MTSU fall Friday Star Party series launches Sept. 2 with Jalali calendar

MTSU physics and astronomy lecturer Abdorreza “Abdi” SamarBakhsh, top right, will present the topic “The Unprecedented Accuracy of Omar Khayyam’s Jalali Calendar” starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, in Wiser-Patten Science Hall Room 102 to kick off the fall Star Party series. (Jalali calendar photo illustration courtesy of iraniantours.com; MTSU photo of SamarBakhsh)

Typically held on the first Friday of the month during the semester, the MTSU Department of Physics and Astronomy Friday Star Parties for fall 2022 will feature four events from September until December.

Dr. Abdi SamarBakhsh, MTSU Physics and Astronomy lecturer — Dr. Abdi SamarBakhsh

Lecturer Abdorreza “Abdi” SamarBakhsh launches the series, presenting the topic “The Unprecedented Accuracy of Omar Khayyam’s Jalali Calendar” starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, in Wiser-Patten Science Hall Room 102.

To find free parking behind Wiser-Patten, go here.

All Star Parties are free and open to the public and MTSU community. The format is a 30- to 45-minute lecture followed by a telescope viewing by the MTSU Observatory, weather permitting.

SamarBakhsh said he will “briefly talk about Omar Khayyam’s life and his contributions to astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and poetry.”

Night image of MTSU observatory — Weather permitting, telescope viewing will take place at the MTSU Observatory to wrap up the monthly Physics and Astronomy Friday Star Parties Sept. 2, Oct. 7, Nov. 4 and Dec. 2 this fall. (MTSU file photo)

“As an astronomer, he calculated the duration of the solar year with remarkable precision and accuracy and designed the Jalali Calendar, which is a solar calendar with a very precise 33-year intercalation cycle,” SamarBakhsh said. “His calendar is far more exact and precise than the Gregorian calendar. We will learn why his calendar is so special and how it compares to several other calendars.”

The fall Friday Star Party schedule also will include:

• Oct. 7 — “Meteorite Scars in Tennessee,” led by assistant professor Jana Ruth Ford.

• Nov. 4 — “Cosmology and the Big Bang,” led by professor John Wallin.

• Dec. 2 — Topic to be announced, led by lecturer Irina Perevalova.

For more information about physics and astronomy, one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments, call 615-898-2130.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)