Auburn postdoctoral researcher observing rare green comet that even amateur sky watchers can see in northern sky

A rare green comet is about to pass by Earth, and soon everyone will have a chance to see it. 

“This comet is an astronomical gift,” said Youssef Moulane, a postdoctoral researcher in Auburn University’s Department of Physics.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was discovered in March of last year by the Zwicky Transient Facility, or ZTF, in California, a 48-inch telescope and camera system designed to scan the entire sky looking for moving objects like asteroids and comets.

On Feb. 2, it will be at its closest point near Earth about 26 million miles away, which is only about a third of the distance from the Earth to the sun.

COSAM OIED announces 2022 Inclusive Excellence in STEM Award winners

The COSAM Office of Inclusion, Equity and Diversity (OIED) has announced the winners of the 2022 Inclusive Excellence in STEM award, recognizing two faculty members and one graduate student who have shown exemplary efforts to promote inclusion and diversity. Vanessa dos Reis Falcao, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Cissy Ballen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, are the faculty awardees, and Ashley Williams, PhD candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences, is the graduate student awardee.

Recruiting trip to national laboratory leaves lasting impression on students

Nine students — six from Auburn Engineering and three from the College of Sciences and Mathematics — toured one of the world’s largest three-dimensional particle accelerators, got an up-close view of the world’s most powerful magnet, and even controlled robots.

More important, they were interviewed for potential internship and career opportunities.

An eye-opening visit to the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, N.M., Dec. 11-14, provided an introduction into an expanding scientific world with a better understanding of what working in a national laboratory might resemble.

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