ULTRACAM operations
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
ULTRACAM is a digital camera capable of taking (and storing) up to 500 red, green and blue images per second. The instrument was built in just under 3 years by a consortium from the Universities of Sheffield, Warwick and the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh, using a £300,000 grant awarded by PPARC. ULTRACAM saw 'first light' on 16 May 2002 on the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma, and first light on the 8.2-m Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile on 4 May 2005. To date, ULTRACAM has been awarded a total of 92 nights of time on these telescopes for projects as varied as white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, asteroseismology, pulsars, black-hole/neutron-star X-ray binaries, eclipsing binary stars, gamma-ray bursts, cataclysmic variables, extrasolar planets, active galactic nuclei, Kuiper Belt objects and Saturn's moon Titan. This grant proposal requests funding for the proper maintenance and operation of ULTRACAM, as well as a modest programme of minor upgrades, thereby ensuring that ULTRACAM maintains its position as the world's premier instrument for high-speed optical astrophysics. As well as maximising the return on PPARC's original investment, this money will also allow us to continue to offer ULTRACAM to others in the UK and astronomical community who wish to use it.
Organisations
Publications
Schaffenroth V
(2021)
A quantitative in-depth analysis of the prototype sdB+BD system SDSS J08205+0008 revisited in the Gaia era
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Clark C
(2021)
Einstein@Home discovery of the gamma-ray millisecond pulsar PSR J2039-5617 confirms its predicted redback nature
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Burdge K
(2020)
A Systematic Search of Zwicky Transient Facility Data for Ultracompact Binary LISA-detectable Gravitational-wave Sources
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bonnet-Bidaud J
(2020)
Fast quasi-periodic oscillations in the eclipsing polar VV Puppis from VLT and XMM-Newton observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wild J
(2020)
Spectroscopic and photometric periods of six ultracompact accreting binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nieder L
(2020)
Discovery of a Gamma-Ray Black Widow Pulsar by GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Casewell S
(2020)
WD1032 + 011, an inflated brown dwarf in an old eclipsing binary with a white dwarf
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Marsh T
(2020)
Optical, X-ray, and ?-ray observations of the candidate transitional millisecond pulsar 4FGL J0427.8-6704
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wang L
(2019)
The Pre-He White Dwarf in the Post-mass Transfer Binary EL CVn
in The Astronomical Journal
Föhring D
(2019)
Atmospheric scintillation noise in ground-based exoplanet photometry
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meza E
(2019)
Lower atmosphere and pressure evolution on Pluto from ground-based stellar occultations, 1988-2016
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hynes R
(2019)
Optical and X-ray correlations during the 2015 outburst of the black hole V404 Cyg
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McAllister M
(2019)
The evolutionary status of Cataclysmic Variables: eclipse modelling of 15 systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pala A
(2019)
Evidence for mass accretion driven by spiral shocks onto the white dwarf in SDSS J123813.73-033933.0
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nieder L
(2019)
Detection and Timing of Gamma-Ray Pulsations from the 707 Hz Pulsar J0952-0607
in The Astrophysical Journal
Misra R
(2019)
Puzzling blue dips in the black hole candidate Swift J1357.2 - 0933, from ULTRACAM, SALT, ATCA, Swift, and NuSTAR
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gandhi P
(2016)
Furiously fast and red: sub-second optical flaring in V404 Cyg during the 2015 outburst peak
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bento J
(2014)
Optical transmission photometry of the highly inflated exoplanet WASP-17b?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Copperwheat C
(2013)
Transmission photometry of WASP-12b: simultaneous measurement of the planetary radius in three bands
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Copperwheat C
(2011)
The photometric period in ES Ceti
Copperwheat C.M.
(2010)
Physical properties of IP Pegasi: An eclipsing dwarf nova with an unusually cool white dwarf
in Proceedings of Science
Copperwheat C
(2010)
SDSS J0926+3624: The shortest period eclipsing binary star
Copperwheat C
(2010)
Physical properties of IP Pegasi: an eclipsing dwarf nova with an unusually cool white dwarf
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Silvotti R
(2010)
Search for p -mode oscillations in DA white dwarfs with VLT-ULTRACAM I. Upper limits to the p -modes ?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Schwarz R
(2009)
Hunting high and low: XMM monitoring of the eclipsing polar HU Aquarii
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gandhi P
(2009)
THE FLUX-DEPENDENT RMS VARIABILITY OF X-RAY BINARIES IN THE OPTICAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Unda-Sanzana E
(2009)
The not-so-extreme white dwarf of the CV GD 552
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Copperwheat C
(2009)
ULTRACAM observations of two accreting white dwarf pulsators
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Durant M
(2009)
Multiwavelength spectral and high time resolution observations of SWIFT J1753.5-0127: new activity?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bentley S
(2009)
A stellar flare during the transit of the extrasolar planet OGLE-TR-10b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Dhillon V
(2009)
Optical pulsations from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1048.1-5937
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Gandhi P
(2008)
Rapid optical and X-ray timing observations of GX 339-4: flux correlations at the onset of a low/hard state ?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Littlefair S
(2008)
On the evolutionary status of short-period cataclysmic variables
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Martino D
(2008)
1RXS J173021.5-055933: a cataclysmic variable with a fast-spinning magnetic white dwarf
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Unda-Sanzana E
(2008)
GD 552: a cataclysmic variable with a brown dwarf companion?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Littlefair S
(2008)
Optical variability of the ultracool dwarf TVLM 513-46546: evidence for inhomogeneous dust clouds ?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Littlefair S
(2008)
On the evolutionary status of short period cataclysmic variables
Durant M
(2008)
SWIFT J1753.5-0127: A Surprising Optical/X-Ray Cross-Correlation Function
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kurtz D
(2008)
A search for a new class of pulsating DA white dwarf stars in the DB gap A new class of pulsating white dwarf stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Copperwheat C
(2008)
ULTRACAM observations of two accreting white dwarf pulsators