Consolidated Grant for Astrophysics and Space Science at the University of Kent
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Kent
Department Name: Sch of Physical Sciences
Abstract
Our Sun and planet are part of the Solar System which contains many other objects including asteroids and man-made satellites. These are all subject to remarkable dynamical phenomena brought about by extraordinary speeds. This System is just one of billions in our Galaxy, of which the origins and development stretch our imaginations and technology to the limit, involving quite unexplored dynamical and physical concepts. The Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science (CAPS) requests long-term funding to support a successful programme of research into the origins of the Solar System, forming stars and stellar systems. The physical regimes associated with molecular clouds, protoplanetary discs as well as the present Solar System are foreign to our experience but the norm in the interstellar medium of our Galaxy. The aim of the Centre is to explore the new observational phenomena, novel physical concepts and to test innovative ideas.
Planned Impact
IMPACT SUMMARY
Beneficiaries:
Astrophysicists
Industry and New Technology: aeronautical and space industries
Fluid dynamicists and software developers
Commerce and finance
Artists and poets
Public
Schools
1. Astrophysicists. The work described in this proposal is explicitly focussed on the solar system and the early evolution of present-day star formation. However, astrophysical research is by nature a complex interdependent Universe of phenomena with interrelated physical and dynamical processes.
We learn about concepts such as shock waves, turbulence, discs and jets, and then often adapt and apply the understanding in completely different situations, scales and times. The communication is achieved through conferences, literature trawling, etc.. We intend to continue to invite visitors on the proposed visitor programme, some working in areas such as cosmology and dark matter, to facilitate the broad view.
2. Industry and technologies. As described in the Pathways to Impact document, CAPS research connects with spacecraft and related technologies as well commercial software and a KTP. Recent contracts have involved Lockheed-Martin and NASA. In addition, we note here that the telescope and space mission exploitation such as proposed here provides the motivation and need for new generation technology to meet the extremely high observational demands. Hence, the fundamental research drives technology that benefits society.
3. Fluid dynamicists, impacts and software. New gas dynamical problems leads to new techniques to solve problems efficiently. We expect our expertise to continue to benefit industry as it does now.
4. Commerce and finance. The proposed research programme will promote a research environment which will aid the training provided to students. Our students are in demand in various sectors, ranging from the motor industry to the financial sector. The know-how, critical analytical, quantitative and problem-solving skills of our students is transferred through the researchers and post-docs within the Centre.
5. Artists and poets. CAPS provides intellectual material (but not property) for art and poetry. This has been encapsulated in two Artists-in-Residence (2006 and 2011), the latter leading to a series of exhibitions and recitals directly involving the astronomy images, texts and language used within Kent Astronomy. Further collaboration, events and a festival are planned led by artist and ex-astrophysicist Dr Duncan MacKay.
6. Culture/public. The research will be communicated in open public lectures and observing sessions, in collaboration with local astronomical societies, schools, scout groups etc. there are many opportunities for press releases in our area of science and the newspapers are quite eager to take them up especially when there is almost always a dominance of bad news. CAPS members will continue to speak each year at University Open Days, to parents at UCAS days, as well as diverse media calls. Talks to amateur societies, physics organisations and the general public are held. 2009 saw an extensive programme of well-attended public lectures as part of the UNESCO/IAU International Year of Astronomy 2009. We intend to run a further programme in 2014.
7. Schools/education/inspiration. The research is embodied in our Schools Outreach programme, encapsulated in the CAPSule project, especially in talks on the Origins of Stars, Extraterrestrial Life, and Planets but going much further including talks on careers in space and astronomy and colonisation of Mars. The Kent Astrodome has provided a 3-D attraction and we want to acquire new movies and, eventually, a larger dome to enhance the experience.
Beneficiaries:
Astrophysicists
Industry and New Technology: aeronautical and space industries
Fluid dynamicists and software developers
Commerce and finance
Artists and poets
Public
Schools
1. Astrophysicists. The work described in this proposal is explicitly focussed on the solar system and the early evolution of present-day star formation. However, astrophysical research is by nature a complex interdependent Universe of phenomena with interrelated physical and dynamical processes.
We learn about concepts such as shock waves, turbulence, discs and jets, and then often adapt and apply the understanding in completely different situations, scales and times. The communication is achieved through conferences, literature trawling, etc.. We intend to continue to invite visitors on the proposed visitor programme, some working in areas such as cosmology and dark matter, to facilitate the broad view.
2. Industry and technologies. As described in the Pathways to Impact document, CAPS research connects with spacecraft and related technologies as well commercial software and a KTP. Recent contracts have involved Lockheed-Martin and NASA. In addition, we note here that the telescope and space mission exploitation such as proposed here provides the motivation and need for new generation technology to meet the extremely high observational demands. Hence, the fundamental research drives technology that benefits society.
3. Fluid dynamicists, impacts and software. New gas dynamical problems leads to new techniques to solve problems efficiently. We expect our expertise to continue to benefit industry as it does now.
4. Commerce and finance. The proposed research programme will promote a research environment which will aid the training provided to students. Our students are in demand in various sectors, ranging from the motor industry to the financial sector. The know-how, critical analytical, quantitative and problem-solving skills of our students is transferred through the researchers and post-docs within the Centre.
5. Artists and poets. CAPS provides intellectual material (but not property) for art and poetry. This has been encapsulated in two Artists-in-Residence (2006 and 2011), the latter leading to a series of exhibitions and recitals directly involving the astronomy images, texts and language used within Kent Astronomy. Further collaboration, events and a festival are planned led by artist and ex-astrophysicist Dr Duncan MacKay.
6. Culture/public. The research will be communicated in open public lectures and observing sessions, in collaboration with local astronomical societies, schools, scout groups etc. there are many opportunities for press releases in our area of science and the newspapers are quite eager to take them up especially when there is almost always a dominance of bad news. CAPS members will continue to speak each year at University Open Days, to parents at UCAS days, as well as diverse media calls. Talks to amateur societies, physics organisations and the general public are held. 2009 saw an extensive programme of well-attended public lectures as part of the UNESCO/IAU International Year of Astronomy 2009. We intend to run a further programme in 2014.
7. Schools/education/inspiration. The research is embodied in our Schools Outreach programme, encapsulated in the CAPSule project, especially in talks on the Origins of Stars, Extraterrestrial Life, and Planets but going much further including talks on careers in space and astronomy and colonisation of Mars. The Kent Astrodome has provided a 3-D attraction and we want to acquire new movies and, eventually, a larger dome to enhance the experience.
Organisations
Publications
Avanaki MR
(2013)
Two applications of solid phantoms in performance assessment of optical coherence tomography systems.
in Applied optics
Bechtel H
(2013)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination III : Infrared spectroscopic analysis of interstellar dust candidates
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Brenker F
(2014)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination V: XRF analyses of interstellar dust candidates at ESRF ID 13
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Burchell M
(2015)
SMART-1 end of life shallow regolith impact simulations
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Burchell M
(2020)
Catastrophic disruption of icy bodies with sub-surface oceans
in Icarus
Burchell Mark
(2013)
Sample return missions to minor bodies
in ASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS
Burchell MJ
(2014)
Survival of fossils under extreme shocks induced by hypervelocity impacts.
in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Burchell MJ
(2014)
Survival of organic materials in hypervelocity impacts of ice on sand, ice, and water in the laboratory.
in Astrobiology
Butterworth A
(2014)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination IV : Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy analyses of impact features in the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Croat T
(2015)
Survival of refractory presolar grain analogs during Stardust-like impact into Al foils: Implications for Wild 2 presolar grain abundances and study of the cometary fine fraction
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Fendyke S
(2013)
Hydrocode modelling of hypervelocity impacts on ice
in Advances in Space Research
Floss C
(2013)
THE ABUNDANCE OF PRESOLAR GRAINS IN COMET 81P/WILD 2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Flynn G
(2014)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination VII : Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence analysis of six Stardust interstellar candidates measured with the Advanced Photon Source 2- ID -D microprobe
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Foster N
(2013)
Identification by Raman spectroscopy of Mg-Fe content of olivine samples after impact at 6 km s-1 onto aluminium foil and aerogel: In the laboratory and in Wild-2 cometary samples
in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Frank D
(2013)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination II : Curating the interstellar dust collector, picokeystones, and sources of impact tracks
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Gainsforth Z
(2013)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination VIII: Identification of crystalline material in two interstellar candidates
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Gangappa R
(2014)
Morphological and molecular analysis calls for a reappraisal of the red rain cells of Kerala.
in Current microbiology
Haas B. A.
(2015)
CHARACTERIZING COMET 81P/WILD 2 WITH ACFER 094 ANALOG FOILS.
in METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE
Lennox R
(2014)
Strain driven structural phase transformations in dysprosium doped BiFeO 3 ceramics
in J. Mater. Chem. C
Li Y
(2014)
Morphology of craters generated by hypervelocity impacts of micron-sized polypyrrole-coated olivine particles
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Lindgren P
(2013)
Constraining the pressure threshold of impact induced calcite twinning: Implications for the deformation history of aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Loft K
(2013)
Impacts into metals targets at velocities greater than 1 km s-1: A new online resource for the hypervelocity impact community and an illustration of the geometric change of debris cloud impact patterns with impact velocity
in International Journal of Impact Engineering
Martins Z
(2013)
Shock synthesis of amino acids from impacting cometary and icy planet surface analogues
in Nature Geoscience
Morris A
(2013)
IS THE LARGE CRATER ON THE ASTEROID (2867) STEINS REALLY AN IMPACT CRATER?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Postberg F
(2014)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination IX : High-speed interstellar dust analog capture in Stardust flight-spare aerogel
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Price M
(2013)
Limits on methane release and generation via hypervelocity impact of Martian analogue materials
in International Journal of Astrobiology
Price M
(2013)
Survival of yeast spores in hypervelocity impact events up to velocities of 7.4 km s-1
in Icarus
Price M
(2013)
Validation of the Preston-Tonks-Wallace strength model at strain rates approaching ~1011 s-1 for Al-1100, tantalum and copper using hypervelocity impact crater morphologies
in International Journal of Impact Engineering
Simionovici A
(2014)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination VI : Quantitative elemental analysis by synchrotron X-ray fluorescence nanoimaging of eight impact features in aerogel
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Sterken V
(2014)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination X: Impact speeds and directions of interstellar grains on the Stardust dust collector
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Stroud R
(2013)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination XI : Identification and elemental analysis of impact craters on Al foils from the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Westphal A
(2014)
Final reports of the Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Westphal A
(2014)
Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination I: Identification of tracks in aerogel
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Westphal AJ
(2014)
Interstellar dust. Evidence for interstellar origin of seven dust particles collected by the Stardust spacecraft.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
White A. J.
(2015)
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY OF WHOLE SAMPLES IN AEROGEL USING A LASER SCANNING CONFOCAL MICROSCOPE.
in METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE
Wozniakiewicz P
(2013)
PRE-ACCRETIONAL SORTING OF GRAINS IN THE OUTER SOLAR NEBULA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wozniakiewicz P
(2014)
Micron-scale hypervelocity impact craters: Dependence of crater ellipticity and rim morphology on impact trajectory, projectile size, velocity, and shape
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Wozniakiewicz P
(2015)
The survivability of phyllosilicates and carbonates impacting Stardust Al foils: Facilitating the search for cometary water
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Wozniakiewicz P
(2013)
ERRATUM: "GRAIN SORTING IN COMETARY DUST FROM THE OUTER SOLAR NEBULA" (2012, ApJ, 760, L23)
in The Astrophysical Journal