Detector Development for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope
Lead Research Organisation:
Northumbria University
Department Name: Fac of Engineering and Environment
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Planned Impact
1. Public engagement
All Applicants are highly active in Public Understanding of Science (PUS) programmes linked to their research. Examples (which will continue over the grant period) include:
Queen's: talks at annual events (Horizons in Physics for 4th/5th-form students; Physics 6th-Form Open Days; Physics Teachers Conference). Hosts work experience for children, with summer projects funded by Nuffield Foundation. Partnership with W5 Discovery Centre, hosting talks/Q&A sessions and hands-on building games.
Armagh: tours of Observatory and Astropark, talks and special public lectures/exhibitions. Recent PUS projects include construction of the Human Orrery and facilitating an annual Cross-Border Schools Science Conference.
Glasgow: solar physics talks to societies, schools and public including in remote parts of Scotland; school visits with mobile planetarium; tours of observatory; Start-up Science school workshops with RSE and STFC Meet the Expert sessions.
Northumbria: PUS programme with local FE colleges, and involvement in regional/national science festivals (e.g. Newcastle). Recently awarded £1M from HEFCE Catalyst Fund for project to improve physics uptake. Creating Physics and Astrophysics outreach centre for this.
Sheffield: engages in school education programmes during e.g. National Science week, and recently joined University's Expert Guide, used frequently by journalists to source comments on topical news stories.
St Andrews: participates in local science festivals (e.g. Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee) and give schools talks. Lectures at the annual Sutton Trust Summer School and participates in the Annual Space Camp for P6 pupils. Contributes to Sun Trek, a Public Outreach/Educational Website (www.suntrek.org).
Warwick: broad and innovative approach to outreach, spanning formal presentations to interest groups (local astronomical societies), active engagement with media and larger projects (e.g. NESTA). Schools liaison officer supports links with schools and wider community.
2. Knowledge exchange
The large-area sCMOS camera to be developed is to meet the needs of next-generation solar telescopes and the broader astronomy community. However, the solar astronomy market alone is substantial, given the continued investment in existing solar facilities in Europe, US, India and China. There is also currently a demand for large-area CCD cameras in the general astronomy market. It is anticipated that a significant part of this market will migrate towards the next-generation of sCMOS detectors which offer faster speeds and lower noise. Non-solar applications include: near-Earth object detection, speckle interferometry, 'lucky astronomy' and other projects in high-time resolution astrophysics. It is also common in the astronomy marketplace to encounter significant opportunities for large-area cameras. For example, Andor is currently negotiating a contract to deliver 80 large-area CCD units for one project, with delivery over a 4-year period.
Although the unit sales of large-area sCMOS will not be as high as those for the current breed of mid-range sCMOS cameras for microscopy and optical electron microscope instrumentation applications, large-area astronomy detectors are typically priced much higher than mid-range detectors. Hence a lower volume market still yields an appropriate business case. A longer-term aim is to adapt the camera platform for high-speed X-ray detection applications, including protein crystallography and computed 3D X-ray tomography.
Competition currently does not exist, in that large-area fast sCMOS technology has not yet been offered, but that is no guarantee it will not arrive from other parties within the project timescale. The most likely competitor is a US-based company already very active in large-area CCDs. However, Andor is confident of holding a market leading position, given their breath of expertise in both sCMOS and vacuum sensor technology.
All Applicants are highly active in Public Understanding of Science (PUS) programmes linked to their research. Examples (which will continue over the grant period) include:
Queen's: talks at annual events (Horizons in Physics for 4th/5th-form students; Physics 6th-Form Open Days; Physics Teachers Conference). Hosts work experience for children, with summer projects funded by Nuffield Foundation. Partnership with W5 Discovery Centre, hosting talks/Q&A sessions and hands-on building games.
Armagh: tours of Observatory and Astropark, talks and special public lectures/exhibitions. Recent PUS projects include construction of the Human Orrery and facilitating an annual Cross-Border Schools Science Conference.
Glasgow: solar physics talks to societies, schools and public including in remote parts of Scotland; school visits with mobile planetarium; tours of observatory; Start-up Science school workshops with RSE and STFC Meet the Expert sessions.
Northumbria: PUS programme with local FE colleges, and involvement in regional/national science festivals (e.g. Newcastle). Recently awarded £1M from HEFCE Catalyst Fund for project to improve physics uptake. Creating Physics and Astrophysics outreach centre for this.
Sheffield: engages in school education programmes during e.g. National Science week, and recently joined University's Expert Guide, used frequently by journalists to source comments on topical news stories.
St Andrews: participates in local science festivals (e.g. Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee) and give schools talks. Lectures at the annual Sutton Trust Summer School and participates in the Annual Space Camp for P6 pupils. Contributes to Sun Trek, a Public Outreach/Educational Website (www.suntrek.org).
Warwick: broad and innovative approach to outreach, spanning formal presentations to interest groups (local astronomical societies), active engagement with media and larger projects (e.g. NESTA). Schools liaison officer supports links with schools and wider community.
2. Knowledge exchange
The large-area sCMOS camera to be developed is to meet the needs of next-generation solar telescopes and the broader astronomy community. However, the solar astronomy market alone is substantial, given the continued investment in existing solar facilities in Europe, US, India and China. There is also currently a demand for large-area CCD cameras in the general astronomy market. It is anticipated that a significant part of this market will migrate towards the next-generation of sCMOS detectors which offer faster speeds and lower noise. Non-solar applications include: near-Earth object detection, speckle interferometry, 'lucky astronomy' and other projects in high-time resolution astrophysics. It is also common in the astronomy marketplace to encounter significant opportunities for large-area cameras. For example, Andor is currently negotiating a contract to deliver 80 large-area CCD units for one project, with delivery over a 4-year period.
Although the unit sales of large-area sCMOS will not be as high as those for the current breed of mid-range sCMOS cameras for microscopy and optical electron microscope instrumentation applications, large-area astronomy detectors are typically priced much higher than mid-range detectors. Hence a lower volume market still yields an appropriate business case. A longer-term aim is to adapt the camera platform for high-speed X-ray detection applications, including protein crystallography and computed 3D X-ray tomography.
Competition currently does not exist, in that large-area fast sCMOS technology has not yet been offered, but that is no guarantee it will not arrive from other parties within the project timescale. The most likely competitor is a US-based company already very active in large-area CCDs. However, Andor is confident of holding a market leading position, given their breath of expertise in both sCMOS and vacuum sensor technology.
Publications
Aschwanden M
(2018)
Convection-driven Generation of Ubiquitous Coronal Waves
in The Astrophysical Journal
Broomhall A
(2019)
A Blueprint of State-of-the-art Techniques for Detecting Quasi-periodic Pulsations in Solar and Stellar Flares
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Doyle L
(2019)
Observations and 3D Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of a Confined Helical Jet Launched by a Filament Eruption
in The Astrophysical Journal
Giagkiozis I
(2018)
Vortex Flows in the Solar Atmosphere: Automated Identification and Statistical Analysis
in The Astrophysical Journal
McLaughlin J
(2018)
Impact arising from sustained public engagement: A measured increase in learning outcomes
in Research for All
McLaughlin J
(2019)
3D WKB solution for fast magnetoacoustic wave behaviour within a separatrix dome containing a coronal null point
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McLaughlin J
(2018)
Impact arising from sustained public engagement: A measured increase in learning outcomes
in Research for All
| Description | The main purpose of the award was to support the development of cameras for the DKI Solar Telescope. The DKI Solar Telescope began observations last year and produced some stunning first light images of the Sun's surface using the cameras developed (https://nso.edu/inouye-solar-telescope-first-light/). Science operations for the telescope begin this year and the cameras will play a key role in collecting data on the Sun. In addition, Northumbria's role was the development of software that enables the user to track and measure magnetic waves in the Sun's atmosphere. The magnetic waves are a candidate for moving energy around the Sun's atmosphere, so knowledge of their properties and journey is an important goal for developing our understanding of how the Sun's atmosphere is powered. The software will be used on the new data coming from the DKI Solar Telescope. |
| Exploitation Route | The cameras will be used in many hundreds of science investigations by researchers from around the world. They are a crucial part of the instrumentation of the DKI Solar Telescope. |
| Sectors | Other |
| Title | Solar wave tracking |
| Description | To date, we developed software for the accurate selection and extraction of data on magnetic wave guides visible solar atmosphere. Further, an semi-automated routine has been developed to enable the measurement and characterisation of waves along the magnetised features, utilising a combination of non-linear least squares fitting, noise modelling and statistical analysis techniques. The software will be made public in the coming months. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | There are no notable impacts of the software. A condition of the awarded grant is that no publications can come from the work. The impact of the software development will be felt in 2020, when the DKI Solar Telescope is operational - the instrument for which the software is designed. |
| URL | https://github.com/Richardjmorton/auto_nuwt_public |
| Description | Collaboration with National Solar Observatory USA on software readiness |
| Organisation | National Solar Observatory (NSO) |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | A partnership between Northumbria and NSO was established to prepare the software so that it is ready for use with DKIST data upon first light (summer 2020). This plan was substantially disrupted due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, until late 2020. To date, we have not provided the partner with software and we are still in the software development phase. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partner has made no contributions to date due to the newness of the project. It is envisioned they will provide test data and port software code to different languages, e.g., python, such that the software is more widely accessible. |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | American Geophysical Union conference (California) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of software to international audience. Feedback and potential collaborative research were discussed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Big Bang North East |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Big Bang North East is a free programme of events designed to get young people aged 11-19 excited about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in the real world. At the event we had a stall discussing how we use science and technology to observe and measure the Sun. The stall had interactive elements and enabled the children to interact with data from solar observatories. The interaction led to conversations about careers in science and also the science of the Sun. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | National Astronomy Meeting 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The activity was a presentation at the conference, describing the software developed for the grant and future plans for software development. The purpose was to make the UK solar physics community aware of the software and to find interested parties to collaborate on development and testing. The presentation generated discussion and there was also initial interest for collaboration by audience members from other UK universities. These collaborations are currently under development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Public talk to Explore (Adult Education centre in Newcastle) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A public talk was given to a group of 15 adults as part of a life-long learning physics education programme. The talk discussed how we observe the Sun and the DKIST project. The talk led to questions and discussions with the audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Talk at Pint of Science 2016 (Newcastle) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The talk was attended by around 20 people as part of the Pint of Science, Science Festival. The talk led to questions and discussions about solar physics and how scientists measure the stars. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Talk to Chevening Scholars (Northumbria University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Chevening scholars are future leaders, influencers, and decision-makers from all over the world on scholarships funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Around 40 scholars attended a talk during which I discussed the impact of the Sun and the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope (formerly the ATST). The talk was followed by questions and discussion afterwards, with many scholars saying they had never appreciated the extent of the impact of the Sun on the Earth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |