Department News

WVU professor Duncan Lorimer, along with an international team of astronomers, have used a triple star system consisting of a neutron star and two white dwarfs to test Einstein's age-old theory of gravity, general relativity. Read the full article here:Yet again, Einstein's theory passes the test with flying colors

A dozen scientists gather each afternoon on Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base, in Sandia National Laboratories, awaiting the bright flash and unmistakable floor jolt that accompanies the daily lightning bolt known as a Z shot. WVU physics professor Mark Koepke, his postdoc, and his students take advantage of approximately twenty Z shots per year to feed their passion for studying the physical principles that govern extreme astrophysical environments through the laboratory study of high-energy-density physics. 

This year, Prof. Ned Flagg of the Physics department has been awarded with the Eberly College Outstanding Teachers Award. See the official announcement by following this link. 

This year, Dr. Amy Keesee and Prof. Paul Cassak of the Physics department have each been awarded with the Eberly College Public Service Award.

Professor Sean McWilliams of the Physics department has been awarded with the Eberly College Outstanding Researcher Award. See the official announcement by following this link.

In the run-up to the March for Science in April, 2017, the American Geophysical Union, a leading organization of over 60,000 Earth and space scientists worldwide, published 29 “commentaries” in a special collection outlining the important of Earth and space sciences to humanity. WVU Physics and Astronomy Associate Professor Paul Cassak was asked to be the lead author on one of these commentaries.The motivation for the commentaries is described in an online article.Dr. Cassak’s commentary was entitled “Space Physics and Policy for Contemporary Society” and was coauthored by a collection of luminaries in the field of space physics. The commentary....