“The Webb: Well Worth Waiting For”

Abstract:

On Christmas Day, the Webb was launched from Kourou in South America. It is currently on its way to a special orbit well beyond the Moon having undergone a number of very complex manoeuvres.

After giving everyone an update, and an explanation of what to expect over the next few months, I will briefly introduce its four main instruments and describe how the Webb can help us understand the birth of the first stars in the Universe and how stars and planets, like our own Solar System, form.

Bio:

Tom Ray is Director of the School of Cosmic Physics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

He began his career in Radio Astronomy at Jodrell Bank before working at a number of institutions including the University of Sussex and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg. His primary interest is in star and planet formation.

Tom is Co-Principal Investigator of the Mid-Infrared Instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope and Co-Principal Investigator on the Ariel Mission to explore exoplanets.  In addition he is building a new type of super-cooled detector, known as a Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector, for optical/near-infrared astronomy.

Tom’s other interests include ancient astronomical sites, such as Newgrange, and the history of Irish astronomy.

In his spare time he sails.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 19, 2022 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 422 200 2106

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This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/irishastronomy/videos

Comets and their tales

Comets are very much in the news, with the recent visit by Comet Neowise. They have a much wider significance in astronomy than just providing spectacular sights in the sky, as their origin, development and composition tell us a great deal about the solar system as a whole.

Biography

Antonio Martin-Carrillo is an UCD Ad Astra fellow/Assistant Professor in the School of Physics. He graduated with a BSc and MSc in Physics with Astronomy from University Complutense Madrid. Following 2 years working at the European Space Agency as part of the XMM-Newton space observatory calibration team, he moved to UCD where he completed his PhD investigating gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and pulsars.

He is currently a member of the Space Science Group studying the transient Universe and in particular the prompt and afterglow emission of GRBs using high-energy space observatories and ground-based telescopes such as UCD’s Watcher robotic telescope.

His research also includes the development of software tools for advanced data analysis. As such he is an ambassador and collaborator on the Astropy project aimed at providing a wide range of software packages written in Python for use in astronomy. He is also a member of the INTEGRAL multi-messenger group searching for gamma-ray counterparts to gravitational waves, neutrino events and other transient sources; the ATHENA X-ray space observatory, an ESA large mission scheduled to launch in 2028, and the THESEUS space telescope, currently in its study phase with ESA.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 5, 2022 07:15 PM London

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The room will open around 19:15 to allow for a prompt start

This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

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“Asteroids: the key to unlocking the secrets of the Solar System ”

Synopsis

Asteroids are the small bodies of the Solar System which represent the leftovers of planet formation. They can be found throughout the Solar system, mainly in the rocky asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and the more icy region beyond the orbit of Neptune.

By considering the physical properties of these bodies and how they came to be on their present orbits one can investigate the various processes of Solar System formation. Asteroids provide clues as to how the first solid bodies grew out of the disk of gas and dust from which the Sun was born, and how these small bodies then grew into the major planets. Furthermore their distribution throughout space tells us how the planets would have migrated from their birth locations in the early Solar System, scattering these asteroids as they went.

The asteroids are an invaluable key to unlocking the secrets of the Solar System, helping to explain how planets such as the Earth came to be. They are both the building blocks of our planet from which life developed and also a threat to life in terms of their continuing collisions with the Earth. As such they are fundamentally linked to understanding our place in the Universe and are an extremely fruitful subject of study.

Bio:

James (Jamie) Robinson

2011 – 2016: MPhys Durham University (year abroad at McMaster University 2013 – 2014)
2016 – 2020: PhD at Queen’s University Belfast on The Origin and Evolution of Transneptunian Binaries. 2017 LSST Data Science Fellow
2020 – 2021: Postdoc at QUB, ATLAS asteroid science
2021 – present: Postdoc at University of Edinburgh, LSST software tools

My research has covered a wide range of topics within the realm of small Solar System bodies. These objects represent the leftovers of planet formation and have a diverse range of physical and orbital properties. My research makes use of intensive computations and data science techniques to simulate and investigate the properties of small Solar System bodies. Studying such objects provides a valuable constraint on how the Solar System formed and gives us insight into how the Earth, and life, came to be.

For my PhD I conducted intensive numerical simulations to study how a binary pair of planetesimals can form through the collapse of a cloud of pebbles in the outer reaches of the early Solar System. I also considered how such binaries evolved under the effects of planetary migration which is believed to produce the Solar System of today.

I then took up a postdoctoral position at QUB which brought my research into the inner Solar System. I have utilised the large database of photometry from the ATLAS survey to study the surface properties of asteroids. The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System is one of several wide field surveys that scan the sky discovering transient phenomena and I assist in efforts to analyse the data in real time searching for possible Earth impactors.

I have recently started a postdoc at the University of Edinburgh where I will focus on developing software tools for the next big wide field survey, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. LSST will be a revolution in Solar System science, discovering and characterising an order of magnitude more objects than previously known.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Zoom Meeting
Time: Dec 8, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 859 2771 3853
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This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

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“The Active Sun – Observations of our Closest Star”.

Details to follow…..

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Zoom Meeting
Time: Nov 24, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 813 9568 4573
Passcode: 986079

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This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

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“Earth’s Constant Companion”

Synopsis.

This will be a general presentation on Earth’s constant celestial companion, the Moon. Its formation, physical attributes, movements, effects on the Earth and how to observe it. It will be a fun, entertaining and hopefully informative talk that will have something in it for all ages with no prior knowledge required

Biography

It is presented by IAS member Dr. Donnacha O’Driscoll who is a scientist by profession. He is the General Manager of the Science Foundation Ireland research centre ‘Insight’ in UCD.

Although professionally he has worked in the biotechnology and data analytical sectors, his passion is in astronomy and in particular Lunar astronomy.

He has been an active observer of the Moon for over 40 years and has presented many talks on the subject in that time. He established and runs the website www.themoon.ie which is an outreach project, acting as a source of information and teaching aids on all things Lunar to individuals young and old and to various groups and schools.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Lecture
Time: Nov 10, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 863 4633 4772
Passcode: 859645

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This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

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“Gravitational waves and the hunt for merging neutron stars”

Details coming soon

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Zoom Meeting 27th Oct
Time: Oct 27, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 815 0761 3599
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Note This event is cancelled due to poor weather

Near Killyleagh, Co Down, 7.30 p.m.

54.384, -5.677

https://goo.gl/maps/gBHCfJXcJtH9QMhY9

Meet in the main car park. We will provide some telescopes, but bring your own, or binoculars, if you can. We will be providing sanitising wipes for eyepieces and hand controls etc, and these will be wiped clean between users. We strongly advise that only those who are double-vaccinated, or who have had Covid and recovered and with at least one vaccination, should attend.

We will take phone numbers of all groups attending, anyone bringing a telescope will also need to bring a pack of antibacterial wipes, and wipe eyepiece cups and focuser knobs for each viewer, and all telescope operators to wear a mask at close quarters etc.

We will be introducing more Observing nights – see this page for dates. The Covid Pandemic isn’t over so we will need to follow precautions as outlined above to keep us all as safe as possible.

“Habitability beyond our solar system”, by Professor Chris Watson, 

Deputy Head of the School of Mathematics and Physics, Astrophysics Research Centre, QUB

Synopsis:

What do we mean by ‘habitability’ and ‘habitable’? How do we define it? Do we even know what ‘habitable’ looks like? What’s the problems with determining whether something is habitable? Why are we looking in the places we’re currently looking? Actually, are we even looking in the right places?

 I’ll talk about the current scientific thoughts surrounding these fundamental questions, what is driving these thoughts, and why it’s so difficult for an astrophysicist like myself to answer these questions.

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Zoom Lecture Prof Chris Watson
Time: Oct 13, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 852 1438 8350
Passcode: 376019

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This talk will also be Simulcast on our YouTube Channel

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IAA Public Lecture, Wed 29 September, 7. 30 p.m., by Zoom. “Astronomy, Ireland and UNESCO World Heritage” by Prof. Michael Burton, Director of Armagh Observatory & Planetarium.

Abstract: In 2019 UNESCO inscribed two astronomical sites for World Heritage based on their Outstanding Universal Values: Jodrell Bank & Risco Caido. Jodrell’s nomination centred on its pioneering role in the development of radio astronomy and extant examples of scientific infrastructure from the discipline’s origins to today.

  Ireland also has outstanding astronomical astronomical heritage through the pioneering role in development of the field of astronomy played by the observatories of Birr, Dunsink and Armagh. Birr with the Leviathan, the largest telescope in the world for 69 years, providing the seeds that led to the concept of other galaxies, as well as the birth of infrared astronomy. Dunsink and Armagh Observatories represent a key step in the development of the telescope itself, when the design of the building they are housed in became central to their function. Armagh has since continuously been occupied by astronomers, with three generations of telescopes from the 19th century within that illustrate the development of clock-driven equatorial telescope over that period.
  

The new inscriptions of Jodrell Bank and Risco Caido to the UNESCO World Heritage list raise the question of whether Ireland’s astronomical heritage may also be worthy of such recognition?
   This talk will overview the astronomical history of these Irish observatories and the possibility of seeking UNESCO World Heritage listing for them, as well as some of the issues that must be considered if doing so.

ZOOM, etc, Details.

Time: Sep 29, 2021 07:15 PM London
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Meeting ID: 883 4390 2455
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“The Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer and Cataclysmic Variables“, by Christopher Duffy, Armagh Observatory and Planetarium

SYNOPSIS: 

Following the observation of the first binary neutron star merger in 2017 a new frontier in multi-messenger astronomy has opened up, combining Gravitational Wave and optical astronomy. The Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient  Observatory (GOTO) is a robotic observatory designed with this kind of astronomy at its heart, designed to make use of large instantaneous sky coverage and an automatic scheduler to rapidly followup on detected Gravitational Waves events. This talk will outline the need for observatories such as GOTO, its design and operation and what can be achieved using GOTO. It will further go into detail on one of the leading secondary science goals of GOTO, Cataclysmic Variables, their often varied behaviour and why they are of great interest to us.”

 Speaker Biography:

Chris is a third year PhD student at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium and Warwick University. Originally from Scotland Chris studied for his undergraduate and masters degrees at Glasgow University. His PhD is focused on studying transient objects in the night sky; mainly outbursts from Cataclysmic Variables, using wide field survey telescopes. As part of this work Chris is a member of both the GOTO and NGTS (Next Generation Transit Survey) consortia.”

Paul Evans is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: IAA Zoom Meeting
Time: Sep 15, 2021 07:15 PM London

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Meeting ID: 859 7958 2176
Passcode: 918551