Queen's University Belfast Consolidated Grant in Solar Physics and Solar System Studies 2020 - 2023

Lead Research Organisation: Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch of Mathematics and Physics

Abstract

Our Consolidated Grant covers a number of research projects in solar physics, and the study of solar system bodies, undertaken by staff within the Astrophysics Research Centre of the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen's University Belfast. All projects fall within the remit of the Solar Studies (SS) and Planetary Studies (PL) sub-panels of the STFC Astronomy Grants Panel. The solar physics projects involve observational and computational studies of the Sun's atmosphere from the photosphere to the corona, focusing primarily on high cadence imaging and spectroscopy of dynamical events on small spatial scales. Topics for investigation will include wave generation, propagation and dissipation, the generation and evolution of magnetic fields, and the study of the corona during total solar eclipses. Projects on solar system bodies include measuring precise brightness and light scattering functions for hundreds of thousands of asteroids, detecting asteroid collisions, and studying the chemical makeup of distant comets.

Planned Impact

1. Public engagement

The research fields covered by our application - solar physics and studies of solar system objects - are extremely well suited to public engagement activities, as the sources are often observable either with the naked eye or small, portable telescopes (which can hence be easily provided at public events). We have a popular outreach portfolio, continually updated, linked to our Consolidate Grant (CG) programmes. It has major societal impact, especially with schoolchildren. Our ongoing outreach activities, plus upcoming special events linked to our CG programmes, are summarised below.

- An annual 4-day Summer School for ~40 UK 5th- and 6th-form students, centred around physics and including one full day on CG-related talks and workshops.

- NI Science Festival, held every February, at which we give talks on our research, attended by ~300 people. Fitzsimmons is a Board Member of the Festival.

- Stargazing Live and Jupiter/Moon Watches - we contribute to these regular events in our CG programmes, such as a partial solar eclipse linked to the total eclipse in August 2017, including the provision of telescopes for public use. Typical attendance is 400 per event. Future events include the solar eclipse in December 2020 (not visible from NI but we will have a link to our eclipse team in S America), and Mercury transit in November 2019.

- Asteroid Day Live - we have contributed to this international event for the past 2 years, with participation in the live TV/on-line debates and presentations in Luxembourg.

- We run an annual work experience programme for 6th-formers, and typically have 2 students per year in our CG programmes.

- We provide at least 1 talk per year on CG programmes to the Irish Astronomical Association (IAA) monthly meetings, and host these at no cost to the IAA in one of our lecture theatres.

- We have a talks programme for schools, with those related to the CG programmes including 'Death of the Dinosaurs' and 'Why is the Sky Blue?', delivered about 5 times per year.


2. Knowledge exchange engagement

We have 2 programmes directly linked to our CG programmes.

1.2.1 Development of sCMOS cameras:

We have worked closely with Andor Technology to develop large-format, high-speed sCMOS cameras for the DKIST solar telescope, funded by a PPRP grant. The sCMOS cameras are initially targeted primarily at the needs of solar telescopes and the broader astronomy community. There is currently a demand for large-area CCD cameras, and it is anticipated that a significant fraction of the astronomy market will migrate towards sCMOS detectors, which offer lower noise and faster speeds. Applications outside solar physics include the tracking of space debris, near-Earth objects, occultations, wavefront sensing and speckle imaging. There is a substantial worldwide astronomy market, with continued investment in existing and new astronomical facilities in China, Europe, India and the US. Andor are witnessing strong interest in this camera, and have received a number of pre-orders. Marketing material has been prepared and there are plans for an official product launch in early 2019.

1.2 Biomarkers

With Randox Laboratories we have recently (May 2017) established at Queen's an R&D Engineering Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Applications. The focus of the Centre is to design custom image processing solutions that can be utilised specifically for biomedical applications. For example, one area of investigation is methods to increase the sensitivity of detection for biomarkers, in turn improving the detection window for elevated levels of biomarkers, so that they can be identified earlier and treatment started sooner. It is envisaged that the new image processing solutions will undergo initial patient trails in 2020, and come to market by 2022.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title The science of superheroes 
Description A presentation on the science of superheroes, which contains clips of TV shows and films with superheroes in them (Superman, Avengers etc), along with slides discussing the accuracy or otherwise of the 'science' in the clips. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact None to date as the presentation has just been completed, and delivery of the presentation is still on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However once it can be given to audiences (ranging from schoolchildren to the general public, teachers, university students etc), it is envisaged that it will be very popular, similar to the previous presentations on the science of science-fiction films and TV shows. 
 
Description Community Tools for Rubin Observatory Solar System Science
Amount £13,620 (GBP)
Funding ID KSI-23 
Organisation Heising-Simons Foundation 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United States
Start 01/2022 
End 07/2022
 
Description Enabling the discovery of Earth's temporary satellite with the Large Survey of Space and Time
Amount £157,728 (GBP)
Organisation European Commission H2020 
Sector Public
Country Belgium
Start 07/2021 
End 07/2023
 
Description Exploring Citizen Science Use Cases with the Lasair transient alert broker
Amount £19,907 (GBP)
Funding ID BB/T018909/1 
Organisation Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2020 
End 10/2020
 
Description Faint signals from bright sources: identifying high-frequency waves in the Sun
Amount £274,257 (GBP)
Funding ID RPG-2019-371 
Organisation The Leverhulme Trust 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2020 
End 05/2024
 
Description Integral Field Units: the next generation of space-based solar instrumentation
Amount £49,707 (GBP)
Funding ID SSc 009 
Organisation UK Space Agency 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2022 
End 03/2022
 
Description Leverhulme Interdisciplinary Network on Algorithmic Solutions (LINAS)
Amount £1,350,000 (GBP)
Funding ID 95191 
Organisation The Leverhulme Trust 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2021 
End 08/2025
 
Description New Applicant Scheme Consolidated Grant Application in Solar System Studies- Towards the Solar System's Edge: Exploring the Inner Oort Cloud
Amount £225,555 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/V000691/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2021 
End 03/2023
 
Description Next generation MCAO systems for large aperture solar telescopes
Amount £20,845 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/V003739/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2021 
End 06/2023
 
Description Observations of Lyman-alpha Emission in Solar Flares
Amount £226,842 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/W001144/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2022 
End 03/2024
 
Description PATT Travel Grant for observational astrophysics at QUB: 2020 - 2022
Amount £35,378 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/V00199X/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2020 
End 03/2022
 
Description Preparing for LSST Solar System Follow-up
Amount £7,154 (GBP)
Funding ID 28593-1 
Organisation Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Corporation 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United States
Start 06/2020 
End 10/2022
 
Description Queen's University Belfast Consolidated Grant in Solar Physics and Solar System Studies 2023 - 2026
Amount £1,071,631 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/X000923/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2023 
End 03/2026
 
Description STFC Belfast 2020 DTP
Amount £234,120 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/V506990/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2020 
End 09/2024
 
Description STFC Belfast 2021 DTP
Amount £159,496 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/W507751/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2021 
End 09/2025
 
Description STFC Belfast 2022 DTP
Amount £81,631 (GBP)
Funding ID ST/X508706/1 
Organisation Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2022 
End 09/2026
 
Description UK-DKIST Science Support
Amount £238,550 (GBP)
Funding ID ND2550C 
Organisation Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy 
Sector Learned Society
Country United States
Start 03/2020 
End 09/2023
 
Description Astronomy Open Day for Northern Ireland Science Festival 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact An Open Day where members of the public visited the astrophysicists at Queen's University to learn about the latest discoveries and also gain some general knowledge of astronomy.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023