APSU student Dominic Critchlow sends high altitude balloon into the stars

Clarksville, TN – Give Austin Peay State University student Dominic Critchlow a balloon and a camera and he can quite literally show you the world.

A senior in APSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and a 2015-16 Presidential Research Scholar, Critchlow has spent quite a bit of time researching a simple solution for the complex problem of computer assisted image remote sensing through high altitude balloons.

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APSU Physics Students send high altitude balloon into stratosphere

Clarksville, TN – On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a farmer in rural Scottsville, KY, spotted a strange, shimmering object in one of his fields. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It appeared to be nothing more than a Styrofoam beer cooler, wrapped in aluminum foil, with a parachute attached to it.

“What in the world is this?” he reportedly said. Another man with him said it looked like a weather balloon, so the farmer picked up the unusual box and took it back to his garage. The next morning, as he drove down a nearby highway, he happened upon a group of Austin Peay State University students wading through the weeds and tall grass along the side of the road.

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Austin Peay State University Provost Lecture Series to discuss Earth’s atmosphere as a nuisance in astronomy

Clarksville, TN – The Earth’s atmosphere, though necessary to support life, is a major nuisance to accurate astronomical work. Instrumentation has improved over the past few decades to a point that the time-tested techniques to account for the effects of the atmosphere on astronomical data are no longer sufficient.

“With major new astronomical surveys beginning, advances in the techniques to account for the atmosphere are needed,” said Dr. J. Allyn Smith, associate professor of physics and astronomy. [Read more]