analysis.
(supervisors: J. Cami / E. Peeters) |
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Hanna Brännström |
Measuring the spin of a black hole in a black hole X-ray binary system.
(supervisor: S. Gallagher) |
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Tim Hallatt |
Messengers from afar: the origins of interstellar objects.
(supervisor: P. Wiegert) |
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Dakota Cecil |
Automated filtering of meteor events from the Canadian automated meteor observatory
(supervisor: M. Campbell-Brown) |
The position is awarded based on special opportunities to implement a large collaborative grant, to pursue a high-risk, unique research avenue that is time sensitive and has a strong potential for a significant breakthrough, or to capitalize on a new and significant partnership.
The department of Physics and Astronomy extends a big congratulations to Pauline on this honour. It is certainly well deserved.
PhD Candidate, Mark Baker, is Western’s 2019 recipient of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) Award for Teaching Excellence.
Mark received the award at OUSA’s 15th Annual Partners in Higher Education Dinner held April 10 in Toronto. The annual event brings together stakeholders from across the province to recognize instructors for their innovative and effective pedagogy.
Congratulations Mark!
Additional information about the award can be found on the OUSA website: www.ousa.ca/awards
The Department would like to extend congratulations to Lumsden award winners for the academic year 2018-19.
Astronomy PhD candidate, Viraja Khatu, has been awarded the the Robert and Ruth Lumsden Graduate Fellowship in Science. Awarded annually to graduate students in any program in the Faculty of Science. Eligibility is based on academic excellence and performance in graduate research. Nominees must be registered in a Ph.D. program and must have completed at least two years of study in any graduate program at Western.
Physics PhD candidate, Nirosh Getangama, is a recipient of the Robert and Ruth Lumsden Graduate Award in Science. Three graduate awards based on financial need and academic achievement made possible through a bequest from the late Ruth V. Lumsden and Robert O. Lumsden. Western Science PhD students who have completed at least two years of study in any graduate program at Western with average course marks at or above 78%, are Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents, and have resided in the Province of Ontario for at least two years are eligible for consideration.
Kudos Viraja and Nirosh!
On Saturday March 30, Western Astronomy professor, Jan Cami, was invited to deliver the keynote presentation on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Astronomical Association (Vereniging voor Sterrenkunde, or VVS) in his native Belgium.
The VVS was founded in Ghent in 1944 for the benefit of amateur astronomers in Flanders. Over the years, it has become the foremost astronomical forum in Flanders, and has almost 2000 members today.
The work of Western Physics & Astronomy’s meteor group is highlighted in the feature Science & Technology article of the March 30, 2019 edition of The Economist, “Networks of cameras are making it easier to track meteors.”
In the article, Professor Peter Brown discusses the team’s use of high-frequency radar to detect trails of ions left behind by meteors and measure their speed to extrapolate their potential destructive power. The work is used to help protect spacecraft and satellites from collisions.
You can read The Economist article here.
Physics PhD Candidate and lecturer, Mark Baker (far right in photo), has been announced as the winner of one of four University Student’s Council Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. The 28th annual awards recognize the university’s finest instructors, innovative teaching methods and techniques. The awards were presented at a ceremony in the McKellar room in the UCC on Monday April 1, 2019.
The other winners were (l to r) Nigmendra Narain (Political Science), Philip King (DAN Department of Management & Organizational Studies), and Scott Loveland (Ivey Business School).
Congratulations on this well-deserved honour, Mark!
News, Events, and Opinions from our community
) as the carrier of two diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in the near-infrared. However, irrefutable identification of interstellar C
requires a match between the wavelengths and the expected strengths of all absorption features detectable in the laboratory and in space. Here we present Hubble Space Telescope(HST) spectra of the region covering the C
9348, 9365, 9428, and 9577 Å absorption bands toward seven heavily reddened stars. We focus in particular on searching for the weaker laboratory C
bands, the very presence of which has been a matter for recent debate. Using the novel STIS-scanning technique to obtain ultra-high signal-to-noise spectra without contamination from telluric absorption that afflicted previous ground-based observations, we obtained reliable detections of the (weak) 9365, 9428 Å and (strong) 9577 Å C
bands. The band wavelengths and strength ratios are sufficiently similar to those determined in the latest laboratory experiments that we consider this the first robust identification of the 9428 Å band, and a conclusive confirmation of interstellar 
.