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Brian Wilson Conducts, Teaches in Moscow

Dr. Brian S. Wilson, Music Department Chair, was among three internationally renowned conductors invited to the All Russian Assembly of Wind Orchestras that took place Nov. 22-27 in Moscow.

In a reprise of his first visit in 2007, Wilson conducted performances of his own music, which included the patriotic fanfare “Adamas”, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel which Wilson premiered in Tel Aviv last summer. He also led master classes with wind orchestras from the Moscow University of Art and Culture and the Moscow Region “Governor’s” Orchestra. He conducted his “Symphony No. 3, The Agamemnon” at the gala closing concert.

A highlight of the trip for Professor Wilson was a private tour of the Glinka Museum which houses, among memorabilia of Russia’s famous composers, a massive collection of some 3000 instruments.

SSU E/PO Telescope Captures Its First Gamma Ray Burst

A break in the December clouds was all it took for GORT, the robotic telescope run by the SSU E/PO Group, to catch its first gamma ray burst (GRB). On Dec. 3, the GRB observatory called Swift detected and localized a GRB in the far northern sky. News of the burst was automatically sent out to observatories throughout the world, as well as to the Skynet server at the University of North Carolina. At that moment, Skynet was controlling GORT and directed it to change direction and begin observing.

In the brief minutes before the twilight became too bright, GORT captured five images, the earliest ones obtained from the ground for this GRB. Kevin McLin, E/PO, downloaded the images several hours later. As is typically the case, no one was at the observatory for these observations. Skynet, an automated observing system, was developed at UNC to perform precisely this kind of observation. It currently directs telescopes in Chile and North America.

The E/PO group has been working in partnership for the past several years with the UNC group, putting GORT under the direction of Skynet most clear nights. On Dec. 3, GORT was the only telescope able to view the burst, as the other Skynet telescopes were all several hours farther east, and thus in daylight. The next-earliest observations from the ground were obtained in early evening twilight from Slovakia, but those had to wait 90 minutes, and by that time the burst had significantly faded.

"We have been waiting to capture a GRB for a long time," says McLin. "In the past, GRB that would have been visible were too faint, or we were shut for maintenance or clouded out. Finally getting one of these feels great, and we look forward to catching many more."