Join us for the Science Speaker Series, hosted by the Physics, Biology and Chemistry departments on select Tuesdays and Thursdays at Noon in the Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium! This series features captivating talks from guest speakers outside ERAU, faculty experts within ERAU and student presentations (REUs or Capstone projects) in the College of Arts and Sciences.
For suggestions, comments or volunteering opportunities, contact Dr. Pragati Pradhan at pradhanp@erau.edu, Dr. Quentin G. Bailey at baileyq@erau.edu or Dr. Steve Waples at steve.waples@erau.edu.
Stay tuned for updates on this event page, or watch out for emails.
Next Event
When: April 21, 2026 at noon
Where: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Bailey Wolf
Title: Wolf-Rayet Astrophysics and Pulsations (WRAP): an Analysis of WR Stars in the Galactic Plane
Abstract: Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are very hot, massive stars that have lost most of their hydrogen, leaving mostly heavy elements near the core. They have strong stellar winds, as well as helium and nitrogen lines. All these factors lead to high variability among them. Our goal is to classify a set of ~220 WR stars in the galactic plane by their periodicity (periodic, aperiodic), for further classification into their variable subsets. We will be phasing light curves from peak frequencies of the Fourier transforms to do this, then running HCTSA (Highly Comparative Time Series Analysis), a machine learning classification program, on them.
Speaker: Corey Jones
Title: Modeling Dusty Shells Surrounding Wolf-Rayet Binaries
Abstract: Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are massive, hot, highly evolved stars that have lost their outer hydrogen layers as a result of their powerful stellar winds. When carbon-rich WR stars live in binary systems, the interaction between the WR wind and the companion O star’s wind can create a shocked environment. As this material moves away from the binary, it cools and can condense into dust shells. Because these "shock fronts" happen at regular intervals in the binary system's cycle, multiple shells of dust can emerge to form a pattern over many orbits. We are analyzing JWST/MIRI images of four WR binaries, and creating geometric models of their dust shells: WR 137, WR 125, WR 48a, and WR 112.
Speaker: Em Biegler
Title: Searching for Evidence of a Third Star in the CV Ser Binary
Abstract: The binary star system CV Ser forms dust, but the cause of which is not well understood. Another binary system composed of similar star types, Gamma2 Vel,does not form dust despite its more ideal conditions. We investigate the system to see if a third star that is unable to be resolved by telescopes is a part of the system. This is done by modelling the velocity of the system over time to see if it has changed. The presence of an undiscovered star would lead to a better understanding of the conditions needed for star systems to form dust.
Speaker: Sawyer Star
Title: Detecting Lorentz-Symmetry Breaking in a Scalar Field
Abstract: The fundamental interactions in the universe are currently understood through descriptions described in the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics and General Relativity (GR). Despite their success in describing fundamental physics, they do not combine into one overarching theory. One area of research explores the possibility that fundamental principles in GR are broken at miniscule scales, such as Special Relativity’s Lorentz-symmetry, due to some overarching theory. We will explore the implications of Lorentz-symmetry breaking (LSB) on a scalar field and the transition rates of particles within that field in a two-state system in the form of an Unruh-DeWitt detector.
Speaker: Logan Finke
Title: Signatures of Non-Classicality in Gravitational Waves Through Bipartite Detections
Abstract: Using arguments based on fundamental principles, Freeman Dyson concluded that the individual measurement of the graviton is physically impossible. Considerable research has been dedicated to find the graviton through single-point detections, all of which supports Dyson's conclusion. The community of gravitational physicists still search for the graviton through means of single-point detections; however, it is much more possible to detect the graviton with bipartite detections. Bipartite detections allow for the observation of multiple signatures of non-classicality, such as the measurement-induced entanglement entropy and anti-bunching. Bipartite detections are very likely the key to find the smoking gun for the quantization of gravity.
Speaker: Lucas Murphy
Title: Developing a Muon Template to Analyze Michel Electrons in the CCM Detector
Abstract: Cosmic muon decay within the CCM detector produces Michel electrons with a well-understood energy spectrum, characterized by an endpoint at 52.8 MeV. By constructing a muon waveform template, we create a reference signal that allows us to identify Michel electrons as deviations from the muon signature. Analyzing these signals provides a way to calibrate the detector by relating photoelectron output to physical energy in MeV. This calibration improves our ability to interpret particle interactions, refine energy reconstruction, and enhance sensitivity in the search for light dark matter.
Past Events
Capstone Presentations I
Date: April 16, 2026
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Roberta Cooper
Title: Confirming the Periodic Disk Outbursts of the Be star HD 6226
Speaker: Hailey Widger
Title: Broad-band X-ray spectral analysis of symbiotic X-ray binary GX 1+4 to disentangle the emission mechanism
Speaker: Maan Janbi
Title: Pulse profile dependence of GX 1+4 on energy and luminosity
Speaker: Guru Balakrishnan
Title: Understanding Orbital Variability of Cen X-3 using NICER1
Speaker: Jack Hedberg
Title: Gravitational Wave Signatures and Prospects for Detecting Quantum Gravity Effects
Speaker: William Punches
Title: A First Orbit for the Binary Wolf Rayet LS III +44 21
Speaker: Dante Colecchia
Title: The Variability of Be Stars in the Pleiades As Observed By TESS
Speaker: Joseph Ribaudo
Title: An Exploration of Bipartite Gravitational-Wave Detection
The Stardust Chronicles
Date: April 9, 2026
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Larry Nittler
The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory: Opening a New Era of Discovery
Date: April 1, 2026
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Ardis Herrold
An Introduction to Coupled Supersymmetry, a Generalization of the Quantum Harmonic Oscillator
Date: Feb 19, 2026
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Dr. Cameron L. Williams
Capstone Presentation by Two Astronomy Students
Date: Nov 20, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker 1: Sola Nova
Title 1: A High-Resolution Spectroscopic Campaign During TESS Observations of an Outburst of the Classical Be star λ Pavonis
Speaker 2: Anthony Fabrega
Title 2: MCMC Hammering Out Photometric Models of Wolf-Rayet Wind-Eclipsing Binaries
Discovery of Supernova "H0pe" using the James Webb Space Telescope
Date: Nov. 13, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Dr. Brenda Frye
Dark Matter Differences Beyond the Milky Way: Mass Modeling the Andromeda Dwarf Galaxies
Date: Oct. 30, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Connor Pickett
Student REU During Summing 2025
Date: Sept. 18, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker 1: Hailey Widger
Title 1: Representation Learning for Galactic Feature Density Estimation
Speaker 2: Em Biegler
Title 2: Testing Thin Film Nanocharacterization via the New WSU X-ray Beamline
The Quest to Explore the Universe With Gravitational Waves
Date: Sept. 4, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Dr. Marek Szczepańczyk
Capstone Presentations II
Date: April 24, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker 1: Sami Garcia Flores
Title 1: Quantifying Outbursts of the Be Star QR Vul
Speaker 2: Hailey Beier
Title 2: Probing the Multiplicity of Dusty, Carbon-Rich Wolf-Rayet Stars With High-Resolution, Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
Speaker 3: Hailey Murray
Title 3: Physics Beyond General Relativity: Spacetime Symmetry Breaking and Black Holes
Speaker 4: Kya Schluterman
Title 4: Distributional Methods for Detecting Gravitational Waves From Core-Collapse Supernovae
Speaker 5: Brandon Pillon
Title 5: Mock Setup of Newtonian Calibration Characterization for Laser Interferometry
Speaker 6: Jacob Anna
Title 6: Correcting the Background Sources Found in the LIGO Interferometer and Data Quality Testing
Speaker 7: Jerome Busquin
Title 7: Ground-Based Contrail Observation
Speaker 8: Quintin B. Weinberger
Title 8: Reaction-Diffusion Systems on Cubic Superlattices
Speaker 9: Charles D. Wszalek
Title 9: Explicit Symmetry-Breaking of D_n-Equivariant Systems
Speaker 10: Isaiah Joy
Title 10: A Quantum Factoring Algorithm
Capstone Presentations I
Date: April 10, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker 1: Taylor Brown and Shannon Moore
Title 1: Analyzing the Variability and Orbit of the Massive Binary Eta Carinae
Speaker 2: Jasmine Downing
Title 2: A Spectroscopic Orbit for WR70
Speaker 3: Micaela Henson
Title 3: Imaging the Dusty Environments Around Galactic WC Binaries With JWST
Speaker 4: Katie Casciotti
Title 4: X-ray Insights Into Colliding Wind Binaries: A Comparative Study of WR 25, Gamma2 Vel and Related Systems
Speaker 5: Ryan Totman
Title 5: Voyager Detections of Plasma Oscillation Events Can Be Associated With Neutron Star Production of Gravitational Waves
Speaker 6: Thomas Zanin
Title 6: Quantum Discord of Graviton Detection
Speaker 7: Logan Caudle
Title 7: Energy Calibration in the CCM Detector Using Michel Electrons From Stopping Cosmic Ray Muons
Speaker 8: Jaxson G. Mitchell
Title 8: Coherent States and Coupled Supersymmetry
Finding Space-Time Scars
Date: March 27, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Michele Zanolin
Research Talks by Physics Faculties II
Date: March 11, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Talk 1: Searches for Spacetime Symmetry Breaking
Speaker: Quentin G. Bailey
Talk 2: From Setting National UV Standards to Improving LIGO Sensitivity: Measurement Science and Today’s Cutting-Edge Research
Speaker: Dr. Ellie Gretarsson
Talk 3: How to Hunt Gravitons for Beginners
Speaker: Preston Jones
Talk 4: TBD
Speaker: Dr. Brian Rachford
Talk 5: The Stories Massive Binaries Tell Us About Their Interacting Past
Speaker: Dr. Noel Richardson
Stellar Abundances in the Milky Way (and Beyond) and Their Implications for Nucleosynthesis
Date: Feb. 20, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Dr. Emily Griffith
NOIRLab: Behind the Scenes
Date: Feb. 6, 2025 — This event has been cancelled
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: André-Nicolas Chené
REUs and Beyond During Summer 2024
Date: Jan. 21, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Talk 1: How Does Artificially Induced Particle Precipitation From HAARP Influence STEVE Airglow?
Speaker: Hailey Beier
Talk 2: Testing the Resiliency of XENONnT Background Reduction Techniques
Speaker: Taylor Brown
Talk 3: Detections of Superbubble Breakthroughs and Blowouts
Speaker: Katie Casciotti
Talk 4: Improving the Sensitivity of LIGO Searches to Binary Black Hole Signals With Smarter Detection Algorithms
Speaker: Jaxson Mitchell
Talk 5: Photometric Techniques for Analyzing the Light Behavior of Satellites
Speaker: Shannon Moore
Talk 6: Quantum Channel Masking
Speaker: Hailey Murray
Talk 7: Rapid Search for Higher Modes in GW From Compact-Binary-Coalescence
Speaker: Kya Schluterman
Research Talks by Physics Faculties I
Date: Jan. 30, 2025
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Talk 1: Pattern Formation and Equivariant Bifurcation
Speaker: Tim Callahan
Talk 2: Opportunities in Dr. Smith’s Research Group
Speaker: Dr. Darrel Smith
Talk 3: Hearing Farther Into the Universe
Speaker: Andri Gretarsson
Talk 4: LIGO Detector Characterization
Speaker: BrennanHughey
Talk 5: Beyond What Human Eyes Can See: The Universe in X-rays
Speaker: Dr. Pragati Pradhan
A Guide to Applying to Graduate School
Date: Sept. 19, 2024
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Janessa Sloane, University of Virginia
Weird Binaries Under Close Surveillance: TU Tau and HD 5501
Date: Oct. 3, 2024
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Dr. Christopher Corbally, Jesuit priest of the British Province, emeritus vice director of the Vatican Observatory and an adjunct astronomer at the University of Arizona
Physics Investigations Using the Sensors in Your Phone
Date: Oct. 30, 2024
Venue: Lower Hangar
Speaker: Dr. David Rakestraw, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
An ALMA View of the Disks Surrounding the Closest Young Binaries
Date: Nov. 7, 2024
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Dr. Taylor Kutra, Lowell Observatory
Black Holes, Exploding Stars and Clusters of Galaxies: 25 Years With Chandra, NASA's Flagship-Class X-Ray Observatory
Date: Nov. 14, 2024
Venue: Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium
Speaker: Dr. Scott Randall, Senior Astrophysicist and the head of the Chandra Science Operations Team in Mission Planning in the Chandra X-ray Center at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA)