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 every 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 STFC. ULTRACAM saw 'first light' in 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 in May 2005. To date, ULTRACAM has been awarded a total of 147 nights of time on these telescopes to study white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, pulsars, black-hole/neutron-star X-ray binaries, gamma-ray bursts, cataclysmic variables, eclipsing binary stars, extrasolar planets, flare stars, ultra-compact binaries, active galactic nuclei, asteroseismology and occultations by Solar System objects (Titan, Pluto, the moons of Uranus and Kuiper Belt Objects). 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 status as the world's premier instrument for high-speed optical astrophysics. As well as maximising the return on STFC's original investment, this money will also allow us to continue to offer ULTRACAM to others in the astronomical community who wish to use it.
Organisations
Publications
Meza E
(2019)
Lower atmosphere and pressure evolution on Pluto from ground-based stellar occultations, 1988-2016
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Misra R
(2019)
Puzzling blue dips in the black hole candidate Swift J1357.2 - 0933, from ULTRACAM, SALT, ATCA, Swift, and NuSTAR
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nieder L
(2020)
Discovery of a Gamma-Ray Black Widow Pulsar by GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Nieder L
(2019)
Detection and Timing of Gamma-Ray Pulsations from the 707 Hz Pulsar J0952-0607
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ortiz JL
(2012)
Albedo and atmospheric constraints of dwarf planet Makemake from a stellar occultation.
in Nature
Osborn J
(2011)
Conjugate-plane photometry: reducing scintillation in ground-based photometry Conjugate-plane photometry
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pala A
(2019)
Evidence for mass accretion driven by spiral shocks onto the white dwarf in SDSS J123813.73-033933.0
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parsons S
(2010)
Precise mass and radius values for the white dwarf and low mass M dwarf in the pre-cataclysmic binary NN Serpentis
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parsons S
(2010)
Orbital period variations in eclipsing post-common-envelope binaries Eclipsing PCEBs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parsons S
(2012)
The shortest period detached white dwarf + main-sequence binary The eclipsing binary SDSS J0857+0342
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parsons S
(2013)
Eclipsing post-common envelope binaries from the Catalina surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parsons S
(2010)
Orbital Period Variations in Eclipsing Post Common Envelope Binaries
Parsons S
(2012)
A precision study of two eclipsing white dwarf plus M dwarf binaries Precise parameters for SDSS J1212-0123 and GK Vir
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Parsons S
(2012)
An accurate mass and radius measurement for an ultracool white dwarf Accurate parameters for an ultracool white dwarf
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Savoury C
(2011)
Cataclysmic variables below the period gap: mass determinations of 14 eclipsing systems Short-period CVs below the period gap
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Schaffenroth V
(2021)
A quantitative in-depth analysis of the prototype sdB+BD system SDSS J08205+0008 revisited in the Gaia era
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Schwarz R
(2009)
Hunting high and low: XMM monitoring of the eclipsing polar HU Aquarii
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Shahbaz T
(2010)
Observations of the quiescent X-ray transients GRS 1124-684 (=GU Mus) and Cen X-4 (=V822 Cen) taken with ULTRACAM on the VLT
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Silvotti R
(2010)
V391 Peg: Identification of the two main pulsation modes from ULTRACAM u'g'r' amplitudes
in Astronomische Nachrichten
Tulloch S
(2011)
On the use of electron-multiplying CCDs for astronomical spectroscopy Astronomical spectroscopy with EMCCDs
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
Vuckovic M
(2010)
Multicolour photometry of EO Ceti (PB 8783)
in Astrophysics and Space Science
Wang ? L
(2019)
The Pre-He White Dwarf in the Post-mass Transfer Binary EL CVn
in The Astronomical Journal
Wild J
(2020)
Spectroscopic and photometric periods of six ultracompact accreting binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Description | We have used this grant to operate ULTRACAM on the 3.5m New Technology Telescope and the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope. ULTRACAM is a high-speed astronomical camera which has helped increase our understanding of the dead remnants of stars: white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. |
Exploitation Route | Our findings provide the observational underpinning of theories of the structure and evolution of binary stars containing white dwarf, neutron stars and black holes. |
Sectors | Education |
URL | http://www.vikdhillon.staff.shef.ac.uk/ultracam/ |
Description | Advanced Grant |
Amount | € 3,500,000 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 01/2014 |
End | 12/2018 |