29 faculty

29 faculty

65 grad students

Six Major Areas of Research

• Astrophysics• Biological physics• Condensed matter physics

(nanomaterials)• Gravitational physics• High energy physics• Nuclear physics

ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

Nuclear Astrophysics Champagne & IliadisNumerical relativity

EvansCompact objects & stellar seismology

Evans & ClemensActive Galactic Nuclei Cecil & ChristiansenClusters of Galaxies

RoseEvolution of our Galaxy & other

galaxiesCarney & Rose

MOREHEAD PLANETARIUM

MOREHEAD OBSERVATORY

61-cm; f/13.5 reflector

Direct CCD camera

spectrographphotometer

MOREHEAD OBSERVATORY

PISGAH ASTRONOMICAL

RESEARCH INSTITUTE

University of North Carolina

Michigan State University

NOAO

BRAZIL

Each of the four partnersis building a major newinstrument.

The Goodman Spectrograph is UNC’s$1.8M contribution.

We make our own volume phaseholographic gratings

Net throughput > 90%Let there be light

How do we control it remotely?

We build a graphicaluser interface (“GUI”).[Work done by under-graduate Adam Craine & Professor Cecil]

We connect to thespectrograph,wherever it is, viaInternet-2.

SOAR

SALT

UNC

SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AFRICA

Gravitational PhysicsPersonnel: C. R. Evans

B. BrillT. GarrettM. Peppers

ResearchSources of Grav. RadiationInterests: Numerical Relativity &

Black Hole DynamicsCritical Phenomena in Gravitational Collapse

Gravitational PhysicsNumerical

Integration of Scalar Field on a Schwarzschild Black Hole

Black Hole Interior is Excised from the Computational Domain

Late-time Quasi-normal Mode Develops

Gravitational PhysicsUltimate Goal: Merger of Kerr Black Holes

Holes Precess

Orbit Precesses

Frame Dragging

Non-Kerr Remnant

HST images explosive outflows …

Organized as 4 towers of intertwined filaments, 90 apart, all break at same height

… [S II] flux ratios constrain gas filling factor hence ionized mass at this layer

Obscured nucleus

OUR KEY PROJECT