Society of Physics Students attends Neil deGrasse Tyson lecture

Eight Hope students and two faculty members traveled to Grand Valley State University on November 13 to attend a public lecture given by famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The talk, “Science as a Way of Knowing,” was delivered to a sold-out crowd at the GVSU field house. Tyson is well-known for his previous work hosting PBS’s NOVA ScienceNOW and as director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. Regarded as a prolific ambassador of science, he is the author of several popular science books and has made numerous appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.

The Society of Physics Students at Hope College is a student-run organization open to anyone with an interest in physics, regardless of major or profession. The group meets monthly to discuss and plan outreach activities, professional development, and social gatherings. While at the Tyson lecture, Hope physics students made the most of the opportunity–networking with their physics peers from Alma College, who were also in attendance. Pictured above are Hope students posing with their Alma counterparts.

First regional conference for a Freshmen Physicists

Freshmen Zach Diener and Ben Peecher presented their research findings at the West Michigan Regional Undergraduate Science Research Conference at Van Andel Institute.  Read more about the conference…

Zach and Ben were joined at the conference by Margaret Dickinson and Tyler VanDyck.

Five Students Chosen to Present Physics Research at National Meeting

A total of five students who participated in research at Hope College during the summer of 2012 had their work selected to present at the recent American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting. – See more…

Transit of Venus

Dr. Mader and Dr. Peaslee hosted a gathering of Physics Research Students and friends to watch the Transit of Venus last night.

Dr. Gonthier set up two telescopes, one for projection of the sun’s image, and the other with a solar filter for safe viewing. He also had a live feed to the telescope in the Harry F. Frissel Observatory in VanderWerf Hall on campus which was trained on the sun to take images during the Transit.  Solar viewing shades were available for direct viewing, although the ability to see the small black dot as it moved across the face of the sun varied from person to person.

The clouds rolled in later in the evening, but a few breaks in the clouds allowed everyone a glimpse of this twice-in-a-lifetime event (the previous one was in 2004, but the next one won’t occur until December 2117!) until sunset.