News Archive

SOAR Dedicated
On April 17, 2004, a ceremony was held atop Cerro Pachon in northern Chile to dedicate the 4.1-meter SOAR Telescope, a project initiated by UNC, a whose faculty and students will receive 61 nights of observing time a year with the new facility.

On April 16, a "local" ceremony was held in the Morehead Planetarium Star Theater, with Chancellor Moeser acting as Master of Ceremonies. Speakers included Leonard Goodman of New York City, a vital contributor to the project, Dr. Dan Reichart, assistant professor of astronomy, and Adam Crain, who worked on helping UNC achieve the capability to observe in Chile from Chapel Hill using the Henry Cox Remote Observing Center, which is part of the Department's Morehead Observatory. The remote observing capability was demonstrated by participation in the Star Theater event by Drs. Robert Shelton (Provost), Bruce Carney (Department Chair), Wayne Christiansen (Professor and Director of Morehead Observatory), and Robert McMahan (Research Professor and Science Advisor to Governor Easley), all of whom were in the control room atop Cerro Pachon. Professor Jim Rose and other members of the Department's faculty and staff, as well as most members of the UNC Board of Visitors, very much enjoyed the dynamic show.

The dedication event itself featured speakers from all partners, including Provost Shelton, Vice Chancellor Robert Huggett of Michigan State University, Professor Joao Steiner of Brazil (and President of the SOAR Telescope Board of Directors), and Dr. Jeremy Mould, Director of the US National Optical Astronomy Observatory. The banquet held that evening in La Serena, Chile, was a wonderful event celebrating many years of hard work and good fellowship. Other UNC faculty attending included Professor Gerald Cecil (former SOAR Project Scientist), Chris Clemens (Director of the Goodman Laboratory for Astronomical Instrumentation), and Charles Evans (former member of the SOAR Telescope Board).

The telescope features 120 "active" supports to control the shape of its 10 cm thick primary mirror, enabling the telescope to achieve very high image quality. The light is brought to a focus at several possible positions perpendicular to the telescope's optical axis using a third ("tertiary") mirror. That mirror itself will contribute to the overall image quality since it is designed to apply "tip-tilt" corrections to the incoming light at a rate of up to 50 Hz. This will overcome atmosphere-induced image motion.

A second distinguishing characteristic of the SOAR Telescope is its "agility". Its suite of instruments, including optical and near-infrared imagers and spectrographs, are permanently mounted and may be used, in principle, at any time for a "target of opportunity". UNC intends to use SOAR in this mode to study optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursters. As the skies brighten or darken with moonrise or moonset, different instruments are likely to be employed to maximize the scientific productivity of the telescope.

UNC is supplying one of the major instruments for the project, the Abraham Goodman Spectrograph. Designed and built under the leadership of Professor Chris Clemens, it employs volume phase holographic gratings to disperse the light, with much higher throughput than traditional ruled reflection gratings. The shipment of the spectrograph to Chile began in mid-May.
For the next few months, the telescope will undergo commissioning to enable it to routinely deliver superb image quality. Most of the instruments should be installed later in 2004, and by the end of the year, we anticipate at least 50% science time availability, with full scientific use expected early in 2005. More details may be found at www.soartelescope.org.

Jeffrey Blackmon wins Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Jeffrey C. Blackmon (UNC Ph.D., 1994) is one of five Department of Energy recipients of the most recent Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Blackmon worked with the Department's faculty in the nuclear astrophysics program, and he continues this work in the Physics Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Blackmon's work probes the reactions and the events called novae and supernovae. In the former, matter from a companion star falls onto the surface of a white dwarf, a stellar remnant supported by electron degeneracy. When sufficient material collects, it undergoes an explosive nucleosynthesis event, ejecting material at high speeds into space, but leaving the white dwarf and companion star intact. In supernovae, the conditions are much more violent. Massive stars nearing the ends of their lives undergo a violent core collapse and rebound that unbinds most, but not necessarily all, of the star explosively. The remnant is usually a neutron star, but possibly a black hole. Other supernovae are thought to be created when merging white dwarfs have a combined mass exceeding the Chandrasekhar mass limit of about 1.4 solar masses. The nuclear detonation is thought to be energetic enough to destroy the entire star.

Blackmon and his family have lived near ORNL since leaving Chapel Hill in 1995 to begin work there as a postdoctoral fellow.

Congratulations May Graduates
DOCTORATES
Bostick, David Lee; Brewer, Mary Margaret; Leonard, Douglas Sidney; Lopez-Morales, Maria M.; Thompson, Susan Elizabeth

MASTERS
Boswell, Melissa Suzanne; Canning, Anthony John; Daniels, Timothy Vaughn; Deniz, Hakan; Fuller, Brian Ray; Kavic, Michael James; King, Douglas Scott; Levy, Lorenza; Moran, Jane; Norton, Healther R; Nysewander, Melissa C.; Peppers, Mark A.; Tenyotkin, Valery; Wendell, Roger Alexandr; Yeates, Celeste Marie

BS
Bartelme, John William Jr.; Brandl, Donald Edward; Capella, Kristopher Alex; Carter, Joshua Adam; DeSena, Phillips Joseph, Jr.; Dratz, Joseph Alexander; Gintautas, Vadas; Jawerth, Louise; Johnson, Lauren Ann; Varner, Kenneth Edward; Vernarsky, Brian James

BA
Baden, Craig Joseph; Turner, Joseph Scott

Physics Department 2004 Newsletter
For a summary of significant events in the Department, please view our 2004 Newsletter.

Laurie McNeil Selected as AAAS Speaker
In partnership with the National Science Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has selected Dr. Laurie McNeil as one nine distinguished U. S. women scientists to participate in the AAAS Lecture Series on Women in Science and Engineering. Her specific role will be to speak to scientists, educators, students, and policy-makers in Latin America. Laurie will discuss her work and personal experiences in physics, and in her "Climate for Women" site visits that she has led in the U.S. Her travel will be to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where'll she'll speak at the Forum for Professional and Young Scientists of the Argentine Network of Gender, Science, and Technology in late April of 2004. In addition to professional exchanges, the program's purpose is "the identification and discussion of the major factors that influence pursuing a scientific career and overcoming barriers to professional advancement". Well done, Laurie.

Robert McMahan named Governor's science advisor
Bob McMahan, who has been a research faculty member of our department since 1989, has been named Senior Advisor to the Governor for Science and Technology and Executive Director of the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology. In this position, he is charged with taking the lead in science and technology policy at the state level. In this position he will serve as liaison between the Governor and the university system in science matters, and will play a similar role with technology Centers of Excellence such as the NC Biotechnology Center. He will work to define the strategic direction for science and technology policy in the state of North Carolina.
Bob's background uniquely suits him for this position. After receiving his BS from Duke in 1982, his Ph.D. in Physics from Dartmouth in 1986, and while a postdoc at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, he founded McMahan Research Laboratories. He moved the company to North Carolina in 1989, and sold it to a Swiss-based public corporation ten years later. Bob subsequently became Executive Vice President of Engineering and Research & Development at GretagMacbeth, LLC, and then a Senior Technology Strategist for In-Q-Tel, the private venture capital arm of the CIA. Throughout this time he has maintained his appointment in our department, teaching astronomy and engaging in active research in large-scale motions of elliptical galaxies. These experiences have helped him understand the perspective both of the academic and the business communities.
Bob feels that it is very important that the State have a person who will work persistently on the strategic issues involved in guiding North Carolina's transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy. He particularly wants to work on improving the relationship of the university to the entrepreneurial community and to capital markets. He would like to optimize technology transfer and, where possible, to align university resources with the needs of entrepreneurs.
"I have been impressed with the level of engagement on these issues at high levels in the government in North Carolina," says Bob. He is looking forward to the opportunity to help the state "put the pieces together" and remain a leader in a very competitive environment. However, he intends to continue to participate in departmental activities, teaching astronomy and collaborating on research projects with his colleagues here. He says, "I think my appointment is indicative of how our department is perceived at high levels in the state." We are inclined to agree.

Author Dava Sobel to visit
On October 28 and 29, 2002, author Dava Sobel will be the guest of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, in partnership with the Curriculum in Women’s Studies, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence. She will present a Departmental colloquium at 4:00 pm on Monday, October 28, and will meet with interested Departmental undergraduate and graduate students on Tuesday, October 29.

Discovery may revolutionize X-ray technology
Scientists at UNC and Applied Nanotechnologies, Inc. believe they have made a major breakthrough to improve X-ray technology. The team has conducted experiments showing they can cause carbon nanotubes (a new form of carbon discovered about a decade ago) to generate intense electron beams that bombard a metal "target" to produce X-rays. more...