Liverpool Telescope operations 2009-2014
Lead Research Organisation:
Liverpool John Moores University
Department Name: Astrophysics Research Institute
Abstract
The Liverpool Telescope (LT ) (http://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 whose primary purpose (95% of observing time) is to carry out internationally competitive research. Since the commencement of robotic operation at the end of 2004, the LT has combined rapid reaction to Targets of Opportunity (ToO) with the ability to perform systematic long-term monitoring of targets and coordinated observations with other facilities, both on the ground and in space. This has allowed it to participate in many exciting new discoveries reported in high impact journals: - the earliest measurement of the optical polarization of a Gamma ray burst afterglow (Mundell et al, Science, 2007, 315, 1822) - the monitoring of many supernovae including the recent 'double supernova' SN2006jc (Pastroello et al, Nature, 2007, 447, 829) - the direct detection of the asteroidal YORP effect (Lowry et al, Science, 2007, 316, 272) - the discovery of a jupiter-saturn analogue solar system via gravitational microlensing (Gaudi et al, Science, 2008, 319, 927) - observations of the recent 'naked eye' GRB080319 (Racusin et al, Nature, 2008, 455, 813) This application is for continuation of funding for the maintenance and operation of the Liverpool Telescope, and the continuation of its role as a major resource both for the LJMU Astrophysics Research Institute and the wider UK community.
Publications
Belton M
(2011)
Stardust-NExT, Deep Impact, and the accelerating spin of 9P/Tempel 1
in Icarus
Musella I
(2012)
STELLAR ARCHEOLOGY IN THE GALACTIC HALO WITH ULTRA-FAINT DWARFS. VII. HERCULES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mawson N
(2013)
STILT: System design and performance STILT: System design and performance
in Astronomische Nachrichten
Inserra C
(2013)
SUPER-LUMINOUS TYPE Ic SUPERNOVAE: CATCHING A MAGNETAR BY THE TAIL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Botticella M
(2010)
SUPERNOVA 2009kf: AN ULTRAVIOLET BRIGHT TYPE IIP SUPERNOVA DISCOVERED WITH PAN-STARRS 1 AND GALEX
in The Astrophysical Journal
Maund J
(2013)
Supernova 2012ec: identification of the progenitor and early monitoring with PESSTO?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Nugent PE
(2011)
Supernova SN 2011fe from an exploding carbon-oxygen white dwarf star.
in Nature
Ramsay G
(2012)
Suppression of X-rays during an optical outburst of the helium dwarf nova KL Dra X-ray observations of KL Dra
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nascimbeni V
(2012)
TASTE III. A homogeneous study of transit time variations in WASP-3b??????
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Nascimbeni, V.
(2013)
TASTE. III. A homogeneous study of transit time variations in WASP-3b
in A&A
Steele IA
(2009)
Ten per cent polarized optical emission from GRB 090102.
in Nature
Abramowski A
(2012)
THE 2010 VERY HIGH ENERGY ?-RAY FLARE AND 10 YEARS OF MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF M 87
in The Astrophysical Journal
Inserra C
(2012)
The bright Type IIP SN 2009bw, showing signs of interaction? SN 2009bw in UGC 2890
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vercellone S
(2011)
THE BRIGHTEST GAMMA-RAY FLARING BLAZAR IN THE SKY: AGILE AND MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF 3C 454.3 DURING 2010 NOVEMBER
in The Astrophysical Journal
Villata M
(2009)
The correlated optical and radio variability of BL Lacertae WEBT data analysis 1994-2005
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Melandri A
(2012)
The dark bursts population in a complete sample of bright Swift long gamma-ray bursts Dark bursts in a complete sample of LGRBs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gould A
(2009)
THE EXTREME MICROLENSING EVENT OGLE-2007-BLG-224: TERRESTRIAL PARALLAX OBSERVATION OF A THICK-DISK BROWN DWARF
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wang X
(2009)
THE GOLDEN STANDARD TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA 2005cf: OBSERVATIONS FROM THE ULTRAVIOLET TO THE NEAR-INFRARED WAVEBANDS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Maxwell M
(2012)
The helium abundance in the ejecta of U Scorpii The helium abundance in the ejecta of U Scorpi
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pan Y
(2014)
The host galaxies of Type Ia supernovae discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lowry S
(2014)
The internal structure of asteroid (25143) Itokawa as revealed by detection of YORP spin-up
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ramsay G
(2012)
The long-term optical behaviour of helium-accreting AM CVn binaries The long-term behaviour of AM CVn systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elias-Rosa N
(2011)
THE MASSIVE PROGENITOR OF THE POSSIBLE TYPE II-LINEAR SUPERNOVA 2009hd IN MESSIER 66
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ribeiro V
(2011)
The morphology of the expanding ejecta of V2491 Cygni (2008 N.2) Ejecta morphology in nova V2491 Cyg
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Osten R
(2010)
THE MOUSE THAT ROARED: A SUPERFLARE FROM THE dMe FLARE STAR EV LAC DETECTED BY SWIFT AND KONUS- WIND
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jermak H
(2020)
The New Robotic Telescope: progress report
De Ugarte Postigo, A.
(2013)
The obscured hyper-energetic GRB 120624B hosted by a luminous compact galaxy at z = 2.20
in A&A
De Ugarte Postigo A
(2013)
The obscured hyper-energetic GRB 120624B hosted by a luminous compact galaxy at z = 2.20
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Perets H
(2011)
THE OLD ENVIRONMENT OF THE FAINT CALCIUM-RICH SUPERNOVA SN 2005cz
in The Astrophysical Journal
Muñoz-Darias T
(2013)
The optical counterpart of the bright X-ray transient Swift J1745-26
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Larionov V
(2013)
THE OUTBURST OF THE BLAZAR S5 0716+71 IN 2011 OCTOBER: SHOCK IN A HELICAL JET
in The Astrophysical Journal
Marsh T
(2014)
The planets around NN Serpentis: still there?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Acosta-Pulido J
(2010)
The redshift and broad-band spectral energy distribution of NRAO 150
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Hayashida M
(2012)
THE STRUCTURE AND EMISSION MODEL OF THE RELATIVISTIC JET IN THE QUASAR 3C 279 INFERRED FROM RADIO TO HIGH-ENERGY ?-RAY OBSERVATIONS IN 2008-2010
in The Astrophysical Journal
West R
(2009)
The sub-Jupiter mass transiting exoplanet WASP-11b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
McCrum M
(2014)
The superluminous supernova PS1-11ap: bridging the gap between low and high redshift
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Inserra C
(2011)
The Type IIP SN 2007od in UGC 12846: from a bright maximum to dust formation in the nebular phase* SN 2007od in UGC12846
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Thöne CC
(2011)
The unusual ?-ray burst GRB 101225A from a helium star/neutron star merger at redshift 0.33.
in Nature
Czekala I
(2013)
THE UNUSUALLY LUMINOUS EXTRAGALACTIC NOVA SN 2010U
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hachinger S
(2013)
The UV/optical spectra of the Type Ia supernova SN 2010jn: a bright supernova with outer layers rich in iron-group elements
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Maund J
(2011)
THE YELLOW SUPERGIANT PROGENITOR OF THE TYPE II SUPERNOVA 2011dh IN M51
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hainline L
(2013)
TIME DELAY AND ACCRETION DISK SIZE MEASUREMENTS IN THE LENSED QUASAR SBS 0909+532 FROM MULTIWAVELENGTH MICROLENSING ANALYSIS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Goicoechea L
(2010)
TIME DELAYS IN THE GRAVITATIONALLY LENSED QUASAR H1413+117 (CLOVERLEAF)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Barros S
(2013)
Transit timing variations in WASP-10b induced by stellar activity
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Breedt E
(2010)
Twelve years of X-ray and optical variability in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4051 X-ray/optical variability in NGC 4051
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Young D
(2010)
Two type Ic supernovae in low-metallicity, dwarf galaxies: diversity of explosions
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Habergham S
(2010)
TYPE Ibc SUPERNOVAE IN DISTURBED GALAXIES: EVIDENCE FOR A TOP-HEAVY INITIAL MASS FUNCTION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Copperwheat C
(2009)
ULTRACAM observations of two accreting white dwarf pulsators
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Villforth C
(2010)
Variability and stability in blazar jets on time-scales of years: optical polarization monitoring of OJ 287 in 2005-2009
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Raiteri C
(2012)
Variability of the blazar 4C 38.41 (B3 1633+382) from GHz frequencies to GeV energies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Description | Has made major impact in many branches of Time Domain Astrophysics in particular. These include for example rapid follow-up of Gamma Ray Burst sources, including very early time polarisation studies; very accurate timing measurements of exoplanetary transits; observation and follow-up of both Galactic and extragalactic novae through pre-maximum to late time phases; determination of very high mass binary component properties in for example a Be star/Black hole system; follow-up of supernovae, including securing the earliest ever spectrum of a Type Ia, leading to verification of the carbon deflagration model and many other important results as detailed in the approximately 200 refereed journal papers published during the grant period (and around 100 since). These papers include a high proportion in the highest impact journals such as Science and Nature. |
Exploitation Route | General advancement of basic science |
Sectors | Education,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
URL | http://telescope.livjm.ac.uk |
Description | National Schools' Observatory, the Spaceport visitor centre and regional industry all benefitted. In REF 2014, we submitted Impact Case Studies in these three areas and gained 40% 4*, 46.7% 3* and 13.3% 2* overall for Impact. Details of these Case Studies can be found at http://results.ref.ac.uk/Submissions/Impact/208 |
Sector | Education,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | EU Framework 7 (OPTICON) |
Amount | £119,577 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 312430 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 06/2013 |
End | 06/2016 |
Description | EU Framework Programme |
Amount | £71,038 (GBP) |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 06/2012 |
End | 06/2015 |
Description | EU Framework Programme |
Amount | £29,175 (GBP) |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 06/2011 |
End | 06/2013 |
Description | STFC Large Awards |
Amount | £15,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2011 |
End | 06/2013 |
Description | STFC SiS Fellowships |
Amount | £74,252 (GBP) |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2011 |
End | 10/2013 |
Description | University Widening Access |
Amount | £1,283,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Liverpool John Moores University |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2011 |
End | 09/2017 |
Description | Collaboration with University of Oxford |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Scientific Expertise, Access to telescope time |
Collaborator Contribution | Scientific Expertise, Financial Contribution |
Impact | Collaboration on followup of LOFAR radio transients starting in early 2014. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | ESA Gaia Support |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Country | France |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Telescope time, observation management and data reduction in support of the tracking of the Gaia satellite via optical means. |
Collaborator Contribution | Target Position Information, Data Analysis |
Impact | Ongoing project - wast initially test programme prior to satellite launch in September 2013, after became ongoing commercial contract with ESA renewed annually |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | FRODOSpec |
Organisation | University of Southampton |
Department | Physics and Astronomy |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Funding and effort to develop a dual beam spectrograph for the Liverpool Telescope using optical fibre and VPH technology. Ongoing joint exploitation. |
Collaborator Contribution | Funding contribution and scientific input to the spectrograph design. Ongoing joint exploitation. |
Impact | The FRODOSpec instrument itself. Scientific publications. |
Description | Joint GRB Programme |
Organisation | University of Ljubljana |
Department | Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
Country | Slovenia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Telescope time, data analysis, software development, scientific expertise |
Collaborator Contribution | Funding, scientific expertise. |
Impact | 17 joint scientific publications. |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | RISE |
Organisation | Queen's University Belfast |
Department | School of Mathematics and Physics |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Design of a new fast-timing camera for the Liverpool Telescope, integration and operation. Joint scientific exploitation. |
Collaborator Contribution | Funding of hardware. Software development. Joint scientific Exploitation. |
Impact | The RISE instrument. 17 scientific publications. |
Start Year | 2007 |
Title | Robotic Control Software |
Description | software developed to run the liverpool telescope in an autonomous fashion was licensed under GPL and released to Las Cumbres Observatory in return for 1200 hours guarenteed time on their telesopes. |
IP Reference | |
Protection | Copyrighted (e.g. software) |
Year Protection Granted | 2007 |
Licensed | Yes |
Impact | The robotic software is of course key to the whole operation of the telescope- without it the majority of the scientific papers produced would not have been possible. |
Description | Input to Parliamentary Inquiry |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Provision of evidence and acting as expert witness for House of Commons S&T Committee Inquiry into astronomy and particle physics. Recommendations in final report supporting the Liverpool Telescope and National Schools' Observatory. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | National Schools' Observatory |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | The NSO has 3,000 registered schools. More than 100,000 discrete observations with the LT have been returned to schools for projects within the classroom. Full evaluation of the impact of the NSO is currently underway. Two of the NSO staff team now have FeC on our renewed Consolidated Grant (2018-2021) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019 |
URL | http://www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/ |
Description | National Schools' Observatory in FE Colleges |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 500 FE College lecturers and their students engaged with astronomical research using the Liverpool Telescope and resources of the NSO website. Over all NSO activity (Primary, Secondary, FE) over the period: 30,000 observing requests were delivered and just under 3,000,000 educational webpages viewed. This is in addition to the engagement activity entered into eVal for the previous period. www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
Description | National Schools' Observatory in Primary Schools |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 1000 Primary school teachers and their pupils engaged with astronomical research using the Liverpool Telescope and resources of the NSO website. Over all NSO activity (Primary, Secondary, FE) over the period: 30,000 observing requests were delivered and just under 3,000,000 educational webpages viewed. This is in addition to the engagement activity entered into eVal for the previous period. www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
URL | http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
Description | National Schools' Observatory in Secondary Schools |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 2500 Secondary school teachers and their pupils engaged with astronomical research using the Liverpool Telescope and resources of the NSO website. Over all NSO activity (Primary, Secondary, FE) over the period: 30,000 observing requests were delivered and just under 3,000,000 educational webpages viewed. This is in addition to the engagement activity entered into eVal for the previous period www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
URL | http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
Description | Press coverage relating to the Liverpool Telescope |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Paper Presentation |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | 12+ significant stories covered by the media through press releases related to the Liverpool Telescope. This is in addition to the outputs reported for the previous period through eVal. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
Description | School and Public Talks |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 50+ public talks and 200+ schools talks based around science from the Liverpool Telescope. This is in addition to data entered through eVal for the previous period. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
URL | http://www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/outreach |
Description | TV and radio coverage |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Contributions to TV and radio broadcasts featuring LIverpool Telescope science. Total 20+ in this reporting period. This is in addition to the outputs reported for the previous period through eVal. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
URL | http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |