Articles from January 2025

Faculty and Staff: Submit grant awards, honors, research publications, accepted talks, and other news items through the faculty and staff news form.
Chorus waves seen from ISS

Chorus Waves Detected in Deep Space

In this Scientific American article, Associate Professor Allison Jaynes discusses peculiar bursts of energy called chorus waves detected in deep space far from our planet. These waves could pose problems for long-distance space travel.
NASA’s four Magnetospheric Multiscale, or MMS, satellites

Jaynes Comments on "Chirping" Cosmic Waves

In this article from the Associated Press, Associate Professor Allison Jaynes comments on chorus waves, which ripple at the same frequency as human hearing. When converted to audio signals, their sharp notes mimic high-pitched bird calls. Researchers have captured such sounds in space before, but now they have sensed the chirping waves from much farther away: over 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) from Earth, where they’ve never been measured before.
NASA Sky Chart

Jaynes Comments on "Parade of Planets"

Iowans who bundle up to brave the evening chill will be able to see a relatively rare event in the January night sky, what some are calling the Parade of Planets. Allison Jaynes, a physics and astronomy professor at the University of Iowa, says Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all shifting into near-alignment, and two more planets — Uranus and Neptune — will join the celestial conga line later this month.
Jun Wang Speaking at AGU

Wang Wins 2024 Joanne Simpson Medal

Jun Wang, University of Iowa’s Lichtenberger Family Chair in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, was awarded the 2024 Joanne Simpson Medal for mid-career scientists in recognition of significant contributions to Earth and space science. Wang has a secondary appointment in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Allison Jaynes and student working on a electronics board

Student Research Opportunities Highlighted in Hawkeyes in Flight Video

Monday, January 6, 2025
In this video, "Hawkeyes at Home: Hawkeyes in Flight," from the University of Iowa Center for Advancement, our faculty and staff discuss the opportunities for physics and astronomy students to do hands-on research.