The MTSU Department of Physics and Astronomy Star Parties for spring 2022 continue Friday, April 1.

Lecturer Neda Naseri will bring “Mysteries of Cosmic Rays” to the audience starting at 6:30 p.m. in Room 102 of Wiser-Patten Science Hall. The event helps kick off the MTSU Spring Showcase presented by the Alumni Association.

An illustration of “air showers” that result when ultra-high-energy cosmic rays strike the top of the Earth’s atmosphere and collide with air nuclei, producing other particles before reaching the ground. MTSU Physics and Astronomy lecturer Neda Naseri will discuss “Mysteries of Cosmic Rays” during the Friday Star Party starting at 6:30 p.m. April 1 in Wiser-Patten Science Hall Room 102. The event is free and open to the public. (Image courtesy of Asimmetrie/INFN, via CERN)

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

MTSU students, staff and faculty, and children are welcome. Because of the continuing pandemic, the wearing of masks is recommended but not required.

Dr. Neda Naseri

Regarding her presentation, Naseri wonders “how much do we really know about the universe beyond our galaxy? What if I tell you there are space messengers bringing us data from distant parts of the universe? These high energy space messengers are called cosmic rays.”

Naseri said her talk will answer some of the following questions: What are cosmic rays? Who discovered them? Where do they come from? How are they energized to such high energies? How to detect them? Where do we go from there?

The spring Star Party schedule also will include:

• May 6 — “The Tour of Other Worlds,” led by lecturer Irina Perevalova.

Free parking is available behind Wiser-Patten Science Hall. To find parking, click here. To reach campus, follow East Main Street to the MTSU entrance, take Blue Raider Drive past the Cope Administration Building and Old Main Circle. Turn left onto Friendship Street and left into the second parking lot. Wiser-Patten is the second building on the right.

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)