By Jenny Wells and Jordan Raddick

A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of all stars currently in the MaNGA Stellar Library, showing temperature and brightness (luminosity) of stars, along with information on their chemical makeup. Photo courtesy of SDSS collaboration.

Want to learn everything there is to know about a subject? Go to the library. Want to learn everything there is to know about stars? Go to the stellar library.

Renbin Yan, an associate professor of physics and astronomy in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, along with a team of astronomers from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), announced today the opening of a new “stellar library” containing spectra of thousands of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Having access to this library will help

By Jenny Wells and Sara Shoemaker

Courtesy of Andy Sproles/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy.

Christopher Crawford, an associate professor of physics and astronomy in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, along with many of his current and former students, are contributing co-authors on a groundbreaking experiment that was recently featured as the Editor’s Choice in Physical Review Letters, the American Physical Society's scientific journal.

In an experiment carried out at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, experimental physicists were able for the first time to measure the weak interaction between protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. The project culminates decades of work

By Jenny Wells and Alicia Gregory

(Left to right): Marios Chatzikos, an assistant research professor in the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy; Maryam Dehghanian, a graduate student in the department; Gary Ferland; and Francisco Guzman, a postdoctoral scholar in the department.

With continuous funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA since 1981, Gary Ferland has developed a special computer code to study how light from distant celestial bodies is produced.

"In astronomy, we (have to be) very clever in figuring out ways to analyze the messages that the stars send us, and the light we receive is difficult to interpret; it's not produced in a simple way," said Ferland, who is a professor in the UK College of Arts and Sciences'

Organizers of Expanding Your Horizons are looking for University of Kentucky students who are interested in being workshop leaders for the 2019 conference. Expanding Your Horizons is a one-day conference on April 20 for middle school girls from across Kentucky. The purpose is to expose them to the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics by taking part in hands-on science workshops.

Women make up only 24 percent of the STEM workforce, and women hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees.

“Many times, girls lack role models in those fields, so they may not realize the variety of career options and opportunities that exist for women,” said Ellen Crocker, a conference organizer and postdoctoral scholar in the UK Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Expanding Your Horizons

By Eliana Shapere

Aaron Jezghani is an inventor — although he wouldn’t call himself that. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in the UK College of Arts & Sciences in precision nuclear physics, focusing on neutron decay and is fascinated by the hands-on nature of experimental physics. Jezghani spends his days designing, building, and testing all types of equipment — everything from high-voltage instruments to computer data systems.

A large part of Jezghani’s doctoral experience has been the opportunities he has had to give numerous national and international talks thanks to receiving travel scholarships from the Huffaker Travel Scholarship, established by Milton Huffaker (B.S. '57, honorary doctorate '13), the UK Graduate School, and the American Physical Society.

“I just look back in awe at everything that has transpired after coming to UK for grad school,” he said. “

By Ellie Wnek

For the most up-to-date schedule, visit https://pa.as.uky.edu/skytalk

You're invited to learn about celestial objects and experience stargazing through a powerful telescope with Kentucky SkyTalks this fall semester.

The 

By Eliana Shapere

“People have been searching for an EDM (Electric Dipole Moment) of the neutron since 1950. We are trying harder and harder to find the needle in the haystack. If it were discovered at the anticipated level of sensitivity and accuracy that experiments can obtain now, it would be completely revolutionary. It would be evidence for physics that we can’t currently describe theoretically.”

Brad Plaster, associate chair and professor of physics in the University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences, lit up as he described his research.

“Protons and neutrons compose the nucleus of atoms. Neutrons have no electric charge. However, they are composed of quarks, subatomic, fractionally charged particles,” he explained. “What the EDM would postulate is that there might be some slight imbalance of positive

By Nick Harling

The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences has named the first recipients of its Inclusion Fellows program, an initiative for faculty interested in actively orchestrating and advancing efforts to build a more inclusive campus.

Fellows can develop and implement scholarly, community-building, pedagogical, mentoring and networking events, initiatives or programming. The fellowship period serves as a professional development opportunity for the fellows, as it enables them to enhance their responsibilities and bring forth new ideas and measures that will positively affect students.

“The overall goal of the Inclusion Fellows Program is to draw on and support faculty to create sustainable change to enhance inclusivity within the college,” Cristina Alcalde, associate dean of inclusion and internationalization, said. “Over the

By Whitney Hale and Jenny Wells

More than 45 of the University of Kentucky's students and recent graduates had the world's most prestigious scholarship, fellowship and internship organizations take note this year. The newest class of highly regarded scholars include UK’s 14th Truman Scholar and first Pickering Fellow.

Helping prepare these UK students and recent alumni to compete for and win such honors is the mission of the UK Office of Nationally Competitive Awards. Under the guidance and leadership of Pat Whitlow, the office identifies and works with young scholars on the application process for large scholastic prizes awarded by regional, national and international sources.

This year UK students and alumni were recognized with the following awards:

By Whitney Hale

University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced that four recent UK graduates and one doctoral student have been offered Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships. The UK recipients are among approximately 1,900 U.S. students who will travel abroad for the 2018-19 academic year.

Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 160 countries.

The UK students awarded Fulbright grants are:

By Blair Hoover Conner

The University of Kentucky recognized exceptional faculty and teaching assistants at the Outstanding Teaching Awards at the 2018 University of Kentucky Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 19, in the Lexmark Room at the Main Building. Recipients of Inclusive Excellence Awards, in partnership with the Office for Institutional Diversity, were also recognized.

UK Provost David Blackwell presented the William B. Sturgill Award, the Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize, the Outstanding Teaching Faculty and Teaching Assistant Awards.

"The diversity of disciplines reflected in the Outstanding Teaching Award winners speaks to the breadth and depth that distinguishes the University of Kentucky," Blackwell said. "But, of course, no matter the discipline, each recipient shares something of lasting importance: the art of great teaching

By Lindsey Piercy

Two University of Kentucky faculty members were honored for their outstanding contributions to teaching and scholarship at the 2018 Provost Awards ceremony held April 19.

Keh-Fei Liu, professor of physics and astronomy, was presented the 2018 Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize, given each year to a faculty member in recognition of outstanding contributions to original research or scholarship, with an emphasis on work produced four years prior to the award.

Dibakar Bhattacharyya, professor of chemical and materials engineering, was presented the 2018 Sturgill Award, given each year to a graduate faculty member who has provided outstanding contributions to graduate education at UK.

Keh-Fei Liu

In his 37 years at UK, Liu has successfully built an internationally recognized research program in

By Kaitlyn Summe

Students from the University of Kentucky's Society of Physics Students (SPS) will host Open Lab Day from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, April 13, in the Chemistry-Physics Building. The event is free and open to all students and faculty wishing to learn more about physics, astronomy and science.

“Attendees will tour active research labs in the physics and astronomy department, hearing from professors and graduate students about work such as fundamental particle research, synthesis of complex materials, and current projects in astronomy,” said Cierra Dany Waller, president of the SPS and mathematics senior and research assistant in the UK College of Arts and Sciences. “There will be a presentation after the

By Jenny Wells

The University of Kentucky will host a public talk on campus next week by John Preskill, the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics and director of the Institute of Quantum Information and Matter at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

The talk, “Quantum Computing and the Entanglement Frontier,” will take place 4:15 p.m. Friday, April 6, at the Don & Cathy Jacobs Science Building Room 121.

Preskill's talk will be the 17th annual van Winter Lecture.  The van Winter Lectures were established in 2001 to honor the memory of Clasine van Winter, who held a professorship in the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1968 until her retirement in 1999.  This year's van Winter Lecture is jointly sponsored by the 

by Susan Odom

Kentucky’s middle school girls and their parents/guardians are invited to join us for the second annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference at the University of Kentucky campus on Saturday, April 21, 2018.  This day of hands-on workshops will give middle school girls the chance to meet STEM role models and get exposure to opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math. This is the second iteration of the conference, which is organized by members of the Colleges of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the College of Engineering.

Co-organizers, including Ellen Crocker (Forestry and Natural Resources) and Carmen Agouridis (Biosystems & Ag Engineering), joined forces to bring Expanding Your Horizons back to UK for a second time. The EYH team is back with more person – in particular, woman! – power than

By Jenny Wells

Three University of Kentucky professors and a postdoctoral researcher in the UK College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Physics and Astronomy were featured in the American Physical Society's (APS) "Physics Highlights of the Year" for 2017.

The research of UK faculty members Keh-Fei Liu and Terry Draper, together with UK postdoc Yi-Bo Yang and their collaborators, was featured for their recent breakthrough in understanding the origin of the proton's "spin."  Through theoretical calculations performed on supercomputing clusters, their work revealed for the first time that 50 percent of the proton's spin arises from gluons, the force carriers of the "strong interaction" that bind quarks together to form the proton

By Whitney Hale

 The University of Kentucky Office of Nationally Competitive Awards has announced five of the university's undergraduate students pursued research in their fields of study this summer with funding from the National Science Foundation-Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) program.

The NSF funds many research opportunities for undergraduate students through its REU Sites program. An REU Site consists of a group of approximately 10 undergraduates who work in the research programs of the host institution. Each student is associated with a specific research project, where he/she works closely with faculty and other researchers. Throughout the NSF-REU program, students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with

By Gail Hairston

Three nuclear physics researchers in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences have been awarded a $1.425 million grant from the Department of Energy Office of Science to explore the universe, without slipping "the surly bonds of Earth."

The principal investigator of the grant is Brad Plaster, associate professor and associate chair of the UK Department of Physics and Astronomy, with co-PIs from his department, Professor Wolfgang Korsch and Associate Professor Christopher Crawford.

The grant will support research on the fundamental symmetries of the universe, using neutrons as the experimental probe. The group hopes to observe violations of time reversal symmetry, which

By Gail Hairston and Jenny Wells

Professor Tom Troland talks total solar eclipse. See full interview here: https://youtu.be/dpXmSyd8UYY.

Imagine humankind at the dawn of civilization, or even earlier. Men, women and children huddle mesmerized, terrified in their ignorance, as a bright sunny day suddenly darkens until the sun vanishes and stars appear in the midday sky. It is dark long enough for night creatures to make an appearance. Imagine the confusion, the panic, the helpless terror that undoubtedly engulfed those people of a darker age who had no idea if their life-giving sun would ever return.

Today, humankind is blessed with the knowledge that when the skies darken and the stars appear midday over a 100-mile-wide swath of the continental United States — including Western

Using observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) telescope, the team analyzed the spatial distribution of 3.6 million stars and found ripples that support evidence of the Milky Way’s ancient impacts.

A team from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Physics and Astronomy has observed evidence of ancient impacts that are thought to have shaped and structured our Milky Way galaxy.

Deborah Ferguson, a 2016 UK graduate, is the lead author on a paper that published this week in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ). Ferguson conducted the research as an undergraduate student with co-authors Susan Gardner, a professor of physics and astronomy in the