APSU Mondays: NIST Stars program and Chicago Bulls

Here's the latest news from Austin Peay State University.

Students, professor research stars program for better stellar measurements

Dr. J. Allyn Smith, a professor in the Department of Physics, Engineering and Astronomy at Austin Peay State University, and his students have been invited to take part in the NIST Stars program, a research and development initiative led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Smith’s team of undergraduate students will gain valuable research experience while working on the project, which aims to find a way to compare stars by calibrating them to a photodiode rather than to the star Vega - which has long functioned as the baseline for calibrating the photometric brightness scale.

“The ultimate goal is to figure out how bright a star is — how many photons per square centimeter per hertz per second is coming off the surface of that star, or at least coming to Earth,” Smith said. “The undergraduate students will have the opportunity to work with telescopes, imagers and spectrographs, which will help them gain hands-on experience in their field of study.”

Some of that research will happen in Chile, perhaps as early as this summer. Smith is working on extra funding to cover the students’ costs for continuing research opportunities in the NIST program.

The NIST Stars program contributes to technological advancement through innovative research and development in measurement science. The program could help weather and climate research satellites with orbit calibration and assist astronomers with calibrating measurements of dark energy, which “will determine the ultimate fate of our universe,” according to the NIST Stars website.

The NIST Stars website offers resources such as publications, reports and presentations related to the program’s research activities, as well as links to related programs and organizations.

Chicago Bulls tap designer for game day graphic series

Basketball and art have driven Beth Rates since she was 5 years old, and she recently seized the chance to unite her passions by designing an official game day graphic for the Chicago Bulls in celebration of Women’s History Month.

Rates currently works as a graphic designer for the Public Relations and Marketing Department and graduated from the university in 2017. She established herself as a key player for the women’s basketball team as a student, and her career total of 127 blocked shots remains the second highest in program history.

“This was a surreal moment for me, because I grew up loving and playing basketball while also loving art and design,” Rates said. “Being able to put those two things together on such a huge platform for the Chicago Bulls was incredible, and there’s honestly not just one word to describe how amazing it felt.”

Rates said she was provided with several photos, logos and assets for her design and asked to use her personal style. She decided to spotlight Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine because of his strong performance this season.

“My creative process was different than usual because I was nervous, and I knew this was going to be posted on huge platforms,” Rates said. “I sat and looked at some different sports design posters — which I do in my free time anyhow, because I make a lot of edits with my favorite players, and put on some games.”

APSU Mondays content is provided by submissions from APSU News and Communications department.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: austin peay mondays nist stars program and chicago bulls