Eastern Illinois University Physics Department

Eclipse Day at EIU. This was the culmination of a semester of eclipse activities. The weather was good. We were at about 99.9% covered. Not quite totality but a pretty good experience for all.

Not to be outdone, emeritus professor David Linton, was on TV on the subject of the eclipse too. Dave was an instructor at EIU from 2004 to 2017 and taught a lot of Astronomy students. He also came back to lecture about the upcoming eclipse on March 4 this year. See his WCIA news interview here:

Article suggests eclipse path may not stretch as far across Effingham CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — We’re less than a week away from totality in some parts of Central Illinois, but a new web article from Forbes is challenging the upcoming eclipse’s path.…

Dr. Robert Strausbaugh and Dr. Steven Daniels were guests on WEIU Issues and Attitudes on April 1. It was radio as well as TV broadcast. They talked about the upcoming Solar Eclipse and all of the EIU activities surrounding it. Here is a link to the video.

Issues & Attitudes, April 1st, 2024 Part of Illinois will be in the path of the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8th, 2024. Dr. Steve Daniels, Chair of the Eastern Illinois University Physics Depar...

Dr. Strausbaugh and Dr. Daniels will be on "Issues and Attitudes" today on WEIU radio 12:00-12:30 today. Tune in to hear more about the upcoming eclipse.

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The Art Students have finished their projects. I encourage you to go through Booth Library to view them. The students each wrote a little about their pieces too. That is well worth the tour.

Tomorrow at 4 pm in Witters Conference Room at Booth Library, students from the Advanced Life Drawing class will unveil their Solar Eclipse inspired drawings/paintings in EIU’s Booth Library.
“Celestial Bodies” is an art exhibition in collaboration with the Physics Department and Booth Library to celebrate the Solar Eclipse of 2024. Students will guide the audiences through the library and discuss the concepts and processes behind their creations.
All are welcome!
Eastern Illinois University Physics Department

Read about the Eclipse in this article that highlights our own Dr. Robert Strausbaugh (our new Astronomer at EIU).

Basking in the shadow – Illinois Country Living Magazine Astronomer Robert Strausbaugh has never seen a total eclipse in person, but the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) professor does not have to wait long to finally experience one. Nor will he have to travel to be in its path. Like millions of others in the U.S. and thousands in Illinois, he will find....

Eclipse 2024

Eastern Illinois is gearing up for the 2024 Eclipse. Jenny Chi from the EIU Art Department has her class doing projects related to the Eclipse. They agreed to display their preliminary work as they prepare their creations. These are displayed in Booth Library. They are very creative and demonstrate significant talent. This is an excellent crossover between Physics and Art and I can't wait for the final product.

Congratulations to Alexis Pope and Mackenzie Duvall, our December graduates from 2023! Both got Physics degrees and Alexis also received an Electrical Engineering degree.

EIU Astronomy Club hosted the first end of the month Open House in a long time. It was held on the last Friday of September (29th). It was well attended and people saw Jupiter and the Moon through some telescopes. Thanks to Dr. Robert Strausbaugh for organizing it. And for this tradition we say Welcome Back!

Congratulations to the graduates of 2023! Today, in addition to Physics majors we welcome our first Electrical Engineering majors. Congratulations to Nathan Logan, Dontae Milner, Patrick Mallaney, Luis Torres Cantu, and Aaron Stewart!!! Also Aries Martinez who couldn't make it to the event!

EIU Physics Department is hiring!!!

If you are interested or know of someone who might be interested please pass this information along and encourage them to apply. The process will be relatively quick so don't delay. Thanks.

Eastern Illinois University
Position Announcement
Non-Tenure Track Teaching Position in Physics
The Physics Department at Eastern Illinois University seeks qualified candidates for a full time nine-month teaching position starting August 15, 2023. This position comes with a benefits package and may possibly be continued into future years. The qualified candidate must hold, at minimum, a Master’s Degree in Physics or Astronomy or related field. A PhD is preferred. Demonstrated commitment to diversity and experience promoting inclusive excellence is required. This is a teaching position for lower and upper level undergraduate teaching in Physics and/or Astronomy depending on qualifications. A typical teaching load is three to four courses per semester. We seek a person with experience teaching lower and upper level undergraduate Physics and Astronomy courses.

Applicants should submit a letter of application, including a statement of teaching experience and philosophy, a vita, official undergraduate and graduate transcripts and names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of three references to https://apply.interfolio.com/124605

Review of applications begins May 25, and will continue until the position is filled. Questions may be addressed to Dr. Steven Daniels, Chair, Physics Department, at [email protected].

The University & Community: Eastern Illinois University takes pride in creating a warm, welcoming environment for all faculty, staff and students. Established in 1895, EIU boasts a rich tradition of preparing students for their personal and professional goals. A traditional regional residential institution, EIU offers a superior education at a relatively low cost while consistently earning high rankings and distinctions for its affordability, academic program quality, career placement rates, campus safety, online degree options, student support, and sustainability initiatives. EIU focuses on individualized attention and superior student relationships, and has earned recognition as the highest-ranking independent public regional university in Illinois and a place among the Midwest’s top public regional universities according to U.S. News and World Report. EIU hosts more than 175 student organizations on campus, and offers a variety of cultural events, NCAA Division I athletics, and active research opportunities for its students to enjoy and to thrive. EIU has become recognized for providing the resources of a large institution while creating the kinds of individual relationships that support student and alumni success.
Eastern Illinois University is located in Charleston, Illinois – a comfortable and safe east central town within a two-to three-hour drive of three major metropolitan areas -- Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis.

Diversity and Inclusion: Eastern Illinois University is committed to fostering a learning community where all members feel welcomed and valued. The university provides equality of opportunity in all areas of campus life and we strive to recognize and appreciate the unique value of our students, faculty, and staff. Every member of campus has the right to learn and work in an environment free of discrimination and harassment, and beyond that, our goal is for all members of our community to develop a strong sense of belonging to Eastern Illinois University.

Eastern Illinois University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer - minority/female/disability/veteran - committed to achieving a diverse community.

Apply - Interfolio

The first Senior Design Projects are completed. Congratulations to Aaron Stewart and Alexis Pope for their RFID door lock system and to Luis Torres Cantu and Aries Martinez for their automated plant watering system. Good job to our first graduating class in Electrical Engineering!

Yesterday was EIU fall 2022 graduation. Congratulations to Amanda DaSilva and Saul Garcia! Here are some photos of the day.

EIU Physics hosted Oak Forest High School Physics classes in a Physics Day on Friday 4/22. The students got to try a few experiments and learn some physics. Not to mention the pizza for lunch. And it was good to see their teacher and EIU Alumnus Stephen Hogan too. Thanks for coming and we hope it was fun and educational.

In case you don't get to campus too often, someone is demonstrating that science is truly cool! This is one of the statues on the east side of the Physical Sciences Building. It has been this way for a few months now.

After too long, EIU is starting to move toward normal. These tables have not been in the hallway for 2 years. They are back and ready for students.

We are saddened to hear of the passing of David Dressel, Physics major from the class of 1993. He has been a teacher at Riverton High School. Here is a photo from his time at EIU. Dave is in the pink shirt. So sorry to his friends and family for their loss. He will be missed. Thanks to C Tabatha Cohorst for the picture.

Our research students presented their projects today. Amanda DaSilva and Patrick Mallaney did a great job. Here are a few photos from the talks.

Welcome Students new and old!!!!! So glad to be back!!! Have a great semester!!!

Congratulations to all of the 2020 and 2021 Graduates!!! Yesterday we had 11 people that could have participated in the ceremony. Sincere apologies if I missed anyone. Here are some photos of the day. We were fortunate that the rain held off. Social distancing definitely made for a different graduation ceremony! Congratulations Lucas, Matt, and Wylie as well as the other graduates!

On April 27 the Physics Department held their end of semester research talks. Students who participated in mentored research were asked to present their work in a virtual presentation. We had 4 presentations. All four presentations are similar to presentations done at the various conferences this spring. The first three were from the Astronomy Research Group and the fourth one was from the Computational Physics Research Group. As the semester draws to a close we would like to honor these student presenters. They did a great job.

The ISAAPT Spring Meeting was held on April 23 and 24. There was a Student Research Symposium that is a competition where undergraduates present their mentored research projects and the best talk wins. Best is judged on how well the students understand what they actually did and how well they made the presentation. EIU is proud to announce that Dontae Milner and Saul Garcia earned 3rd place in the competition this year. They presented together and their abstract was:

Spectrometry of Sirius

Calibration and installation of Eastern Illinois 16 in telescope.

This short abstract does fairly capture their presentation. They tag teamed their presentation and both students clearly understood the methods and issues related to the project. They explained all of the hardware issues they overcame and what problems persist. Their mentor, Tyler Linder, should also get some of the credit for this project. The team did excellent work and their presentation was worthy of this award. One photo below shows Saul on the left and Dontae on the right in the observatory with the spectrometer that their project was about. The other photo is Tyler.

The ISAAPT Spring Meeting was held on April 23 and 24. There was a Student Research Symposium that is a competition where undergraduates present their mentored research projects and the best talk wins. Best is judged on how well the student understands what they actually did and how well they made the presentation. This year EIU is proud to announce that Patrick Mallaney won the competition. His abstract is:

How Accurate are Astronomy Photometric Systems

The goal of our research is to build our own photometric algorithm to determine the accuracy of Source Extractor. We plan to do this by taking the measurements given by the Charged Coupling Device and determining the light coming from that source. We will be creating an algorithm that applies a circular shape for each star so that we may obtain the most accurate data. The circular method presents challenges as the pixels get split into different fractions based on the arc of the circle chosen.

Patrick made an excellent presentation that clearly showed that he understood all of the steps he did to get his results. It should be noted that Tyler Linder was the faculty mentor for Patrick. Tyler has come up with many good projects for students to do and he helps them to accomplish good science. His approach allows students to really get into the work and understand all aspects of the research. He also helps them to make quality presentations. Patrick certainly earned first place in the competition but it is a team effort and Tyler should share in the congratulations!

On April 9 and 10, 2021 the Illinois State Association of Science held its annual meeting hosted by Eastern Illinois University. Presentations were made in a variety of scientific fields. The Physics Department is proud to announce that in the category of Physics, Math, and Astronomy Oral Presentations we had our students, Wylie Anderson and Lucas Hutton, win their competition. Their title is
"Automation for Telescopic Control and Imaging Potential Supernovae"
The description of the presentation is:
Supernovae are some of the most violent events to take place in our universe and are very rare to observe due to
the low frequency of them occurring. The frequency of a star going supernova in a galaxy is once every hundred
years. To increase the odds of discovering a supernova one must be able to observe a larger number of galaxies.
In order to accomplish this, we wrote a program which automates the operation of any ASCOM controlled
telescope and CCD camera. The system reads a list of user provided targets, optimizes the order, and executes all
commands required from telescope slewing to image acquisition for each provided target.
A status report of the software development with initial results will be presented as well as next steps to
automate the detection of supernova.

We want to congratulate Wylie and Lucas for their excellent work and for winning this honor. We also want to recognize their mentor, Tyler Linder. Tyler is working with the Astronomy Research Group to enhance research opportunities for EIU students. Congratulations to all of you for this award. Wylie and Lucas will be graduating this spring. This is a good springboard to their future careers. We know they will be doing great things with their EIU degrees!!! Keep up the good work!!!

Just some fun science for the day! The AAAS has a program called "Dance your PhD". Here is the YouTube video of the 2021 winner. Enjoy some atmospheric science!

Molecular Clusters [Dance Your PhD 2020/2021 OVERALL WINNER] Authors: Jakub Kubečka, Ivo Neefjes, Vitus Besel et al.About: Jakub Kubečka, Ivo Neefjes, and Vitus Besel (Twitter: ) are PhD students of Atmosphe...