The Catholic University of America

 

VSL Confirms
Nuclear Waste
Cleanup Method

The process, developed by CUA's Vitreous State Laboratory, will keep the highly volatile radioactive element technetium from escaping when nuclear waste is treated for disposal.

Astronomy Grad
Gazes at Galaxies

Elysse Voyer, a 2011 Ph.D. graduate, interprets data from ground- and space-based telescopes at Laboratoire D’Astrophysics de Marseille in France. During her two-year assignment, she will analyze star-forming galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.

Students Win
Travel Award

A group of undergraduates presented their research results at a recent nuclear physics conference. The students' research is part of the design of the kaon aerogel Cerenkov detector that CUA scientists are building for a strangeness physics program at the Jefferson Laboratory.

CUA Faculty Join
'Evolving Universe'
Conference in Brazil

The conference celebrated the collaboration of the International Network of Catholic Astronomical Institutions with the Vatican Observatory in conducting research on the universe.

Professor Horn Honored
As Outstanding Scholar

She was recognized for her research on the structures of subatomic particles, and for her accessibility to students, interactive style, and service as a mentor.

     

Welcome to the Physics Department

The physics department is a medium-sized department with 30 regular, research, and adjunct faculty members and approximately 35 graduate students. Programs of study lead to M.S. and Ph.D degrees in both pure and applied physics. The Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences (IACS) also operates through the CUA Physics Department.

 

Dr. Bruhweiler and Dr. Yashiro Receive Heliophysics Science Division Peer Awards

 

     Congratulations to Dr. Fred Bruhweiler and Dr. Seiji Yashiro for receiving Heliophysics Science Division Peer Awards. These awards recognize contributions to HSD that are above and beyond job-related duties, including:

 

            · Providing assistance to other members of HSD

            · Adding to the knowledge base or prestige of HSD

            · Facilitating the work of HSD as a whole

 

    Congratulations to Fred and Seiji for their outstanding accomplishments and contributions!

 

 

 

CUA Researcher Discovers Solar Storms May Have Been Key to Life on Earth

 

Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Genna Duberstein

 

Dr. Martin Cordiner's newly discovered protostar is well placed for studying how massive stars form 

 

The protostar in question is the large, bright red star where the arrow is pointing.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

Congratulation to Dr. Colin Komar was announced as the recipient of the 2016 Sunanda and Santimay Basu United States Early Career Award in Sun-Earth Systems Science. 

The award is given annually to one early career scientist by the Space Physics and Aeronomy section of the American Geophysical Union in "recognition of significant work that shows the focus and promise of making outstanding contributions to research in Sun-Earth systems science that further the understanding of both plasma physical processes and their applications for the benefit of society."

 

 

 CUA Space Weather Center Opens

The newly opened CUA Space Weather Center (SWC) is a fully functional research and real-time analyses center dedicated to scientific investigations and forecasting of extreme space weather events – violent physical processes around the Earth driven by storms on the Sun.