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
Bešlic I
(2024)
The magnetic field in the Flame nebula
Zapata L
(2024)
Magnetic Fields in Massive Star-forming Regions (MagMaR). IV. Tracing the Magnetic Fields in the O-type Protostellar System IRAS 16547-4247
in The Astrophysical Journal
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
(2024)
First Sagittarius A* Event Horizon Telescope Results. VIII. Physical Interpretation of the Polarized Ring
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Klaassen P
(2024)
Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) science: Our Galaxy
in Open Research Europe
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
Ruffa I
(2024)
Molecular Gas Kinematics in Local Early-Type Galaxies with ALMA
in Galaxies
Khan Z
(2024)
Magnetic fields under feedback: a case study of the massive star-forming hub G34.26 + 0.15
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
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
Lin S
(2024)
Magnetic Fields of the Starless Core L 1512
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pattle K
(2024)
The UK Submillimetre and Millimetre Astronomy Roadmap 2024
Choi Y
(2024)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: The Magnetic Fields of the IC 348 Star-forming Region
in The Astrophysical Journal
Smith I
(2024)
JCMT SCUBA-2 Sub-millimeter Observations of AT2018cow
in Research Notes of the AAS
Zhou D
(2024)
The RAdio Galaxy Environment Reference Survey (RAGERS) Evidence of an anisotropic distribution of submillimeter galaxies in the 4C 23.56 protocluster at z = 2.48
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pattle K
(2025)
The JCMT Gould Belt Survey Complete Core Catalogue: core mass function variations between nearby molecular clouds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sharma E
(2025)
Imprints of Stellar Feedback on Magnetic Fields in the Iris Nebula NGC 7023
in The Astrophysical Journal
Zhang H
(2025)
WISDOM Project - XXII. A 5 per cent precision CO-dynamical supermassive black hole mass measurement in the galaxy NGC 383
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Yang M
(2025)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Unveiling the Magnetic Fields around Galactic Center
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Roeder J.
(2025)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: VLBI core fluxes and brightness temperatures (Roeder+, 2025)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Pattle K
(2025)
The JCMT Gould Belt Survey: first results from the Corona Australis molecular cloud and evidence of variable dust emissivity indices in the Coronet region
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Drew M
(2025)
New Estimates of the Spin and Accretion Rate of the Black Hole M87*
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Pattle K
(2025)
JCMT POL-2 observations of magnetic fields potentially shaped by outflows in the pre-planetary nebulae CRL 618 and OH231.8+4.2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Goddi C
(2025)
First polarization study of the M87 jet and active galactic nuclei at submillimeter wavelengths with ALMA
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Dahale R
(2025)
Origin of the ring ellipticity in the black hole images of M87 *
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Perry J
(2025)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: the magnetized evolution of star-forming cores in the Ophiuchus molecular cloud interpreted using histograms of relative orientation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hwang J
(2025)
The JCMT BISTRO-3 Survey: Variation of Magnetic Field Orientations on Parsec and Subparsec Scales in the Massive Star-forming Region G28.34+0.06
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gao Y
(2025)
The First Exploration of the Correlations Between WISE 12 µ m and CO Emission in Early-type Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Röder J
(2025)
A multifrequency study of sub-parsec jets with the Event Horizon Telescope
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Winiarska Martyna W.
(2025)
Investigating the effects of fresh gas on the Active Galactic Nuclei luminosity of early- and late-type galaxies
in arXiv e-prints
Sanhueza P
(2025)
Magnetic Fields in Massive Star-forming Regions (MagMaR). V. The Magnetic Field at the Onset of High-mass Star Formation
in The Astrophysical Journal
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
Saurabh
(2026)
Probing jet base emission of M87* with the 2021 Event Horizon Telescope observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
King S
(2026)
CHIMPS2: the physical properties and star formation efficiency of molecular gas in the central molecular zone
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bernshteyn V
(2026)
Ring Asymmetry and Spin in M87*