Continuing Exploitation of the UK Investment in the JCMT
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
We propose that the UK continue to take a significant role in the operation and scientific exploitation of the James Clerk Maxwell telescope (JCMT). We request £200K per annum funding from STFC for a further 3 years from 1st April 2021 to 1st April 2024, which combined with the contributions from the universities will allow us to continue as roughly 20% partners with the East Asian Observatory (EAO), the lead operator, and Canada. The JCMT is the world's largest submm telescope and is likely to remain so until at least 2030. The period for which we now request funding will include the commissioning of new instrumentation, in particular a new camera which will increase the mapping speed of the telescope by at least a factor of 10.
The STFC contribution will allow the UK to continue to play a major role in the Large Programmes currently underway, many of which we are leading, as well as allowing us to initiate new programmes, all at a remarkably low cost. The EAO see the operation of the JCMT as the route to developing the skill base of their own communities via collaboration with the enormous expertise of the UK submm community. It has therefore set aside 50% of the total observing time on the JCMT for large-scale collaborative programmes defined and exploited by joint science teams drawn from all six partner countries. The UK community therefore will gain access to effectively 60% of the total science output of the JCMT at a total cost of £600K over 3 years. As well as producing excellent science, access to the JCMT gives the only direct UK access to the Event Horizon Telescope, with its ability to image the regions immediately around black holes, and the wide-field imaging capability of the JCMT puts UK astronomers in a strong position to leverage time on the Atacama Large Millimetre Array and the James Webb Space Telescope.
The STFC contribution will allow the UK to continue to play a major role in the Large Programmes currently underway, many of which we are leading, as well as allowing us to initiate new programmes, all at a remarkably low cost. The EAO see the operation of the JCMT as the route to developing the skill base of their own communities via collaboration with the enormous expertise of the UK submm community. It has therefore set aside 50% of the total observing time on the JCMT for large-scale collaborative programmes defined and exploited by joint science teams drawn from all six partner countries. The UK community therefore will gain access to effectively 60% of the total science output of the JCMT at a total cost of £600K over 3 years. As well as producing excellent science, access to the JCMT gives the only direct UK access to the Event Horizon Telescope, with its ability to image the regions immediately around black holes, and the wide-field imaging capability of the JCMT puts UK astronomers in a strong position to leverage time on the Atacama Large Millimetre Array and the James Webb Space Telescope.
Planned Impact
The JCMT has a strong history of public outreach, which will continue. The public has a very positive view of astronomy research, and astronomy outreach attracts young people to study STEM subjects at school and university.
Because this is a collaboration with four East Asian countries - China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan - it will enable UK universities and scientists to develop closer ties with scientists and research institutions in these four very strong economies. There are strong opportunities for student exchange, both outward for UK students and inwards for Asian students coming to the UK.
UK PhD students and early-career researchers will have the opportunity of working with cutting-edge technology, both with the hardware at the telescope and with the software used to analyse the data. There is significant opportunity for this training to result in spinout activity in other areas, for example the UK creative industries in the case of software and imaging technology in the case of hardware.
Because this is a collaboration with four East Asian countries - China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan - it will enable UK universities and scientists to develop closer ties with scientists and research institutions in these four very strong economies. There are strong opportunities for student exchange, both outward for UK students and inwards for Asian students coming to the UK.
UK PhD students and early-career researchers will have the opportunity of working with cutting-edge technology, both with the hardware at the telescope and with the software used to analyse the data. There is significant opportunity for this training to result in spinout activity in other areas, for example the UK creative industries in the case of software and imaging technology in the case of hardware.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Stephen Eales (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Pattle K
(2021)
Submillimetre observations of the two-component magnetic field in M82
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fleming G
(2023)
Stellar clustering and the kinematics of stars around Collinder 121 using Gaia DR3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pattle K
(2024)
Star Formation in the Milky Way and Beyond in the Era of JWST and ALMA
in Astronomy & Geophysics
Gómez J
(2026)
Spatially resolved polarization swings in the supermassive binary black hole candidate OJ 287 with first Event Horizon Telescope observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bains W
(2024)
Source of phosphine on Venus-An unsolved problem
in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
Gao ? Z
(2024)
SCUBA-2 Ultra Deep Imaging EAO Survey (STUDIES). V. Confusion-limited Submillimeter Galaxy Number Counts at 450 µm and Data Release for the COSMOS Field
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bernshteyn V
(2026)
Ring Asymmetry and Spin in M87*
Issaoun S
(2022)
Resolving the Inner Parsec of the Blazar J1924-2914 with the Event Horizon Telescope
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lovell C
(2021)
Reproducing submillimetre galaxy number counts with cosmological hydrodynamic simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen M
(2024)
Relative alignments between magnetic fields, velocity gradients, and dust emission gradients in NGC 1333
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Greaves J
(2022)
Recovering Phosphine in Venus' Atmosphere from SOFIA Observations
Saurabh
(2026)
Probing jet base emission of M87* with the 2021 Event Horizon Telescope observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Clements D
(2025)
Polarized dust emission in Arp220: magnetic fields in the core of an ultraluminous infrared Galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Goddi C
(2021)
Polarimetric Properties of Event Horizon Telescope Targets from ALMA
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Roelofs F
(2023)
Polarimetric Geometric Modeling for mm-VLBI Observations of Black Holes
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Bains W
(2021)
Phosphine on Venus Cannot Be Explained by Conventional Processes.
in Astrobiology
Dahale R
(2025)
Origin of the ring ellipticity in the black hole images of M87 *
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Paraschos G
(2024)
Ordered magnetic fields around the 3C 84 central black hole
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bains W
(2022)
Only extraordinary volcanism can explain the presence of parts per billion phosphine on Venus.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Xu F
(2024)
On the Scarcity of Dense Cores (n > 10 5 cm -3 ) in High-latitude Planck Galactic Cold Clumps
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Ngoc N
(2021)
Observations of Magnetic Fields Surrounding LkHa 101 Taken by the BISTRO Survey with JCMT-POL-2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Drew M
(2025)
New Estimates of the Spin and Accretion Rate of the Black Hole M87*
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters