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
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
Wild J
(2020)
Spectroscopic and photometric periods of six ultracompact accreting binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Durant M
(2008)
SWIFT J1753.5-0127: A Surprising Optical/X-Ray Cross-Correlation Function
in The Astrophysical Journal
Zalucha A
(2007)
The 2003 November 14 occultation by Titan of TYC 1343-1865-1
in Icarus
Vuckovic M
(2007)
The binary properties of the pulsating subdwarf B eclipsing binary PG 1336-018 (NY Virginis)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mhlahlo N
(2007)
The discovery of a persistent quasi-periodic oscillation in the intermediate polar TX Col Discovery of a persistent QPO in IP TX Col
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
Gandhi P
(2009)
THE FLUX-DEPENDENT RMS VARIABILITY OF X-RAY BINARIES IN THE OPTICAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Burleigh M
(2006)
The nature of the close magnetic white dwarf + probable brown dwarf binary SDSS J121209.31+013627.7*
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Unda-Sanzana E
(2009)
The not-so-extreme white dwarf of the CV GD 552
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Mathioudakis M
(2006)
The periodic variations of a white-light flare observed with ULTRACAM
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Copperwheat C
(2011)
The photometric period in ES Ceti
Wang L
(2019)
The Pre-He White Dwarf in the Post-mass Transfer Binary EL CVn
in The Astronomical Journal
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
Littlefair S
(2006)
ULTRACAM observations of SDSS J170213.26 + 322954.1 ??? an eclipsing cataclysmic variable in the period gap
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Copperwheat C
(2008)
ULTRACAM observations of two accreting white dwarf pulsators
Copperwheat C
(2009)
ULTRACAM observations of two accreting white dwarf pulsators
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Barros S
(2007)
ULTRACAM photometry of the ultracompact binaries V407 Vul and HM Cnc
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dhillon V
(2007)
ULTRACAM: an ultrafast, triple-beam CCD camera for high-speed astrophysics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society