Schrödinger’s Tiger The Clemson University Physics and Astronomy Newsletter

Fall 2017 Volume 12, Issue 2

In This Issue: Eclipse over Clemson Chairman’s Message Graduate Students Have Special Eclipse Viewing at Yellowstone First Astrophysics Graduate Returns for Eclipse Clemson Researchers Wage the Fight against “The Emperor of All Maladies” Biophysics Group Has Strong Conference Presence in 2017 Terry Tritt Garners Class of ‘39 Award for Excellence Solar System Could Have Formed in Giant Star Bubble Department News

Eclipse over Clemson

Fifty-thousand people on the Clemson University

campus craned their necks skyward at 2:37 p.m. on

Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, to gaze at a natural phe-

nomenon that hasn’t happened in the United States

for 100 years: a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse.

Nearly all the United States and large parts of

Mexico and Canada experienced part of the eclipse,

but Clemson was about three miles from being in

the exact middle of the 67-mile wide path of totality,

the darkest swath of the moon’s shadow that fell on

Oregon and trekked across mountains and prairies

and South Carolina beaches before fading into the

Atlantic Ocean.

Totality over Memorial Stadium

Credit: Ken Scar, Clemson

Roiling thunderclouds threatened to dampen the spectacle in the hour leading up to the

eclipse, but the clouds parted, the skies cleared and the moon crept slowly between Earth

and the sun, 93 million miles away, like a moth floating in front of a flame. “For many, a

total solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and to experience this incredible phenome-

non with our students and thousands of visitors was truly special,” Clemson President

James P. Clements said. “I’m very appreciative of our faculty and our eclipse planning

team, who shared their expertise and devoted considerable time over the summer in order

to make Clemson one of the very best places in the country to view the eclipse.”

Indeed, the totality, which lasted two minutes and 37 seconds, required months of plan-

ning led by Amber Porter, a lecturer in physics and astronomy who received her doctor-

ate from Clemson in 2016, and Jim Melvin, director of communications for the College

of Science. The timing of the eclipse couldn’t have been better in terms of drawing a

crowd. Clemson students and their families spent the days leading up to the eclipse mov-

ing into dorms and returning to town, preparing for the start of the fall semester. Convo-

cation, which welcomed thousands of first-year, transfer and graduate students, took place

earlier on eclipse day; broadcaster and author Jay Allison was the invited speaker.

But the eclipse was the big draw, as people traveled to Clemson from across the eastern

half of the U.S., from Orono, Maine, to Miami, Florida; and from London, Israel,

Australia and other locations around the globe. Hotel rooms were booked months in ad-

vance, and homes and apartments typically rented for football weekends were sold out.

The day was an opportunity to celebrate science and Clemson’s recent elevation to a

Carnegie Tier One research university.

Continued on page 3

2

Creating a Legacy — Giving to Clemson Physics & Astronomy

You can create a lasting legacy through your donation to the Clemson University Physics and Astronomy Depart-

ment Foundation. Endowments to Clemson assure the best faculty, the brightest students and the most creative

research projects. A substantial endowment can transform a good university into a great one. As a non-profit

organization, the Foundation is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS Code, as

amended. The Foundation has been classified by the IRS as a public charity operated for the benefit of a state

university as defined in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Section 170(b)(1)(A)(iv). Contributions to the Univer-

sity through the Foundation by individuals, corporations, organizations and other foundations qualify as tax de-

ductions. There are several ways to donate. You may send a check to the Clemson University Foundation, P.O.

Box 1889, Clemson, SC 29633. Checks should be made payable to the Clemson University Foundation with

Physics and Astronomy specified on the memo line. Alternately, you may visit the Clemson website: https://

cualumni.clemson.edu/give/cos and make a secure electronic donation. Again, please specify that the donation

go the Physics & Astronomy Department and indicate to which project you would like to donate. Thank you, as

always, for your continued support of the Department. You may contact the Annual Giving Office at (864) 656-

5896, should you have any questions regarding your donations. If you have other questions you may contact the

Department directly at (864) 656-3416.

A Message from the Department Chair

We started the semester off a very time preparing for the Great American Eclipse of 2017 and had thou-

sands of visitors to campus that day. Several of our faculty gave presentations, including Drs. Amber

Porter, Dieter Hartmann, Mark Leising and Sean Brittain. Dr. Don Liebenberg, related experiences

from the many solar eclipses that he has experienced. These are on the university website under the

Liebenberg Chronicles. Afterwards, we hosted a reception for the many students who worked to prepare for

the day, as well as alumni who came for the occasion. These included Ph.D. alumni from the 1970s: Bob

and Beverly Taylor, and the 1980s: Bob Lear and Tracy Davis. One of our former undergraduates, Eliza-

beth Stillwell was present, as well as former Ph.D. student, Dr. Jennifer Graff. We also welcomed three

new faculty members: Dr. Mate Adamkovics (astrophysics), Dr. Jianbo Gao (condensed matter) and this

spring Dr. Stephen Kaeppler (atmospheric physics). Long-time faculty member, Dr. Phil Flower, retired

in May, and we thank him for his years of service. Our graduate recruiting season was successful, and we

welcomed fifteen new graduate teaching assistants and the equivalent number of new undergraduates for

the fall. Dr. Feng Ding (biophysics) was promoted to associate professor in August. Dr. Feng Ding was

awarded the Outstanding Young Researcher Award and Dr. Amy Pope the Outstanding Lecturer Award

for the College of Science. Drs. Mark Leising and Endre Takacs were part of the 2017 Innovation SC

Award, along with graduate student and CEO Don Medlin. In July of 2016, the new College of Science

(COS) was formed, with Dr. Mark Leising serving as interim dean and its “founding father.” In August, a

new dean, Dr. Cynthia Young, took the helm, and we are excited about her leadership. I will continue as

Chair, until I retire in June 2018. As always, the time and efforts that our alumni give to the Department

of Physics and Astronomy is very much appreciated. Currently, our Physics Foundation Fund is at a very

low level — in fact, a historically low level. I am personally asking you to help your department by giving

generously. There are several ways to donate, indicated in the section below.

Dr. Terry M. Tritt, Department Chair

Alumni Distinguished Professor of Physics

Voice: (864) 656-3419/email: ttritt@clemson.edu

3

Clemson participated in a national research project called Citizen CATE, sponsored by the National Solar

Observatory. Astronomy professor Sean Brittain trained a telescope on the eclipse from the rooftop ter-

race of the Watt Family Innovation Center and captured photographs for the project. His was one of 68

telescopes positioned across the country in the path of totality, each taking 1,000 images. The result will

be a “scientifically unique data set: high-resolution, rapid-cadence white light images of the inner corona

for 90 minutes,” according to the project’s website. The University of Maine sent a team of students to

campus with three weather balloons, which floated more than 100,000 feet into the stratosphere stream-

ing images of Earth and the moon’s shadow.

University of Maine researchers prepare a balloon

for launch. Credit: Ashley Jones, Clemson

A team from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

in Daytona Beach, Florida, set up a GPS (global posi-

tioning satellite) antenna on the roof of Kinard Hall

to measure how the quick shift from sunlight to

darkness affects the ionosphere, which, in turn,

could affect the accuracy of GPS signals. More than

20 media outlets from around the country descended

on Clemson. National outlets such as The Weather

Channel, National Public Radio, the NBC

Newschannel, the Washington Post, FOX News and

Scientific American were all reporting during the

eclipse, as were Spanish-language networks

Telemundo and Mundo Hispánico.

A spectator prepares his camera for the

eclipse. Credit: Craig Mahaffey, Clemson

According to Joe Mazer, director of Clemson’s Social Media

Listening Center, which monitors social media activity from 150

million sources worldwide, the terms #eclipse and #clemson to-

gether were mentioned 5.37 million times on Eclipse Day. A

crowd of about 20,000 filled the south lawn behind Cooper Li-

brary and between the Watt Family Innovation Center and the

Academic Success Center in 90-plus degree heat.

The main stage featured a diverse lineup of speakers, including

Porter; Mark Leising, professor of astronomy and physics;

eclipse-chaser and umbraphile Rick Brown from New York;

Clements; and Melvin, who read a poem, “Eclipse,” by southern

author Ron Rash. Another 30,000 or more spectators congre-

gated in other open areas of campus, including Bowman Field, the amphitheater and the dikes lining

Lake Hartwell. The crowds cheered the moon — or the sun in the moments before totality — as raucously

as for a Clemson Tigers’ touchdown and erupted in loud applause at the moment of totality. Just as pre-

dicted, the sun shone through the gaps between the mountains of the moon’s horizon, creating a beading

effect on the circle of light that seeped around the moon. Small crescent shadows clustered along the

ground. As a momentary nighttime fell, crickets chirped, cicadas clattered and bats took to the air as dark-

ness fell and a bright, 360-degree Clemson-orange sunset appeared on the horizon. Swaths of brilliant

white light soared from behind the moon, and the glare of a “diamond ring” emerged as the moon slowly

left the sun’s path.

Continued on next page

Wanda Johnson, a strategic communication specialist who coordinated much of the media logistics, said

one news crew came from Slovakia.

4

Clemson Tigers will always remember the year 2017 for not only winning the NCAA football champion-

ship, but also witnessing the Great American Solar Eclipse. Along with Clemson, there were many more

places in the path of totality, which geared up for observing this rare event. One of these locations which

fell in this path was in the state of Idaho. The organizers of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) saw

this opportunity and scheduled a meeting in Idaho to make sure the attendees got a view of the eclipse.

One visitor noted a sense of shared experience and community that’s often missing today as people accus-

tomed to staring downward at phones and other devices looked skyward in unison in awe. As the moon

gave way to the sun, two and a half minutes after totality began, the Clemson campus again grew brightly

lit. The crowds packed up their blankets and camp chairs, stowed their telescopes and homemade pinhole

cameras, parents took their children’s hands and they moved slowly back toward their individual lives.

By Clinton Colmenares, Clemson Media Relations

Some of us had planned to attend this meeting and

saw it as an extended opportunity to visit the Yellow-

stone National Park and the Grand Teton National

Park, the latter of which lay on the path of totality!

Three of us (two graduate students: Abhishek Desai,

Lea Marcotulli and postdoc Amanpreet Kaur)

planned a week of camping at these national parks

before heading to the meeting. This began by four

days of camping at the Yellowstone, which, without

any doubt, was an amazing experience. We hiked

during our first four days at the Yellowstone and it

provided us an opportunity to see wildlife in their

natural habitat, i.e. bears, bisons, and deer.

The trip also included visiting geysers, hot springs,

and waterfalls. Every night, we lay down to look at

the beautiful sky, watching satellites, recognizing

some constellations, and finding planets. This was

a very astronomical kind of an event for us. This

was followed by two days of camping in the Grand

Teton National Park, which is where we planned to

watch the eclipse. These last two days were quite

adventurous, since we didn’t have any camping site

booked. On the first night, we slept in our car and

heard some howling, most likely from wolves.

The night before the eclipse, we camped in the wild, which had nothing but a stream nearby. Staying out

in the wild for almost a week gave us a sense of a true closeness to nature, which we all enjoyed thorough-

ly. More importantly, we had an additional reward of looking at the eclipse in this amazing natural envi-

ronment, which was icing on the cake. Continued on next page

Physics and Astronomy Grad Students Experience Eclipse at Yellowstone

Graduate students Abhishek Desai, Lea

Marcotulli, and post-doc Amanpreet Kaur pose

at park entrance.

In addition to witnessing the eclipse, the Clemson

students enjoyed beautiful park vistas.

5

Tom is deeply involved in data visualization and had seen an eclipse before, but when he realized that to-

tality of the 2017 event was going to pass right through his alma mater he called us and said: "I am coming

with my wife Mary to see the eclipse with you guys, and I am willing to help in any way I can." And that he

did. Sunday prior to E-day he presented a public lecture entitled "The Cosmos in Your Pocket," in which

he linked technological developments to advances in our understanding of the Universe. In his descrip-

tion of the talk he wrote, "Astronomy provides a laboratory for extreme physics, a window into environ-

ments at extremes of distance, temperature and density that often can't be reproduced in Earth laborato-

ries, or at least not right away. A surprising amount of the science we understand today started out as solu-

tions to problems in astronomy. Some of this science was key in the development of many technologies

which we enjoy today." His talk was well attended and everyone enjoyed his enthusiastic delivery. On E-

day, Tom gave interviews to the BBC and engaged with the general public in one of the "Ask a Scientist"

booths set up by our students and faculty. Eventually he set up his camera in the area we had for amateur

astronomers. He enjoyed the great show nature provided, got some great pictures and interacted with

many fellow eclipse enthusiasts. After the eclipse viewing, he gave a technical seminar on his visualization

work to our gradate students before driving back north to Washington, D.C., with fond memories of his

Clemson visit and the solar corona.

As anyone who has witnessed the eclipse knows, this particular event is one of the best one can witness in

their lifetime. We geared up for watching the eclipse from a plain ground surrounded by trees and moun-

tains at a distance, with a small creek nearby near our camping site. This meant the only sounds that were

heard were that of the water, some birds and us, all eagerly waiting to watch the sky to turn dark. There

were some other people, who had also camped nearby to watch the eclipse. The beginning of the event was

marked by exciting cheers from us and other people who had come from different parts of the world to

witness this special event in the midst of the full glory of nature. As the moon slowly covered the sun the

excitement in all us increased exponentially waiting for what we knew was going to come next. This period

of waiting for the totality to occur was wonderful. Not only you hear the nearby wildlife getting confused,

birds flying back home, but you also feel yourself going back in time to becoming that little kid who always

dreamed of visualizing something like this while looking at the starry sky. The excitement when the totality

was achieved (around 11:36 a.m.) cannot be explained in words. The whole magical moment was unforget-

table and is deeply embedded in us, never to be forgotten. Once the moon moved away from the sun and

everything was returning back to normal, the wildlife was heaving a sound of relief. This fun experience

increases by leaps and bounds when you have a really fun group that keeps one another entertained by

Italian lessons, following ducks, looking for otters, blowing dandelions, looking at bears from a horribly

far distance, or just driving through the forest with landscapes and sceneries that are used as desktop wall-

papers. In nutshell, this experience was no less than a dream. Now tell us, when are you planning your

Yellowstone trip? By Amanpreet Kaur, Lea Marcotulli and Abhishek Desai

Department’s First Astrophysics Graduate Returns for Eclipse

The 2017 solar eclipse was a truly unforgettable event, and

hopefully you were here to join us for this delight. Among

the ~50,000 spectators was Dr. Tom Bridgman (NASA), the

first graduate of our astrophysics program established by Dr.

Donald D. Clayton, who recruited its founding members to

Clemson in the early 1990s. Dr. Tom Bridgman at “The Cosmos in

Your Pocket”

6

Bishwambhar is working on developing a Monte Carlo

simulation of the Gamma-ART6000 radiosurgery device.

This is a critical step in the development of new opera-

tional modalities of the machine.

The Fight against the Emperor of All Maladies

The grand entrance to the University of

Debrecen

Cancer is a disease that involves abnormal growth of

cells with the potential to invade other parts of the

body. Every year, it causes around 8 million deaths

which are projected to increase to 13 million by 2030.

The medical physics group of Endre Takacs, in the

Department of Physics and Astronomy at Clemson

University, is currently doing research that is directly

involved with cancer treatment. Radiosurgery is a non-

invasive outpatient procedure where finely focused

beams of radiation are used to destroy cancer cells

within the body. It requires high dosimetric and locali-

zation precision, and there are only a few types of

devices worldwide that are capable of such a procedure. This summer, Bishwambhar Sengupta, a gradu-

ate student of the medical physics group, was given the opportunity to work with one such radiosurgery

device at the University of Debrecen in Hungary.

The Rotating Gamma Institute in Debrecen uses a

Gamma-ART6000 radiosurgery system for treating pa-

tients. The device has 30 Co-60 sources and the treat-

ment is overseen by neurosurgeons and physicists. It pro-

duces a minimum possible focal point size of 4mm. Each

treatment is completed within one to two hours, and

several thousands of patients have been treated at the

center since its establishment in 2007.

During his stay in Hungary, he had the opportunity to work closely with neurosurgeons, nurses, and physi-

cists, all of whom gave him a rare insight into the entire treatment process.

“It was a great experience to observe the entire operation, from calibration of the device, to daily quality

checks, and the treatment procedure itself. When we work with codes, we tend to overlook the human

factor involved in the process. This experience allowed me to look at the bigger picture,” noted

Bishwambhar who spent seven weeks working at the Rotating Gamma Institute. According to

Bishwambhar, the team at the Gamma Institute was really friendly and welcoming. They made sure his

stay and research went smoothly.

Beyond research, his stay also coincided with a local music and cultural festival, which added to his cultur-

al experience and also gave him the opportunity to travel across Europe.

Bishwambar Sengupta poses with the team

at the Rotating Gamma Institute.

7

The 61st Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society was held

in New Orleans in February, and it brought together leading

scientists from all over the world who work at the interface of

life, physical, and computational sciences. The dynamic five-day

meeting provided attendees with opportunities to share their

latest findings and learn the newest emerging techniques and

applications.

The meeting drew 6,500 attendees and featured over 2,500

poster presentations and 500 speakers, as well as many career

development, advocacy, and education programs. The meeting

was highlighted by a National Lecture given by Nobel Laureate

Dr. Eric Betzig about his work in super-resolution microscopy.

The Annual Meeting of American Chemical Society (ACS) was

held in Washington, D.C. in August. The ACS national meet-

ings occur twice a year in various cities around the U.S., and

each one attracts many researchers, graduate and undergradu-

ate students, and other related professionals. Dr. Emil Alexov

organized a three-day symposium titled “Revealing the Effects

Associated with Molecular Recognition.”

The symposium included thirty-six invited speakers from six

countries and attracted many attendees.

Left to right Mr. Yunhui Peng, Mr.

Junyan Ma, Mr. Subash Godar, Dr.

Joshua Alper, Mr. Bo Wang, Dr. Hugo

Sanabria and Dr. Emil Alexov

In total, the biophysics group from Clemson contributed nine symposia, platform, and poster presenta-

tions. Dr. Hugo Sanabria was invited by the program organizers to chair and present his research at the

Single Molecule Membrane Protein Dynamics session. His talk, hosted in Great Hall A, was titled

“Submillisecond Dynamics of the NMDA Receptor.” His group had four contributions, including a poster

from Junyan Ma, “Dynamic Equilibrium of the TPP Riboswitch as Observed by FRET.” Dr. Joshua Alper

contributed a presentation “The Coordination and Regulation of Axonemal Dynein” in a session on kine-

sins, dyneins, and other microtubule-based motors. Dr. Ding’s group was also well represented at the

meeting. His student, Bo Wang, presented a poster titled “Brushed Polyethylene Glycol and Phosphory-

lcholine as Promising Grafting Agents against Protein Binding.” Another Dr. Ding student, Xinwei Ge,

gave a talk on “Mesoscopic Properties and Molecular Mechanisms of IAPP Amyloid Inhibition and Re-

modeling with Small Molecules.” Yunhui Peng, from the Alexov group, presented a poster on

“Computational Investigation of Proton Transfer, pKa Shifts and pH-Optimum of Protein-DNA and Pro-

tein-RNA Complexes.”

Strong Presence of the Biophysics Group at Strong Presence of the Biophysics Group at Strong Presence of the Biophysics Group at Strong Presence of the Biophysics Group at International and National Meetings in 2017International and National Meetings in 2017International and National Meetings in 2017International and National Meetings in 2017

2017 was a very successful year for the biophysics group in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

This is particularly true for our students and postdoctoral researchers who finished their training: Dr. Lin

Li, a former postdoc in the Alexov Lab and research assistant professor in the Department, started his

own research group as a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Texas El Paso, and Dr. Bo

Wang, a former graduate student in the Ding Lab, is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Albert Einstein

College of Medicine in New York City.

Left to right: Yanting Xing, Zhe Jia,

Arghya Chakravorty and Yunhui Peng

8

In addition to the participation at national and international meetings, the biophysics group hosted a na-

tional workshop titled “The Future of Integrative Structural Biology” on April 29th at the Watt Family

Innovation Center on Clemson’s campus. The event was chaired by Dr. Hugo Sanabria and was co-

chaired by Dr. Joshua Alper, and was attended by many members of biophysics. At the workshop, inter-

nationally recognized experts from across the U.S. presented the latest developments in structural biology,

including cryo-electron microscopy, the methodology that was recognized by the Nobel Committee for the

2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Presentations from the biophysics group included a poster from Subash

Godar, a graduate student in the Alper lab, “Single Molecule Study of Dynein Processivity Using

The Computational Biophysics to Systems Biology (CBSB2017) Workshop, was held in Cincinnati in

May, and it brought together researchers from across the U.S. to discuss the development of biofuels, nov-

el drugs, and the understanding of cancer, Alzheimer's and other amyloid diseases, all of which require

insight into the molecular machinery of cells. In total, the biophysics group from Clemson contributed

three symposia, platform, and poster presentations. At this workshop, Dr. Jia was awarded the “Best Con-

tributed Talk Award,” and Arghya Chakravorty’s talk was acknowledged with the “Outstanding Young

Researcher Award.”

Participants at the Future of Integrative

Structural Biology Workshop

In total, the biophysics group from Clemson contributed four symposia, platform, and poster presenta-

tions. Dr. Zhe Jia, a postdoctoral researcher in the Alexov lab, presented an invited talk “Revealing Sig-

naling Pathway in Integrin Alpha-2 I Domain,” which addressed the question of how the distant sites in a

particular biomolecule control the function of the active site. Yunhui Peng, a graduate student in the

Alexov lab, presented an invited talk “Developing a Method for Predicting Protein-DNA Binding Free

Energy Changes,” in which he showed that computational predictions based on the first principles of

physics better represent the physical reality associated with protein-DNA interactions. Another graduate

student, Yanting Xing, from the Ding lab, presented an invited talk titled "The Effects of Homologous

Proteins on IAPP Amyloid Aggregation, Fibril Remodeling, and Cytotoxicity.” The talk reflected her work

on understanding the molecular mechanisms of Type 2 diabetes. Arghya Chakravorty, a graduate student

from the Alexov lab, presented a poster titled “Modeling Electrostatic Potential around Proteins: Role of

Bound Ions and implications for Zeta Potential.” His poster was selected as one of the top 20% presenta-

tions within the colloid division, and was later presented at the Sci-Mix.

Ultra-fast Long-range Optical Tweezers,” a poster from

Junyan Ma, a graduate student in the Sanabria lab, on

his work on the TPP riboswitch, a poster from Dr. Zhe

Jia, a postdoctoral researcher in Alexov lab, "Forces and

Disease: Electrostatic Force Differences Caused by Mu-

tations in Kinesin Motor Domains Can Distinguish

between Disease-causing and Harmless Mutations,"

which showed that electrostatic forces in biomolecules

can discriminate disease-causing from harmless muta-

tions.

Yunhui Peng, a graduate student in Alexov lab, gave a

poster “Predicting Binding Free Energy Change upon

Missense Mutations in Protein-DNA Interactions Using Modified MM/PBSA Approach,” a novel method

to assess binding free energy changes in protein-DNA macromolecular complexes.

For more information on the biophysics group at Clemson, please visit: http://www.clemson.edu/

science/departments/physics-astro/research/biophysics.html.

9

Department Chair Garners

Class of ‘39 Award for Excellence

Twenty years ago, Terry Tritt taught his first class as a Clemson faculty

member. It was a general physics course, packed with hundreds of under-

graduate science and engineering students – and when Tritt cracked a joke,

his audience wasn’t moved. “Everybody was looking at me real seriously.

Nobody was smiling. And I thought: ‘What have I done? What am I doing

here?’”, Tritt said.

Prior to that day, Tritt had spent eleven years as a Department of Defense

scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, working on a foundation

in physics that he received – from start (B.A., 1980) to finish (Ph.D., 1985) – at Clemson University.

Tritt’s time at the Naval Research Lab fulfilled his desire to see other places and experience new heights

and challenges, but when the call came in 1996 to fill a faculty position in Clemson’s department of phys-

ics and astronomy, Tritt couldn’t say no.

Twenty years later, Tritt is the chair of the department of physics and astronomy and has a long list of

shining achievements, culminating in his being named the 2017 recipient of the Class of ’39 Award for

Excellence. He joins a group of twenty-eight other honorary Class of ’39 members whose contributions are

representative of “the highest achievements of service to the student body, university and community, state

or nation.”

“I just can’t tell you how personally gratifying it is to have won this award,” Tritt said. “This is, in my opin-

ion, the highest honor as a Clemson faculty member, to be elected to the elite group of Class of ’39 mem-

bers.” Tritt was selected for the award by the Faculty Senate at its November 14th meeting and received the

award at the December commencement ceremony. Tritt’s name will be engraved in the Class of ’39 Bell

Tower in the Carillion Gardens in a ceremony slated for January of 2018. He will also receive a monetary

award equal to the value of $5,000 in 1989 – the year the Award for Excellence was established.

Dubbed by 2003 award winner Cathy Sturkie as the “Clem-FUN” group, the Class of ’39 members hold a

reunion every year to honor their newest member and remember those who have passed away. Tritt will be

officially inducted into the group at its next reunion, scheduled for June 8, 2018 in Kresge Hall at the

Clemson University Outdoor Lab. Tritt said that if he had to choose between becoming a Class of ’39

member or being elected to a national academy, he’d rather have the former.

“It’s just that special to me,” Tritt said. “After getting my education from here and becoming an alumni

professor, then becoming chair, now this – I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’ve achieved more than I

could have ever imagined when I was an undergrad walking the halls of Kinard.”

In research, Tritt helped pioneer the field of thermoelectrics, a renewable energy that turns heat into elec-

tricity. He’s graduated twenty-one doctoral students in physics – seven of whom were women – and taught

hundreds of undergraduates in classrooms across campus. In 2009, Tritt was named an Alumni Distin-

guished Professor of Physics and Astronomy – one of eighteen such members at Clemson – and became

chair of the department in 2016. All the while, his work has helped put Clemson’s name on the map in

areas such as materials physics and condensed matter physics in energy-related materials.

Continued on next page

Dr. Terry Tritt poses in

front of the Wall of Honor.

10

Our Solar System Could Have Formed Our Solar System Could Have Formed Our Solar System Could Have Formed Our Solar System Could Have Formed in Bubble around Giant Starin Bubble around Giant Starin Bubble around Giant Starin Bubble around Giant Star

Despite the many impressive discoveries humans have made about the

universe, scientists are still unsure about the birth story of our solar

system.

Scientists with the University of Chicago and Clemson University have

laid out a comprehensive theory for how our solar system could have

formed in the wind-blown bubbles around a giant, long-dead star. Pub-

lished Dec. 22, 2017, in the Astrophysical Journal, the study addresses a

nagging cosmic mystery about the abundance of two elements in our

solar system compared to the rest of the galaxy.

The general prevailing theory is that our solar system formed billions of years ago near a supernova. But

the new scenario instead begins with a giant type of star called a Wolf-Rayet star, which is more than forty

to fifty times the size of our own sun. They burn the hottest of all stars, producing tons of elements which

are flung off the surface in an intense stellar wind. As the Wolf-Rayet star sheds its mass, the stellar wind

plows through the material that was around it, forming a bubble structure with a dense shell.

“The shell of such a bubble is a good place to produce stars, because dust and gas become trapped inside

where they can condense into stars,” said coauthor Nicolas Dauphas, professor in the Department of Ge-

ophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. The authors estimate that 1 percent to 16 percent of all

Wolf-Rayet star with distinctive

blue bubble. Credit: NASA

When asked what his own crowning moments were from his time at Clemson, Tritt recalled the students

he’s taught and mentored over the years, both undergraduate and graduate. “My most memorable, spe-

cial moments at Clemson have been walking down the aisle to put a hood on one of the Ph.D. students

that I’ve graduated. I feel so close to them – it’s like an extended family, and I want to see them go on

and do well.” Tritt is especially proud of the female doctoral students he’s graduated, given that only

about ten percent of Ph.D. scientists in physics are female. “I graduated well above that number,” Tritt

said. “Female students I’ve advised have always felt that there was a blind eye to gender in my group.

Much was expected, and you did as much, so they felt very welcomed, and I’m proud of that. I even gave

one away at her wedding.” The first grant he ever received, the first paper he ever got published, and an

invited review on the state of thermoelectrics – published this fall in the journal Science – are other nota-

ble moments for Tritt. But in the end, it always comes back to mentoring students for him.

“This is probably from my DOD background, but you know, you should always have a mission state-

ment,” Tritt said. “So in my lab, we put up a mission statement, and we accomplished the things in it.

We published in the most significant journals, collaborated with some of the most important people in

the field, and we were highly regarded in what we did. Putting it up there, putting it in writing, and then

accomplishing those things – students are really proud of that. I think that’s probably going to be the

thing I miss the most; the mentoring process is just really special.”

After nearly thirty years of time spent learning and working at Clemson University, Tritt plans to retire in

the summer of 2018. “One of my colleagues emailed me to congratulate me on the Class of ’39 Award,

and all they said was one word: ‘sweet.’ And I think that sums it up. To get this award and join other

leading faculty in the Class of ’39 here, it’s sweet.”

By Hannah Halusker, College of Science

11

On Saturday November 4, 2017 Clemson physics stu-

dents participated in the university-sponsored Fit Run,

located in the South Carolina Botanical Gardens. The

theme the run was "Run Like a Champion," and this

event gave all Clemson Tigers the opportunity to bond

outside of the classroom and on the course.

Pictured at left is Arghya (Argo) Chakravorty, who won

the Coach Dabo Swinney football raffle.

This setup differs from the supernova hypothesis in order

to make sense of two isotopes that occur in strange propor-

tions in the early solar system, compared to the rest of the

galaxy. Meteorites left over from the early solar system tell

us there was a lot of aluminium-26.

In addition, studies, including a 2015 one by Dauphas and

a former student, increasingly suggest we had less of the

isotope iron-60. This brings scientists up short, because

supernovae produce both isotopes. “It begs the question of

why one was injected into the solar system and the other

was not,” said coauthor Vikram Dwarkadas, a research

associate professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

sun-like stars could be formed in such stellar nurseries. Bradley Meyer, professor of astronomy and phys-

ics at Clemson, and graduate student Michael Bojazi at Clemson, contributed results from their model of

galaxy evolution to the new theory.

This simulation shows how bubbles form

over the course of 4.7 million years from the

intense stellar winds off a massive star.

Credit: University of Chicago

This simulation shows how bubbles form over the course of 4.7 million years from the intense stellar

winds off a massive star. UChicago scientists postulated how our own solar system could have formed in

the dense shell of such a bubble. This brought them to Wolf-Rayet stars, which release lots of aluminium-

26, but no iron-60. “The idea is that aluminum-26 flung from the Wolf-Rayet star is carried outwards on

grains of dust formed around the star. These grains have enough momentum to punch through one side

of the shell, where they are mostly destroyed—trapping the aluminum inside the shell,” Dwarkadas said.

Eventually, part of the shell collapses inward due to gravity, forming our solar system. “Past observations

have shown star formation to occur near the edge of Wolf-Rayet wind bubbles and past theories abound

concerning the mixing of aluminum-26 from the winds of Wolf-Rayet stars into the dense shell of Wolf-

Rayet bubbles, but these theories lack sufficient details,” Bojazi said. “It was a matter of imagination for

creating the right scenario and then hashing out the details to determine theory’s plausibility.”

Bojazi’s dissertation work will fill out the origin of the Sun in the history of the Milky Way by extending

the study of iron-60 and aluminum-26 to roughly 10 other radioactivities that were present in the early

solar system. As for the fate of the giant Wolf-Rayet star that sheltered us: Its life ended long ago, likely in

a supernova explosion or a direct collapse to a black hole. A direct collapse to a black hole would produce

little iron-60; if it was a supernova, the iron-60 created in the explosion may not have penetrated the bub-

ble walls, or was distributed unequally. Peter Boyajian, an undergraduate student at UChicago, was also

an author on the paper. NASA funded this research. Clinton Colmenares, Clemson University, contrib-

uted to this article.

By Louise Lerner, University of Chicago

12

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Dr. Sean Brittain will going on sabbatical for the spring and fall of 2018 at the National Optical As-tronomy Observatory and University of Arizona, to work on MIR spectroscopy of disks around young stars. In addition, this collaboration will include preparation for an observational programs with NASA’s new flagship mission, the James Webb Space Telescope.

Former graduate students Dina Drozdov and Jeremy Capps got married on October 7, 2017 in Cincinnati. Dina has recently begun a position as senior lecturer in astronomy at the University of Texas - San Antonio. Congratulations to both Dina and Jeremy.

Jerry Hester, Director for Undergraduate Labs retired officially on January 9, 2018. As director of the labs since 2004, Jerry has overseen the doubling of their growth, as well as a significant increase in the number of teaching assistantships. We wish Jerry all the best in retirement!

Dr. Aparao Rao of Physics and Astronomy has been promoted to Associate Dean for Discovery for the new College of Science.