Liverpool Telescope Operations 2020-2023
Lead Research Organisation:
Liverpool John Moores University
Department Name: Astrophysics Research Institute
Abstract
The Liverpool Telescope (LT ) (https://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 with a dual role to carry out internationally competitive research and deliver the key observing resource to the National Schools Observatory. The NSO offers school children near-immediate access to a world-class observatory. Since its launch in 2004, this has led to over 160,000 observing requests from over 4,000 schools. The NSO currently works with over 4000 teachers throughout the UK and Ireland. At the core of the NSO is the website which provides support material for a range of subjects and receives over 1.5 million hits each year.
Since operations began in 2004, LT has specialised in delivering high impact results in time domain astrophysics. Indeed, the observatory is unique in actively encouraging rapid-response and difficult-to-schedule monitoring projects from the U.K. and Spanish communities. Refereed publications that include LT data typically average 46 citations/paper, three time the average for all astronomy papers; to date 22 such papers have appeared in the high-profile journals Nature or Science, these having on average 166 citations/paper.
The telescope has high impact science programmes in five key areas of time domain astrophysics:
* Spectroscopy simultaneous with in-situ spacecraft measurements (e.g. ESA Rosetta and NASA New Horizons)
* Exoplanet Characterization
* Cataclysmic Variables, Novae and Supernovae
* Gravitational Wave and Gamma Ray Burst counterparts
* Active Galactic Nuclei
From the outset, the goal has been to provide a wide variety of instrumentation to cater for the broad interests of the LJMU and U.K./Spanish communities. Currently, optical photometry, spectroscopy and polarimetry and infrared photometry are offered with instruments and a software environment that are capable of sampling timescales from <1 second to >10 years. A continuous programme of instrument upgrades has been aggressively pursued throughout the last decade. This has kept the facility competitive and ensures its position at the forefront of time domain astronomy for at least the next five years when we plan to transition to a joint operations model with a new 4m robotic telescope.
This application is for an STFC contribution over the period 2020-2023 to the funding for the maintenance and operation of the Liverpool Telescope, and hence the continuation of its role as a major resource both for the LJMU Astrophysics Research Institute and the wider UK community.
Since operations began in 2004, LT has specialised in delivering high impact results in time domain astrophysics. Indeed, the observatory is unique in actively encouraging rapid-response and difficult-to-schedule monitoring projects from the U.K. and Spanish communities. Refereed publications that include LT data typically average 46 citations/paper, three time the average for all astronomy papers; to date 22 such papers have appeared in the high-profile journals Nature or Science, these having on average 166 citations/paper.
The telescope has high impact science programmes in five key areas of time domain astrophysics:
* Spectroscopy simultaneous with in-situ spacecraft measurements (e.g. ESA Rosetta and NASA New Horizons)
* Exoplanet Characterization
* Cataclysmic Variables, Novae and Supernovae
* Gravitational Wave and Gamma Ray Burst counterparts
* Active Galactic Nuclei
From the outset, the goal has been to provide a wide variety of instrumentation to cater for the broad interests of the LJMU and U.K./Spanish communities. Currently, optical photometry, spectroscopy and polarimetry and infrared photometry are offered with instruments and a software environment that are capable of sampling timescales from <1 second to >10 years. A continuous programme of instrument upgrades has been aggressively pursued throughout the last decade. This has kept the facility competitive and ensures its position at the forefront of time domain astronomy for at least the next five years when we plan to transition to a joint operations model with a new 4m robotic telescope.
This application is for an STFC contribution over the period 2020-2023 to the funding for the maintenance and operation of the Liverpool Telescope, and hence the continuation of its role as a major resource both for the LJMU Astrophysics Research Institute and the wider UK community.
Planned Impact
LT has a long tradition of strong industrial engagement. The initial build of the telescope was based around the establishment of a spinout company (TTL, Telescope Technologies Ltd) which was subsequently sold in 2005 to an ex-Google employee to build a global network of small (0.4 and 1 metre) robotic telescopes.
Knowledge Transfer is strongly encouraged at all levels within the University, and the ARI is pro-active in supporting staff members who seek out external partnerships. Recent projects include:
* Working with the LJMU Ecology group on a GCRF and Newton funded project to exploit imaging techniques developed in astronomy to identify animals and humans in aerial thermal-imaging video footage, overcoming a fundamental bottleneck in monitoring animal populations around the globe.
* We have undertaken a design study with QINETIQ on the feasibility of a non-GPS based geo-location device based on astronomical principles
* We have signed a contract with SAAO to build a modified version of our SPRAT spectrograph for their new 1-m Leseidi robotic telescope
* We have used an Innovate UK voucher to carry out a feasibility study on the potential of a small CubeSat instrument (based on the LOTUS design) to identify potential targets for asteroid mining and are working with a UK company to develop the business case and apply for further funding to the UK Space Agency and UK Satellite Catapult.
Skills and knowledge transfer are furthered by the direct involvement of students (undergraduate and postgraduate) in development projects. The LT team has consistently included undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students in instrument and software design and development with these projects forming the basis of several PhD theses. Most of these students have left academic research for wider industry.
LT has also had success in licensing software and hardware developed for the telescope to the Faulkes/LCOGT organization. License income of £160k plus telescope time worth an additional £180k on the LCO telescopes has been received by LJMU from this activity.
LT is a focus for a significant fraction of the extensive Public Engagement programme at ARI. As well as many talks and workshops to schools and the general public the LT is also key to the success of a suite of Distance Learning courses in Astronomy that attract around 200 students a year, many of whom have little or no prior experience of Higher Education.
LT is the key resource of the National Schools Observatory, which has delivered over 150,000 unique observations to over 4,000 UK and Irish schools and over 1,500,000 website hits/year. NSO taps into natural astronomy interest in children to further the pupil's knowledge of science and mathematics, while at the same time improve their computer literacy and communications skills, strengthen critical thinking and give experience of the real-world application of science and technology. This is done primarily by providing an interface whereby schoolchildren and their teachers throughout the UK and Ireland can request their own observations from the LT, allowing them to work alongside the research users of the telescope and gain an insight into modern science and the technology that underpins it.
Over the past 3 years LT has taken significant advantage in the opportunities for international engagement afforded by Newton and GCRF funding. We have developed a number of international, multi-disciplinary partnerships grants with both academic and industrial impact under three broad themes (Thailand, Indonesia and Astro-Ecology)
Future planned activities include:
* New Engagements with the Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Knowledge Quarter
* Greater Engagement with Local Industry via LCR4.0
* Greater Engagement with ESA and the UK Space Catapult
* Greater Engagement with the Newton and GCRF funding opportunities
Knowledge Transfer is strongly encouraged at all levels within the University, and the ARI is pro-active in supporting staff members who seek out external partnerships. Recent projects include:
* Working with the LJMU Ecology group on a GCRF and Newton funded project to exploit imaging techniques developed in astronomy to identify animals and humans in aerial thermal-imaging video footage, overcoming a fundamental bottleneck in monitoring animal populations around the globe.
* We have undertaken a design study with QINETIQ on the feasibility of a non-GPS based geo-location device based on astronomical principles
* We have signed a contract with SAAO to build a modified version of our SPRAT spectrograph for their new 1-m Leseidi robotic telescope
* We have used an Innovate UK voucher to carry out a feasibility study on the potential of a small CubeSat instrument (based on the LOTUS design) to identify potential targets for asteroid mining and are working with a UK company to develop the business case and apply for further funding to the UK Space Agency and UK Satellite Catapult.
Skills and knowledge transfer are furthered by the direct involvement of students (undergraduate and postgraduate) in development projects. The LT team has consistently included undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD students in instrument and software design and development with these projects forming the basis of several PhD theses. Most of these students have left academic research for wider industry.
LT has also had success in licensing software and hardware developed for the telescope to the Faulkes/LCOGT organization. License income of £160k plus telescope time worth an additional £180k on the LCO telescopes has been received by LJMU from this activity.
LT is a focus for a significant fraction of the extensive Public Engagement programme at ARI. As well as many talks and workshops to schools and the general public the LT is also key to the success of a suite of Distance Learning courses in Astronomy that attract around 200 students a year, many of whom have little or no prior experience of Higher Education.
LT is the key resource of the National Schools Observatory, which has delivered over 150,000 unique observations to over 4,000 UK and Irish schools and over 1,500,000 website hits/year. NSO taps into natural astronomy interest in children to further the pupil's knowledge of science and mathematics, while at the same time improve their computer literacy and communications skills, strengthen critical thinking and give experience of the real-world application of science and technology. This is done primarily by providing an interface whereby schoolchildren and their teachers throughout the UK and Ireland can request their own observations from the LT, allowing them to work alongside the research users of the telescope and gain an insight into modern science and the technology that underpins it.
Over the past 3 years LT has taken significant advantage in the opportunities for international engagement afforded by Newton and GCRF funding. We have developed a number of international, multi-disciplinary partnerships grants with both academic and industrial impact under three broad themes (Thailand, Indonesia and Astro-Ecology)
Future planned activities include:
* New Engagements with the Liverpool Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Knowledge Quarter
* Greater Engagement with Local Industry via LCR4.0
* Greater Engagement with ESA and the UK Space Catapult
* Greater Engagement with the Newton and GCRF funding opportunities
Publications
Yang S
(2021)
A low-energy explosion yields the underluminous Type IIP SN 2020cxd
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Medler K
(2021)
SN 2020cpg: an energetic link between Type IIb and Ib supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith D
(2021)
Revisiting AGN as the source of IceCube's diffuse neutrino flux
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Teffs J
(2021)
Observations and spectral modelling of the narrow-lined Type Ic SN 2017ein
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Szkody P
(2021)
Cataclysmic Variables in the Second Year of the Zwicky Transient Facility
in The Astronomical Journal
Tartaglia L
(2021)
SN 2018ijp: the explosion of a stripped-envelope star within a dense H-rich shell?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lu J
(2021)
ASASSN-15hy: An Underluminous, Red 03fg-like Type Ia Supernova
in The Astrophysical Journal
Karamehmetoglu E
(2021)
The luminous and rapidly evolving SN 2018bcc Clues toward the origin of Type Ibn SNe from the Zwicky Transient Facility
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kara E
(2021)
AGN STORM 2. I. First results: A Change in the Weather of Mrk 817
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bose S
(2021)
ASASSN-18am/SN 2018gk: an overluminous Type IIb supernova from a massive progenitor
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oikonomou F
(2021)
Multi-messenger emission from the parsec-scale jet of the flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1502+106 coincident with high-energy neutrino IceCube-190730A
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Frederick S
(2021)
A Family Tree of Optical Transients from Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Meher S
(2021)
Deep learning in astronomy: a tutorial perspective
in The European Physical Journal Special Topics
Avrorin A
(2021)
High-Energy Neutrino Follow-up at the Baikal-GVD Neutrino Telescope
in Astronomy Letters
Dutta A
(2022)
SN 2020sck: Deflagration in a Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarf
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sollerman J
(2022)
Maximum luminosities of normal stripped-envelope supernovae are brighter than explosion models allow
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mei A
(2022)
Constraints on the Physics of the Prompt Emission from Distant and Energetic Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 220101A
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hammerstein E
(2022)
The Final Season Reimagined: 30 Tidal Disruption Events from the ZTF-I Survey
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lipunov V
(2022)
Orphan optical flare as SOSS emission afterglow, localization in time
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lü H
(2022)
GRB 211227A as a Peculiar Long Gamma-Ray Burst from a Compact Star Merger
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Zamanov R
(2022)
Optical spectroscopy of the Be/black hole binary MWC 656 - interaction of a black hole with a circumstellar disc
in Astronomische Nachrichten
Addison H
(2022)
Searching for the next Galactic Luminous red nova
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hinkle J
(2022)
The Curious Case of ASASSN-20hx: A Slowly Evolving, UV- and X-Ray-Luminous, Ambiguous Nuclear Transient
in The Astrophysical Journal
Yao Y
(2022)
The Tidal Disruption Event AT2021ehb: Evidence of Relativistic Disk Reflection, and Rapid Evolution of the Disk-Corona System
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dhawan S
(2022)
A Uniform Type Ia Supernova Distance Ladder with the Zwicky Transient Facility: Absolute Calibration Based on the Tip of the Red Giant Branch Method
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chandra V
(2022)
The SN Ia runaway LP 398-9: detection of circumstellar material and surface rotation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fransson C
(2022)
SN 2019zrk, a bright SN 2009ip analog with a precursor
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Poutanen J
(2022)
Black hole spin-orbit misalignment in the x-ray binary MAXI J1820+070.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Santos-Sanz P
(2022)
Physical properties of the trans-Neptunian object (38628) Huya from a multi-chord stellar occultation
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Reguitti A
(2022)
SN 2021foa, a transitional event between a Type IIn (SN 2009ip-like) and a Type Ibn supernova
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jordana-Mitjans N
(2022)
A Short Gamma-Ray Burst from a Protomagnetar Remnant
in The Astrophysical Journal
Prentice S
(2022)
Oxygen and calcium nebular emission line relationships in core-collapse supernovae and Ca-rich transients
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen P
(2022)
The First Data Release of CNIa0.02-A Complete Nearby (Redshift <0.02) Sample of Type Ia Supernova Light Curves*
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Patra K
(2022)
Spectropolarimetry of the Type Ia SN 2019ein rules out significant global asphericity of the ejecta
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murphy-Glaysher F
(2022)
V392 Persei: A ? -ray bright nova eruption from a known dwarf nova
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hoogendam W
(2022)
A Tale of Two Type Ia Supernovae: The Fast-declining Siblings SNe 2015bo and 1997cn
in The Astrophysical Journal
Andreoni I
(2022)
A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole.
in Nature
Xin Y
(2022)
YFPOL: A Linear Polarimeter of Lijiang 2.4 m Telescope
in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Garcia L
(2022)
HST/WFC3 transmission spectroscopy of the cold rocky planet TRAPPIST-1h
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Rhodes L
(2022)
Jet-cocoon geometry in the optically dark, very high energy gamma-ray burst 201216C
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Irani I
(2022)
Less Than 1% of Core-collapse Supernovae in the Local Universe Occur in Elliptical Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Perley D
(2022)
The Type Icn SN 2021csp: Implications for the Origins of the Fastest Supernovae and the Fates of Wolf-Rayet Stars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Valerin G
(2022)
Low luminosity Type II supernovae - IV. SN 2020cxd and SN 2021aai, at the edges of the sub-luminous supernovae class
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duverne P
(2022)
MUPHOTEN: A MUlti-band PHOtometry Tool for TElescope Network
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Holoien T
(2022)
Investigating the Nature of the Luminous Ambiguous Nuclear Transient ASASSN-17jz
in The Astrophysical Journal
U V
(2022)
The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2016: Velocity-resolved Hß Lags in Luminous Seyfert Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mikolajewska J
(2022)
The Donor of the Black Hole X-Ray Binary MAXI J1820+070
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shrestha M
(2022)
Polarimetry and photometry of gamma-ray bursts afterglows with RINGO3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wang Y
(2022)
GRB 190829A-A Showcase of Binary Late Evolution
in The Astrophysical Journal
Title | The Cosmic Collection |
Description | The LT and NRT projects use a variety of artistic and creative products as engagement and communication tools. The 'Cosmic Collection' was a collaboration with Aloë earrings, Liverpool-based earring makers, for British Science Week in 2020. A set of earrings were designed and created based on 6 themes from the Liverpool Telescope and New Robotic Telescope: telescope mirrors, gravitational waves, jets, the moon, planetary nebulae and gravitational lenses. Thirty pairs of earrings were sold from this collection and a portion of the profits were donated to The Girls' Network: a charity providing women mentors for young women from a wide variety of backgrounds. |
Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | wider awareness of astronomy amongst young women and girls |
URL | https://www.aloeearrings.co.uk |
Title | The Liverpool Telescope - Hannah Newport painting |
Description | A painting of the Liverpool Telescope commissioned by the project team from Hannah Newport, which is used in talks and engagement materials. In addition copies of the painting are sold via the artists website. |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | wider awareness of project amongst non-traditional audience for STEM. |
URL | https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/875997606/liverpool-telescope-print-a3 |
Title | robotic astronomy |
Description | procedures, hardware and software systems for the automation of astronomical observations. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | widespread adoption of robotic observing |
URL | https://telescope.livjm.ac.uk/ |