Professor’s ‘Marvel Style’ Star Party opens MTSU spring series

MTSU professor Eric Klumpe is again providing fun and entertaining lectures during the Department of Physics and Astronomy’s series of Star Parties.

For the kickoff to the spring Star Party season, Klumpe “will be extending the ‘Funky Fizix in Film’ series I have been doing for the past five years or so to do a similar series about the physics portrayed in the Marvel movies,” he said.

MTSU Star Party presenter Eric Klumpe’s “Marvel Style” Feb. 7 talk will feature the physics of collisions. (MTSU file photo by Andy Heidt)

Klumpe’s “Physics 101 Marvel Style” Star Party will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, in Room 102 of Wiser-Patten Science Hall. The free event is open to the public and MTSU community, and children are welcome. Weather permitting, attendees will participate in a telescope viewing outdoors, so participants should dress accordingly.

Star Parties are a way for the department to bring MTSU, Murfreesboro and surrounding communities together.

“The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a very successful franchise. It has a huge fan base,” Klumpe said, adding that his talk will include “the physics of collisions” — with a host of Marvel characters as illustrated in the “Avengers” movies from which to choose.

“It is appropriate for all ages,” Klumpe said. “No previous knowledge of physics is required to follow the presentation. It is going to be a fun time.”

Other Star Parties this spring include:

• March 20 — professor John Wallin presents “Stone Circles and Archeoastronomy.”

• April 3 — lecturer Neda Naseri presents “Astrophysical Shocks.”

• May 1 — lecturer Greggory McPherson presents “The Search for Water in the Solar System.”

To find free parking after 6 p.m. and Wiser-Patten, go online to https://www.mtsu.edu/parking/2019ParkingMap.pdf. Handicap parking requires a state permit.

Including physics and astronomy, MTSU has more than 300 combined undergraduate and graduate programs. Physics and astronomy are one of 11 College of Basic and Applied Sciences departments.

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