A large group of adults gather outside and eat ice cream treats.
Nathaniel Cunningham, Ph.D.

Nathaniel Cunningham, Ph.D.

Professor of Physics
Planetary Science & Astrophysics
Department
Physics
Office location

326G Acklie Hall of Science

Office hours

Fall 2024:

Monday, noon-1pm
Wednesday, 1-2pm
Friday, 2-3pm

And by appointment -- email is a great way to arrange a time, or to request a Zoom meeting.

Feel free to seek me out in my office at other times.

Email
ncunning [at] NebrWesleyan.edu
Headshot of Nathaniel Cunningham, Ph.D.
Background

I fell in love with Physics in high school, and pursued it in college, where I also discovered philosophy. After agonizing about whether to continue my studies in physics or philosophy after graduation, physics won out, and I chose to specialize in astrophysics.

In my graduate work, I developed ground-based and rocket-borne astronomical instruments, and used them to study the births and deaths of stars. I have since worked on detector systems for the high-power Diocles laser system the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and I currently study the surfaces and atmospheres of small bodies in the Solar System using ultraviolet light observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. Since 2007, I have contributed to NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto (and beyond!) and the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission that orbited a comet.

I joined the Physics faculty at Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2010.

Education

Ph.D., Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder

M.S., Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder

B.S., Physics, University of Notre Dame, summa cum laude
Minor: philosophy

Courses taught

Astronomy
Introduction to Meteorology
Principles of Physics I & II / General Physics I & II
Introduction to Modern Physics
Electronic Measurements
Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering
Electromagnetism & Optics
Classical Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics
Thermal and Statistical Physics

Research and academic interests

Ultraviolet spectroscopy

Small bodies in the Solar System: Moons, comets, asteroids. Properties of their surfaces and thin atmospheres/outgassing.

Astronomical instruments and detectors

Professional and community affiliations, certifications and awards

American Association of Physics Teachers
American Astronomical Society, Division of Planetary Science
Society of Catholic Scientists