Astronomy | CAS in the Media | Washington State University

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Undergrad helps develop method to detect water on Mars

October 3, 2014

A Washington State University undergraduate has helped develop a new method for detecting water on Mars. Her findings appear in Nature Communications, one of the most influential general science journals.

Kellie Wall, 21, of Port Orchard, Wash., looked for evidence that water influenced crystal formation in basalt, the dark volcanic rock that covers most of eastern Washington and Oregon. She then compared this with volcanic rock observations made by the rover Curiosity on Mars’ Gale Crater.

The project was funded by the WSU College of Arts and Sciences’ Grants for Undergraduate Scholars and by the NASA Space Grant Undergraduate Scholarship in Science and Engineering.

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WSU News

businessinsider.com

New planetarium system unique in Inland Northwest

October 2, 2014

The constellations are shining brighter at the Washington State University Planetarium thanks to a new digital projection system.

“It is kind of like the Google Earth of the stars,” said Michael Allen, planetarium director and senior instructor of physics and astronomy. “There is really nothing else like this in the Inland Northwest.”

Mounted at the far end of the circular room, the system uses a high end digital projector, specially cut mirrors and Stellarium, a free open source software that projects a realistic sky in three dimensions, just like you would see standing in the backyard on a clear night.

The planetarium’s fall series kicked off Sept. 19 with “Maiden Voyage,” a show about the highlights of the fall sky and the digital projection system’s new features. The series will include four more shows, each running twice, through Dec. 7.

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WSU astrobiologist: Millions of planets in our galaxy may harbor complex life

May 30, 2014

The number of planets in the Milky Way galaxy which could harbor complex life may be as high as 100 million, according to WSU astrobiologist Dirk Shultze-Makuch and a team of researchers from Cornell and the University of Puerto Rico. It is the first quantitative estimate of the number of worlds in our galaxy that could harbor life above the microbial level, based on objective data.

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WSU News

Shultze-Makuch’s column on the Air & Space/Smithsonian website

Research paper published in the journal Challenges

Flyin’ high: WSU flag launched to record altitude in stratosphere

May 15, 2014

Ol' Crimson flying high — Ol’ Crimson flying high

The Washington State University flag has flown in many places around the world – from ESPN Game Day to the Great Wall of China – and now more than 18 miles into the stratosphere.

A Cougar flag attached to a weather balloon recently launched from the center of the Pullman campus reached nearly 100,000 feet, presumed to be a record-breaker for the WSU banner. The flight was part of a WSU Physics and Astronomy Club student project; now the flag is up for auction.

45 undergraduates named top researchers in SURCA competition

April 28, 2014

Thirty-nine awards were presented recently to 45 WSU students—many in the College of Arts and Sciences—at the third annual Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) 2014.

The work of 192 students University-wide was detailed in 11 oral and 145 poster presentations open to faculty, staff, students, and guests. More than 100 judges evaluated the presentations. The judges included WSU emeriti faculty and retirees, faculty, staff, and post-doctoral students as well as experts from companies outside of WSU.

While many students from urban campuses traveled to participate, SURCA was made available to two place-bound students thanks to web conferencing provided by the Global Campus. A Pullman student studying abroad in Mexico and a WSU Vancouver student who was unable to attend SURCA in person talked “live” to their judges who were in the senior ballroom of the Compton Union Building.

More about the competition and list of winners