LT Operations Extension April - September 2014
Lead Research Organisation:
Liverpool John Moores University
Department Name: Astrophysics Research Institute
Abstract
In order to maintain the operations of the Liverpool Telescope in the period 1st April 2014 - 30st September 2014 while a longer term funding decision is made, and to allow the retention of staff during that period, a contribution to the staffing costs of the telescope is requested from STFC as agreed by Colin Vincent.
Planned Impact
ARI has a long tradition of strong industrial and PUS engagement. We will continue our policy of engagement with engineering firms who will be commissioned to manufacture the structure of the instrument. In the past this has allowed firms working with us to upgrade their skills and machinery to deliver the high precision needed for astronomical instrumentation, allowing them to received a grants and R&D tax credits in order to upgrade their precision machining capability and safeguarding a number of jobs at the time. In addition such firms have been able to use their work on astronomical instrumentation to enhance their reputation with other customers and has assisted them in gaining access to new markets (for example contracts with ING and CERN). In addition the LT will remain the core of the National Schools Observatory, the UK's most significant schools outreach activity.
Publications
Anderson J
(2015)
On the environments of Type Ia supernovae within host galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fukui A
(2015)
OGLE-2012-BLG-0563Lb: A SATURN-MASS PLANET AROUND AN M DWARF WITH THE MASS CONSTRAINED BY SUBARU AO IMAGING
in The Astrophysical Journal
Vaduvescu O
(2015)
First EURONEAR NEA discoveries from La Palma using the INT?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kumar P
(2015)
The physics of gamma-ray bursts & relativistic jets
in Physics Reports
Pastorello A
(2015)
Massive stars exploding in a He-rich circumstellar medium - IV. Transitional Type Ibn supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casadio C
(2015)
A MULTI-WAVELENGTH POLARIMETRIC STUDY OF THE BLAZAR CTA 102 DURING A GAMMA-RAY FLARE IN 2012
in The Astrophysical Journal
Olkin C
(2015)
Evidence that Pluto's atmosphere does not collapse from occultations including the 2013 May 04 event
in Icarus
Armas Padilla M
(2014)
Swift J1357.2-0933: the faintest black hole?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nicholl M
(2014)
Superluminous supernovae from PESSTO
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Spiro S
(2014)
Low luminosity Type II supernovae - II. Pointing towards moderate mass precursors
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Holoien T
(2014)
ASASSN-14ae: a tidal disruption event at 200 Mpc
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shalyapin V
(2014)
Spectra of faint sources in crowded fields with FRODOSpec on the Liverpool Robotic Telescope
in Astronomische Nachrichten
Williams S
(2014)
ON THE PROGENITORS OF LOCAL GROUP NOVAE. I. THE M31 CATALOG
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Aleksic J
(2014)
MAGIC gamma-ray and multi-frequency observations of flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089 in early 2012
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Fitzgerald M
(2014)
A Review of High School Level Astronomy Student Research Projects Over the Last Two Decades
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Rousselot P
(2014)
Monitoring of the cometary activity of distant comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mazzali P
(2014)
Hubble Space Telescope spectra of the Type Ia supernova SN 2011fe: a tail of low-density, high-velocity material with Z < Z?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dall'Ora M
(2014)
THE TYPE IIP SUPERNOVA 2012aw IN M95: HYDRODYNAMICAL MODELING OF THE PHOTOSPHERIC PHASE FROM ACCURATE SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC MONITORING
in The Astrophysical Journal
Japelj J
(2014)
PHENOMENOLOGY OF REVERSE-SHOCK EMISSION IN THE OPTICAL AFTERGLOWS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Morales-Garoffolo A
(2014)
SN 2013df, a double-peaked IIb supernova from a compact progenitor and an extended H envelope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morgan A
(2014)
Evidence for dust destruction from the early-time colour change of GRB 120119A
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Schulze S
(2014)
GRB 120422A/SN 2012bz: Bridging the gap between low- and high-luminosity gamma-ray bursts
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bernardini M
(2014)
A magnetar powering the ordinary monster GRB 130427A?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Williamson K
(2014)
COMPREHENSIVE MONITORING OF GAMMA-RAY BRIGHT BLAZARS. I. STATISTICAL STUDY OF OPTICAL, X-RAY, AND GAMMA-RAY SPECTRAL SLOPES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Habergham S
(2014)
Environments of interacting transients: impostors and Type IIn supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zhang S
(2014)
THE MAGNETIZATION DEGREE OF THE OUTFLOW POWERING THE HIGHLY POLARIZED REVERSE-SHOCK EMISSION OF GRB 120308A
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ashall C
(2014)
Photometric and spectroscopic observations, and abundance tomography modelling of the Type Ia supernova SN 2014J located in M82
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith A
(2014)
WASP-104b and WASP-106b: two transiting hot Jupiters in 1.75-day and 9.3-day orbits
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ergon M
(2014)
Optical and near-infrared observations of SN 2011dh - The first 100 days
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Uttley P
(2014)
Multi-Wavelength Variability Accretion and Ejection at the Fastest Timescales
in Space Science Reviews
Shalyapin V
(2014)
Deep optical imaging and spectroscopy of the lens system SDSS J1339+1310
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pruzhinskaya M
(2014)
Optical polarization observations with the MASTER robotic net
in New Astronomy
Darnley M
(2014)
A remarkable recurrent nova in M 31: The optical observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wang Y
(2014)
Parallaxes of Five L Dwarfs with a Robotic Telescope
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Lowry S
(2014)
The internal structure of asteroid (25143) Itokawa as revealed by detection of YORP spin-up
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Aasi J
(2014)
FIRST SEARCHES FOR OPTICAL COUNTERPARTS TO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE CANDIDATE EVENTS
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Casares J
(2014)
A Be-type star with a black-hole companion.
in Nature
Johnson C
(2014)
HD 314884: a slowly pulsating B star in a close binary
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aleksic J
(2014)
MAGIC observations and multifrequency properties of the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 279 in 2011
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tsapras Y
(2014)
A SUPER-JUPITER ORBITING A LATE-TYPE STAR: A REFINED ANALYSIS OF MICROLENSING EVENT OGLE-2012-BLG-0406
in The Astrophysical Journal
Corsi A
(2014)
A MULTI-WAVELENGTH INVESTIGATION OF THE RADIO-LOUD SUPERNOVA PTF11qcj AND ITS CIRCUMSTELLAR ENVIRONMENT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Anderson D
(2014)
Three newly discovered sub-Jupiter-mass planets: WASP-69b and WASP-84b transit active K dwarfs and WASP-70Ab transits the evolved primary of a G4+K3 binary?†
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bours M
(2014)
Testing the planetary models of HU Aquarii
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jeong S
(2014)
The dark nature of GRB 130528A and its host galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Melandri A
(2014)
The nature of the late achromatic bump in GRB 120326A
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ramakrishnan V
(2014)
The connection between the parsec-scale radio jet and ?-ray flares in the blazar 1156+295
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Maguire K
(2014)
Exploring the spectral diversity of low-redshift Type Ia supernovae using the Palomar Transient Factory
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
D'Elia V
(2014)
VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy of the GRB 120327A afterglow
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Henderson C
(2014)
CANDIDATE GRAVITATIONAL MICROLENSING EVENTS FOR FUTURE DIRECT LENS IMAGING
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stanway E
(2014)
GRB 080517: a local, low-luminosity gamma-ray burst in a dusty galaxy at z = 0.09
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | The National Schools' Observatory (NSO) is a major educational website, established by Liverpool John Moores University, to allow schools to make their own observations alongside professional astronomers with the world's largest fully-robotic telescope - the Liverpool Telescope. The NSO also provides educational resources to help with the challenging task of teaching science, technology and mathematics in the classroom environment. It has long been known that astronomy creates a sense of excitement and wonder in pupils of all ages. The NSO taps into that interest to further the pupil's knowledge of science and mathematics, while at the same time improve computer literacy and communications skills, strengthen critical thinking and provide experience the real-world application of science and technology. Using astronomical telescopes is the most important feature of this website and schools registered with the Schools' Observatory have the opportunity to make their observations using the LT. Over the past 10 years, over 100,000 observations have been taken for schools. Once the observing request has been completed, pupils are able to download the telescope data and use special Image Processing software (LTImage) to analyse the resulting images. |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| 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 | Telescope Robotic Control Software |
| Description | Robotic Control Software for telescopes |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Used for robotic control of Liverpool and Faulkes Telescopes |
| URL | https://github.com/LivTel/robotic-control-system |
| Description | National Schools Observatory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Over 100,000 Liverpool Telescope observations delivered into over 2,500 schools in the UK, with supporting curricular material etc. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | Pre-2006,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016 |
| URL | http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |