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The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers three degree programs: 
  • an AB with a major in Physics,
  • a BS with a major in Physics
  • a BS with a combined major in Physics and Astronomy
It also offers Physics courses for the BS in Education degree with certification in Physics.


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Ward Beecher Planetarium link

New:
The 2010 Program Schedule is now online


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Jeff Carroll

Jeff Carroll holds a radiation detector used in his research on nuclear isomers under a three-year, $1.09 million grant from the US Department of Defense.  Carroll, along with Chemistry's Tim Wagner and Allen Hunter, was featured in a story about YSU's record-breaking grant funding in the Fall 2009 issue of YSU Magazine. The full story ...

Dr. Carroll also co–authored an article in the premier physics publication, Physical Review Letters. Other authors included Ron Propri, former YSU undergraduate student, and Phil Ugorowski, former post–doc in the YSU Isomer Physics Project, as well as colleagues from Yale, Michigan State University, Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Poland and Turkey. The discovery was also highlighted by the American Physical Society on the Physical Review Letters web site and has been discussed in numerous plenary and invited talks around the world.


Jim Andrews and Tom Oder
Jim Andrews (left) and Tom Oder with the new microscope.

A new microscope that can make surface profile measurements on the order of a billionth of a meter is now part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at YSU. For the entire story, go to YSU's eUpdate


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Curt Spivey

A New Face in the
Planetarium:
Curt Spivey

Curt was born and raised in Columbus and graduated from Ohio State with a bachelor’s degree in astronomy in 1992. He began work at the Center for Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus as an Outreach Demonstrator and worked there for 4 years. 

He then moved to Charleston, WV in 1996, where he was the Planetarium Coordinator for Sunrise Museum. This planetarium was opened in 1962. It consisted of a Spitz A3P under a 24-foot dome that seated 60 visitors. 

The Sunrise Museum moved to a new facility in downtown Charleston in 2003 and became the Avampato Discovery Museum. Here, Curt became ElectricSky™ Theater Manager and operated a Spitz ElectricSky I system. The eSky I consisted of a Spitz SpaceVoyager starball with over 10,000 stars, 3 CRT video projectors, and a series of slide projectors that worked in tandem to cover the dome with imagery. The theater also housed a giant screen film projector. The ElectricSky™ Theater had a 60-foot tilted dome that accomodated 175 visitors in stadium-style seating. 

In 2007, Curt headed south to Hickory, NC and opened the Millholland Planetarium for the Catawba Science Center. This was a brand new 30-foot dome with 65 seats and featured the Konica-Minolta MediaGlobe II full-dome video planetarium system. The facility also featured the AVI SkyLase all-dome laser system. More than 20,000 visitors saw shows in the Millholland Planetarium in each of its first two years of operation. 

Curt is happily married to Vicki and has three cats – Perseus, Merope and Cassandra. In his non-working hours, Curt enjoys movies, football and hockey (as a spectator), reading and fencing (as a participant), and the Outer Banks (whenever he can!)

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William G. Sturrus, Chair, Department of Physics & Astronomy 
c. 2001-10 Department of Physics & Astronomy, Youngstown State University
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