New Weather Station

For decades, the BYU Physics and Astronomy Department has hosted a weather station on the roof of the ESC. Bryan Peterson was the station’s mastermind, carefully interpreting input data from a variety of sensors, conditioning analog and digital signals to record temperature, humidity, pressure, cloud cover, rainfall, and wind speed and direction. In fact, Bryan’s weather station detected a seismoacoustic wave generated by a volcano in Tonga in 2022, an atmospheric disturbance that started half a world away (https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo7063).

Last year, the department upgraded the station. The new station has all the sensors integrated into a single unit, and it reports all the data digitally, through a convenient web interface. Students Matthew Schlitters and Ben Farley helped faculty members Michael Ware and Scott Bergeson replace the hardware. They climbed onto the ESC roof, scaled the weather station tower, retired the old sensors, and installed the new station. Current and recent weather is available on the department web page and at https://physics.byu.edu/department/weather. Archival data is still available, although it will take a little more time to make it downloadable to the general public.


News and Events

Image for BYU’s Rising Astronomers Take Center Stage at the Winter AAS Conference
BYU’s Rising Astronomers Take Center Stage at the Winter AAS Conference
In early January 2025, a group of 16 students from Brigham Young University’s Physics & Astronomy Department showcased their research at the prestigious American Astronomical Society (AAS) in National Harbor, Maryland.
Image for Acoustics group studies the roar of SpaceX's Starship
Acoustics group studies the roar of SpaceX's Starship
Acoustics faculty and students measure the thunderous noise of the world’s most powerful rocket, exploring its impact on communities and the environment.
Image for Dr. Kent Gee Receives Top faculty Award
Dr. Kent Gee Receives Top faculty Award
Dr. Kent Gee has been named the recipient of the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award
Image for Drs. Davis and Vanfleet Receive 2024 BYU Technology Transfer Awards
Drs. Davis and Vanfleet Receive 2024 BYU Technology Transfer Awards
BYU Physics and Astronomy Professors Dr. Davis and Dr. Vanfleet recently received the 2024 award for outstanding achievement in technology transfer from the BYU Technology Transfer Office.
Image for Particle Physics Class
Particle Physics Class
After 3 years of being offered as 513R, elementary particle physics is finally an official course and accepted for credit in the physics major!
Image for Acoustics Major Officially Offered at BYU
Acoustics Major Officially Offered at BYU
The BYU Physics & Astronomy department recently introduced the Applied Physics: Acoustics degree.
Image for A Practical Scientist’s Field Guide to Dealing with Science and Religion.
A Practical Scientist’s Field Guide to Dealing with Science and Religion.
Dr. Michael Ware hopes to help students develop the skills to navigate discussion of science and religion
Image for Dr. John Colton’s Sabbatical to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. John Colton’s Sabbatical to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. John Colton embarked on a six-month sabbatical at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado to explore the use of terahertz radiation in probing the chiral properties of hybrid perovskite materials, a research area previously unfamiliar to him.
Image for Nathan Powers, Updated labs and AAPT lab committee work
Nathan Powers, Updated labs and AAPT lab committee work
Dr. Powers initiated the effort to update BYU’s physics undergraduate lab curriculum in 2015. The revamped curriculum, aimed at teaching students how to construct knowledge from experiments.
Image for BYU Women Represent at CUWiP 2024
BYU Women Represent at CUWiP 2024
21 women student attend conference at Montana State University, where students engaged in keynote speeches, panels, and research presentations.
Image for Dr. Stephens’ Sabbatical to University of Arizona
Dr. Stephens’ Sabbatical to University of Arizona
Dr. Stephens participated in a research project at the University of Arizona focused on studying brown dwarfs using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Image for Drs. Campbell and Stokes Awarded Top Crystallographic Association Award
Drs. Campbell and Stokes Awarded Top Crystallographic Association Award
In July 2025, Drs. Branton Campbell and Harold Stokes (BYU Emeritus Professor) will receive the Kenneth N. Trueblood Award from the American Crystallographic Association for exceptional achievement in computational crystallography.
Image for New Weather Station
New Weather Station
A group of undergraduate students braved the heat and heights of the ESC roof to install a new weather station. The station is up and running, and will hopefully record data for years to come.
Image for Study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data
Study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data
Using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a new study suggests that an object previously thought to be a binary system may be a rare triple system of orbiting bodies.