Liverpool Telescope Operations 2020-2023
Lead Research Organisation:
Liverpool John Moores University
Department Name: Astrophysics Research Institute
Abstract
The Liverpool Telescope (LT ) (https://telescope.livjm.ac.uk/) is the world's largest and most sophisticated (in terms of range of science programmes, flexibility of scheduling, and sophistication of instrumentation) robotic telescope with a dual role to carry out internationally competitive research and deliver the key observing resource to the National Schools Observatory. The NSO offers school children near-immediate access to a world-class observatory. Since its launch in 2004, this has led to over 160,000 observing requests from over 4,000 schools. The NSO currently works with over 4000 teachers throughout the UK and Ireland. At the core of the NSO is the website which provides support material for a range of subjects and receives over 1.5 million hits each year.
Since operations began in 2004, LT has specialised in delivering high impact results in time domain astrophysics. Indeed, the observatory is unique in actively encouraging rapid-response and difficult-to-schedule monitoring projects from the U.K. and Spanish communities. Refereed publications that include LT data typically average 46 citations/paper, three time the average for all astronomy papers; to date 22 such papers have appeared in the high-profile journals Nature or Science, these having on average 166 citations/paper.
The telescope has high impact science programmes in five key areas of time domain astrophysics:
* Spectroscopy simultaneous with in-situ spacecraft measurements (e.g. ESA Rosetta and NASA New Horizons)
* Exoplanet Characterization
* Cataclysmic Variables, Novae and Supernovae
* Gravitational Wave and Gamma Ray Burst counterparts
* Active Galactic Nuclei
From the outset, the goal has been to provide a wide variety of instrumentation to cater for the broad interests of the LJMU and U.K./Spanish communities. Currently, optical photometry, spectroscopy and polarimetry and infrared photometry are offered with instruments and a software environment that are capable of sampling timescales from <1 second to >10 years. A continuous programme of instrument upgrades has been aggressively pursued throughout the last decade. This has kept the facility competitive and ensures its position at the forefront of time domain astronomy for at least the next five years when we plan to transition to a joint operations model with a new 4m robotic telescope.
This application is for an STFC contribution over the period 2020-2023 to the funding for the maintenance and operation of the Liverpool Telescope, and hence the continuation of its role as a major resource both for the LJMU Astrophysics Research Institute and the wider UK community.
Since operations began in 2004, LT has specialised in delivering high impact results in time domain astrophysics. Indeed, the observatory is unique in actively encouraging rapid-response and difficult-to-schedule monitoring projects from the U.K. and Spanish communities. Refereed publications that include LT data typically average 46 citations/paper, three time the average for all astronomy papers; to date 22 such papers have appeared in the high-profile journals Nature or Science, these having on average 166 citations/paper.
The telescope has high impact science programmes in five key areas of time domain astrophysics:
* Spectroscopy simultaneous with in-situ spacecraft measurements (e.g. ESA Rosetta and NASA New Horizons)
* Exoplanet Characterization
* Cataclysmic Variables, Novae and Supernovae
* Gravitational Wave and Gamma Ray Burst counterparts
* Active Galactic Nuclei
From the outset, the goal has been to provide a wide variety of instrumentation to cater for the broad interests of the LJMU and U.K./Spanish communities. Currently, optical photometry, spectroscopy and polarimetry and infrared photometry are offered with instruments and a software environment that are capable of sampling timescales from <1 second to >10 years. A continuous programme of instrument upgrades has been aggressively pursued throughout the last decade. This has kept the facility competitive and ensures its position at the forefront of time domain astronomy for at least the next five years when we plan to transition to a joint operations model with a new 4m robotic telescope.
This application is for an STFC contribution over the period 2020-2023 to the funding for the maintenance and operation of the Liverpool Telescope, and hence the continuation of its role as a major resource both for the LJMU Astrophysics Research Institute and the wider UK community.
Planned Impact
LT has a long tradition of strong industrial engagement. The initial build of the telescope was based around the establishment of a spinout company (TTL, Telescope Technologies Ltd) which was subsequently sold in 2005 to an ex-Google employee to build a global network of small (0.4 and 1 metre) robotic telescopes.
Knowledge Transfer is strongly encouraged at all levels within the University, and the ARI is pro-active in supporting staff members who seek out external partnerships. Recent projects include:
* Working with the LJMU Ecology group on a GCRF and Newton funded project to exploit imaging techniques developed in astronomy to identify animals and humans in aerial thermal-imaging video footage, overcoming a fundamental bottleneck in monitoring animal populations around the globe.
* We have undertaken a design study with QINETIQ on the feasibility of a non-GPS based geo-location device based on astronomical principles
* We have signed a contract with SAAO to build a modified version of our SPRAT spectrograph for their new 1-m Leseidi robotic telescope
* We have used an Innovate UK voucher to carry out a feasibility study on the potential of a small CubeSat instrument (based on the LOTUS design) to identify potential targets for asteroid mining and are working with a UK company to develop the business case and apply for further funding to the UK Space Agency and UK Satellite Catapult.
Skills and knowledge transfer are furthered by the direct involvement of students (undergraduate and postgraduate) in development projects. The LT team has consistently included undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students in instrument and software design and development with these projects forming the basis of several PhD theses. Most of these students have left academic research for wider industry.
LT has also had success in licensing software and hardware developed for the telescope to the Faulkes/LCOGT organization. License income of £160k plus telescope time worth an additional £180k on the LCO telescopes has been received by LJMU from this activity.
LT is a focus for a significant fraction of the extensive Public Engagement programme at ARI. As well as many talks and workshops to schools and the general public the LT is also key to the success of a suite of Distance Learning courses in Astronomy that attract around 200 students a year, many of whom have little or no prior experience of Higher Education.
LT is the key resource of the National Schools Observatory, which has delivered over 150,000 unique observations to over 4,000 UK and Irish schools and over 1,500,000 website hits/year. NSO taps into natural astronomy interest in children to further the pupil's knowledge of science and mathematics, while at the same time improve their computer literacy and communications skills, strengthen critical thinking and give experience of the real-world application of science and technology. This is done primarily by providing an interface whereby schoolchildren and their teachers throughout the UK and Ireland can request their own observations from the LT, allowing them to work alongside the research users of the telescope and gain an insight into modern science and the technology that underpins it.
Over the past 3 years LT has taken significant advantage in the opportunities for international engagement afforded by Newton and GCRF funding. We have developed a number of international, multi-disciplinary partnerships grants with both academic and industrial impact under three broad themes (Thailand, Indonesia and Astro-Ecology)
Future planned activities include:
* New Engagements with the Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Knowledge Quarter
* Greater Engagement with Local Industry via LCR4.0
* Greater Engagement with ESA and the UK Space Catapult
* Greater Engagement with the Newton and GCRF funding opportunities
Knowledge Transfer is strongly encouraged at all levels within the University, and the ARI is pro-active in supporting staff members who seek out external partnerships. Recent projects include:
* Working with the LJMU Ecology group on a GCRF and Newton funded project to exploit imaging techniques developed in astronomy to identify animals and humans in aerial thermal-imaging video footage, overcoming a fundamental bottleneck in monitoring animal populations around the globe.
* We have undertaken a design study with QINETIQ on the feasibility of a non-GPS based geo-location device based on astronomical principles
* We have signed a contract with SAAO to build a modified version of our SPRAT spectrograph for their new 1-m Leseidi robotic telescope
* We have used an Innovate UK voucher to carry out a feasibility study on the potential of a small CubeSat instrument (based on the LOTUS design) to identify potential targets for asteroid mining and are working with a UK company to develop the business case and apply for further funding to the UK Space Agency and UK Satellite Catapult.
Skills and knowledge transfer are furthered by the direct involvement of students (undergraduate and postgraduate) in development projects. The LT team has consistently included undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students in instrument and software design and development with these projects forming the basis of several PhD theses. Most of these students have left academic research for wider industry.
LT has also had success in licensing software and hardware developed for the telescope to the Faulkes/LCOGT organization. License income of £160k plus telescope time worth an additional £180k on the LCO telescopes has been received by LJMU from this activity.
LT is a focus for a significant fraction of the extensive Public Engagement programme at ARI. As well as many talks and workshops to schools and the general public the LT is also key to the success of a suite of Distance Learning courses in Astronomy that attract around 200 students a year, many of whom have little or no prior experience of Higher Education.
LT is the key resource of the National Schools Observatory, which has delivered over 150,000 unique observations to over 4,000 UK and Irish schools and over 1,500,000 website hits/year. NSO taps into natural astronomy interest in children to further the pupil's knowledge of science and mathematics, while at the same time improve their computer literacy and communications skills, strengthen critical thinking and give experience of the real-world application of science and technology. This is done primarily by providing an interface whereby schoolchildren and their teachers throughout the UK and Ireland can request their own observations from the LT, allowing them to work alongside the research users of the telescope and gain an insight into modern science and the technology that underpins it.
Over the past 3 years LT has taken significant advantage in the opportunities for international engagement afforded by Newton and GCRF funding. We have developed a number of international, multi-disciplinary partnerships grants with both academic and industrial impact under three broad themes (Thailand, Indonesia and Astro-Ecology)
Future planned activities include:
* New Engagements with the Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Knowledge Quarter
* Greater Engagement with Local Industry via LCR4.0
* Greater Engagement with ESA and the UK Space Catapult
* Greater Engagement with the Newton and GCRF funding opportunities
Publications
Aartsen M
(2021)
Searches for neutrinos from cosmic-ray interactions in the Sun using seven years of IceCube data
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Aguilar J
(2021)
Design and sensitivity of the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland (RNO-G)
in Journal of Instrumentation
Alves Batista R
(2021)
The Gamma-ray Window to Intergalactic Magnetism
in Universe
Andreoni I
(2021)
Fast-transient Searches in Real Time with ZTFReST: Identification of Three Optically Discovered Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows and New Constraints on the Kilonova Rate
in The Astrophysical Journal
Arai A
(2021)
Detection of 7 Be ii in the Classical Nova V5669 Sgr (Nova Sagittarii 2015 No.3)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ashall C
(2021)
Carnegie Supernova Project: The First Homogeneous Sample of Super-Chandrasekhar-mass/2003fg-like Type Ia Supernovae
in The Astrophysical Journal
Avrorin A
(2021)
High-Energy Neutrino Follow-up at the Baikal-GVD Neutrino Telescope
in Astronomy Letters
Biswas R
(2022)
Two c's in a pod: cosmology-independent measurement of the Type Ia supernova colour-luminosity relation with a sibling pair
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bose S
(2021)
ASASSN-18am/SN 2018gk: an overluminous Type IIb supernova from a massive progenitor
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Burke J
(2021)
A Bright Ultraviolet Excess in the Transitional 02es-like Type Ia Supernova 2019yvq
in The Astrophysical Journal
Cai Y
(2021)
Intermediate-luminosity red transients: Spectrophotometric properties and connection to electron-capture supernova explosions
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cannizzaro G
(2021)
Accretion disc cooling and narrow absorption lines in the tidal disruption event AT 2019dsg
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ciolfi R
(2021)
Multi-messenger astrophysics with THESEUS in the 2030s
in Experimental Astronomy
Dutta R
(2021)
Metal-enriched halo gas across galaxy overdensities over the last 10 billion years
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Eftekhari T
(2021)
Late-time Radio and Millimeter Observations of Superluminous Supernovae and Long Gamma-Ray Bursts: Implications for Central Engines, Fast Radio Bursts, and Obscured Star Formation
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fian C
(2021)
Revealing the structure of the lensed quasar Q 0957+561 I. Accretion disk size
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Frederick S
(2021)
A Family Tree of Optical Transients from Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gal-Yam A
(2022)
A WC/WO star exploding within an expanding carbon-oxygen-neon nebula.
in Nature
Gill R
(2021)
GRB Polarization: A Unique Probe of GRB Physics
in Galaxies
Graham M
(2022)
Supernova siblings and their parent galaxies in the Zwicky Transient Facility Bright Transient Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gutiérrez C
(2021)
The double-peaked Type Ic supernova 2019cad: another SN 2005bf-like object
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hermes J
(2021)
8.9 hr Rotation in the Partly Burnt Runaway Stellar Remnant LP 40-365 (GD 492)
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Jia J
(2021)
Perturbative deflection angle, gravitational lensing in the strong field limit and the black hole shadow
in The European Physical Journal C
Kankare E
(2021)
Core-collapse supernova subtypes in luminous infrared galaxies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kara E
(2021)
AGN STORM 2. I. First results: A Change in the Weather of Mrk 817
in The Astrophysical Journal
Karamehmetoglu E
(2021)
The luminous and rapidly evolving SN 2018bcc Clues toward the origin of Type Ibn SNe from the Zwicky Transient Facility
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Keller P
(2022)
Eclipsing white dwarf binaries in Gaia and the Zwicky Transient Faaccility
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kool E
(2021)
SN 2020bqj: A Type Ibn supernova with a long-lasting peak plateau
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lam Marco C.
(2021)
Automated SpectroPhotometric Image REDuction (ASPIRED) -- A Python-based spectral data reduction toolkit
in arXiv e-prints
Lindegren L
(2021)
Gaia Early Data Release 3 The astrometric solution
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Liu H
(2021)
Time delay in the strong field limit for null and timelike signals and its simple interpretation
in The European Physical Journal C
Lu J
(2021)
ASASSN-15hy: An Underluminous, Red 03fg-like Type Ia Supernova
in The Astrophysical Journal
Malanchev K
(2021)
Anomaly detection in the Zwicky Transient Facility DR3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Marongiu M
(2022)
Radio data challenge the broadband modelling of GRB 160131A afterglow
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Marscher A
(2021)
Frequency and Time Dependence of Linear Polarization in Turbulent Jets of Blazars
in Galaxies
Maíz Apellániz J
(2021)
Lucky spectroscopy, an equivalent technique to lucky imaging II. Spatially resolved intermediate-resolution blue-violet spectroscopy of 19 close massive binaries using the William Herschel Telescope
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
McWhirter P
(2022)
Identifying blue large amplitude pulsators from Gaia DR2 and ZTF DR3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Medler K
(2021)
SN 2020cpg: an energetic link between Type IIb and Ib supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meher S
(2021)
Deep learning in astronomy: a tutorial perspective
in The European Physical Journal Special Topics
Parkinson E
(2022)
Optical line spectra of tidal disruption events from reprocessing in optically thick outflows
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parrag E
(2021)
SN 2019hcc: a Type II supernova displaying early O ii lines
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pastorello A
(2021)
Forbidden hugs in pandemic times I. Luminous red nova AT 2019zhd, a new merger in M 31
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pastorello A
(2021)
Forbidden hugs in pandemic times II. The luminous red nova variety: AT 2020hat and AT 2020kog
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Patra K
(2022)
Spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia SN 2019ein rules out significant global asphericity of the ejecta
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pelisoli I
(2021)
Optical detection of the rapidly spinning white dwarf in V1460 Her
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Perley D
(2021)
Real-time discovery of AT2020xnd: a fast, luminous ultraviolet transient with minimal radioactive ejecta
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Prentice S
(2021)
Transitional events in the spectrophotometric regime between stripped envelope and superluminous supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Raiteri C
(2021)
The complex variability of blazars: time-scales and periodicity analysis in S4 0954+65
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rashman M
(2021)
A low-cost chopping system and uncooled microbolometer array for ground-based astronomy
in Experimental Astronomy
| Title | The Cosmic Collection |
| Description | The LT and NRT projects use a variety of artistic and creative products as engagement and communication tools. The 'Cosmic Collection' was a collaboration with Aloë earrings, Liverpool-based earring makers, for British Science Week in 2020. A set of earrings were designed and created based on 6 themes from the Liverpool Telescope and New Robotic Telescope: telescope mirrors, gravitational waves, jets, the moon, planetary nebulae and gravitational lenses. Thirty pairs of earrings were sold from this collection and a portion of the profits were donated to The Girls' Network: a charity providing women mentors for young women from a wide variety of backgrounds. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | wider awareness of astronomy amongst young women and girls |
| URL | https://www.aloeearrings.co.uk |
| Title | The Liverpool Telescope - Hannah Newport painting |
| Description | A painting of the Liverpool Telescope commissioned by the project team from Hannah Newport, which is used in talks and engagement materials. In addition copies of the painting are sold via the artists website. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | wider awareness of project amongst non-traditional audience for STEM. |
| URL | https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/875997606/liverpool-telescope-print-a3 |
| Title | robotic astronomy |
| Description | procedures, hardware and software systems for the automation of astronomical observations. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | widespread adoption of robotic observing |
| URL | https://telescope.livjm.ac.uk/ |