The Physics and Astronomy Club
Sky Phillips shows interested students the sun through a filtered telescope. (Eric Gorman)
Have you ever wondered if the universe is conscious, how the size of a star determines the way it will die or about the astronomy of the southern hemisphere?
The Saddleback College Physics and Astronomy Club has, and they’ve recruited experts to help satisfy their curiosity.
About once a month, those experts (typically instructors from local colleges) appear as guest speakers who lecture on various topics. Those lectures occur in Room 104 of the Science and Math building.
Dr. Joseph Oliva, an associate professor at Irvine Valley College, will be giving the next lecture on April 13, at 7 p.m., concerning extra-solar planets, or planets not orbiting the sun.
On May 4, the club will be visited by Saddleback’s Physics and Astronomy Instructor, Dr. Hiari, to discuss the Higgs boson, a particle theorized to provide other particles with mass, and is also known as the ‘God particle.’
Lectures are free, open to anyone and he club provides food and beverages for those in attendance.
“We try to get people involved,” said Sky Phillips, 35, astrophysics. “We love physics, we love astronomy and we want to share that with others.”
During the Club Rush last Thursday, the Physics and Astronomy Club teamed up with the Chemistry 4 Life Club to celebrate National Bubble Month. The clubs explained the chemical structures of soap molecules and why bubbles take spherical form.
They brought out a telescope during the Club rush, where attendees were able to view the sun through a filtered lens. Phillips invited interested visitors to join the club and gain access to Saddleback’s observatory when they meet to study the night sky.
The club’s publicist Gannon Gesiriech, 20, electrical engineering, described the club as, “a group of intellectuals who enjoy examining the intricacies of the universe here at Saddleback.”
Here is the Physics and Astronomy Club’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SBastroclub
The Chemistry 4 Life Club’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/chemforlife
This is the link to the Saddleback Clubs homepage: http://www.saddleback.edu/clubs/