What's New at The Royal Observatory
SPA Diamond Jubilee - Free Event
15th June 2013
The UK's leading organisation for beginners to stargazing, the Society for Popular Astronomy, is celebrating its 60th year. A Diamond Jubilee meeting at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh is being held on Saturday the 15th of June. A spectacular day of talks has been lined up which are free and open to all (ticket required).
Bomb
Attack at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh
20 May 2013
A hundred years ago this week, on the night of the 21st of May 1913, the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh was bombed. The attack was part of a wider militant suffragettes’ campaign seeking rights for women that targeted Government institutions and other representations of ‘the establishment’.
UKATC Engineers spark NASA Engineer's Curiosity
19th April 2013
On Friday 19th April Nagin Cox, a senior engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, visited the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and was treated to a whistle-stop tour of some of the work carried out by the UKATC. Ms Cox, who works on the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover 'Curiosity', is in the UK as part of a 3 country speaking tour whilst Mars is in conjunction (behind or close to) the Sun and work with Curiosity is not possible because radio communications are disrupted.
Huge Map of the Distant Universe Reaches Halfway Point - VLT survey charts positions of 55 000 galaxies
12th March 2013
The largest project ever undertaken to map out the Universe in three-dimensions using ESO telescopes has reached the halfway stage. An international team of astronomers, including members of the University of Edinburgh, has used the VIMOS instrument on the ESO Very Large Telescope to measure the distances to 55 000 galaxies as part of the VIPERS survey. This has already allowed them to create a remarkable three-dimensional view of how galaxies were distributed in space in the younger Universe. This reveals the complex web of the large-scale structure of the Universe in great detail.
UK invests £88 million in world's largest ever optical telescope
4th March 2013
The UK research base and industry will play a leading role in one of the biggest global science collaborations in history, after the UK government confirmed long-term investment in the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) to be built in Chile.
The E-ELT will make huge strides toward our understanding of the Universe, the effects of dark matter and energy and planets outside of the solar system. Its 39 metres in diameter mirror will collect 15 times more light than any existing telescope and it will produce images 16 times sharper than the Hubble space-based telescope.
£1.7M
grant to fill major gaps in our understanding of human diseases
20 February 2013
A new UK endeavour that will focus on gaining a much better understanding of major human diseases, like cancer and other medical concerns such as deafness and ageing, is to be undertaken by an STFC-MRC consortium, thanks to a £1.7M grant from the Medical Research Council (MRC).
The UK ATC is part of the consortium aiding in the development of adaptive optics for biomedical imaging. This technology was originally designed for use in astronomy research, and although the optics have been adapted for medical use, the underlying technology remains the same.
Where
and when to look for asteroid 2012DA14
15th February2013
Asteroid 2012DA14 will pass by Earth tonight, and if the sky is clear and you have a reasonably dark sky, you should be able to see it with a pair of binoculars. It is due to pop over the horizon in the ENE shortly before 2000 this evening (viewed from the Edinburgh area), will pass through the Plough about 2130 and continue on roughly towards the Pole Star.
More detailed skychart
VISTA:
a celebration - Workshop
17th - 18th January 2013
VISTA is delivering fabulous survey science to the European community and this is due to the hard work of those involved in delivering the project and the key leadership of the science surveys in the UK. VISTA was a challenging project to deliver and this meeting is in three-parts: to review the complexity of the novel design and the history of the project itself; the science data taking and the results of the current surveys; plans for future surveys using VISTA.
Dark
Sky Discovery sites in the UK hit the big 50 as Stargazing LIVE gets
underway
8th Jan 2013
The Dark Sky Discovery (DSD) network is today unveiling six new Dark Sky Discovery Sites on the day that BBC Two’s Stargazing LIVE gets underway. Dark Sky Discovery Sites are areas identified by the public as safe, accessible viewing spots where it is dark enough to view stars in the night sky.
24-armed
giant led from the UK successfully installed on ESO's Very Large Telescope
12th Dec 2013
A two and a half ton instrument that can look back billions of years, simultaneously pinpointing 24 galaxies and uncovering intricate detail about each of them, has made its first observations in Chile. The K-band Multi Object Spectrometer (KMOS) has been successfully tested on the world’s most advanced optical telescope, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT). KMOS is such a step forward in capability that it can achieve in just months what previous generations of instruments would have taken years to uncover. It will allow astronomers to discover the important processes at work during the formation of galaxies in the very early Universe billions of years ago. The achievement of ‘first light’ follows years of design and construction by teams in the UK, in Germany and at ESO. The KMOS team is led in the UK by Durham University and the instrument was assembled at STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC).
Astronomers Shed New Light On Cosmic Dawn
12th Dec 2012
University of Edinburgh astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to reveal a population of primitive galaxies that formed more than 13 billion years ago, when the Universe was less than 4% of its present age. One of these is probably the most distant galaxy found to date (at redshift 12). These new observations shed new light on the earliest years of cosmic history.
"Cosmic GDP" crashes 97% as star formation slumps
7th November 2012
While parts of the world experience economic hardship, a team of astronomers co-led by Professsor Philip Best at the Institute for Astronomy in Edinburgh has found an even bigger slump happening on a cosmic scale.
Full text of the press release
Euclid mission jumps final hurdle
22nd June 2012
The European Space Agency (ESA) has formally adopted the Euclid mission into their Cosmic Vision programme.
To make this adoption a success, the largest astronomical collaboration in history has been formed, and the University of Edinburgh plays leading roles in this endeavour. Adoption marks the final phase in a 6-year selection process and means that the scientists, industry partners and ESA can now start to aim for the expected launch date in 7 years' time.
World's
largest ground-based telescope is given 'go ahead'
11th June 2012
The governing Council of the European Southern Observatory (link opens in a new window) has today approved the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) programme – the world’s largest ground-based optical telescope.
Construction will not commence until provisional votes by four of the member states, including the UK, have been confirmed and 90% of the funding required has been secured. The E-ELT is a 39-m diameter optical/infrared telescope, planned to be tens of times more sensitive than any current telescope of its kind.
First instrument for the JWST is completed and handed over to NASA
09 May 2012
After more than ten years of work by more than 200 engineers, the Mid InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), a camera so sensitive it could see a candle on one of Jupiter’s moons, has been declared ready for delivery by the European Space Agency and NASA. The MIRI Optical System is an instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that will eventually take up a position four times further away from the Earth than the Moon. It will now be shipped to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where it will be integrated with the other three instruments and the telescope.
Black
hole caught red-handed in a stellar homicide
3rd May 2012
British Astronomers have helped to gather the most direct evidence yet of a supermassive black hole shredding a star that wandered too close.
Full text of the press release
Wish
You Were Here? Searching for Exoplanets
12 April 2012
"Wish You Were Here? Searching for Exoplanets" is a Scottish Government Science Engagement grant funded project and collaboration between ROE, Edinburgh College of Art and the University of St Andrews.
For the project, two teams of current and former ECA students have been working with astronomers to produce two short documentary films relating to work on exoplanets in Scotland.
The films have been completed and will premiere at the Edinburgh International Science Festival on Sunday 15th April, 8pm, in the National Museum of Scotland Auditorium. The films will then go on tour across Scotland, from Hoy to Wigtown!
Mid-Kent
Astronomical Society begins work with the telescope
2nd April 2012
Members of the Mid-Kent Astronomical Society made a visit to the Royal Observatory on Monday the 2nd of March 2012 to begin the operation to remove the delicate optics from the old 20" IfA telescope prior to moving the instrument to its new home in Kent.
More information about the Mid-Kent Astronomical Society visit
'Can-do'
Kids meet at Royal Observatory
27 March 2012
Seven teams of high school students from across Scotland will compete to launch a space experiment that fits into a soft drinks can (a ‘CanSat’) at the STFC Royal Observatory Edinburgh this week. The competition is part of a Europe-wide programme organised by the European Space Agency. The cans have been provided by Irn Bru, and the Scottish CanSats are now ready to launch.
Full text of the Press Release.
New
SCUBA-2 camera reveals wild youth of the universe
27th March 2012
A team of astronomers from the UK, Canada and the Netherlands have commenced a revolutionary new study of cosmic star-formation history, looking back in time to when the universe was still in its lively and somewhat unruly youth! The consortium, co-led by University of Edinburgh astrophysicist Professor James Dunlop, is using a brand new camera called SCUBA-2, the most powerful camera ever developed for observing light at "sub-mm" wavelengths (i.e. light of wavelength 1000 times longer than we can see with our eyes).
Full text of the Press Release.
VISTA produces spectacular panoramic view of the distant Universe
21st March 2012
A team led by University of Edinburgh astrophysicist Professor James Dunlop has just released the most sensitive ever infrared image of a representative region of the distant Universe. The new image comes from the first year of data taken as part of the five-year UltraVISTA survey. It was made by combining more than six thousand separate exposures equivalant to an exposure time of 55 hours. The image reveals more than 200,000 galaxies, including the most massive galaxies yet seen in the early Universe, objects which formed less than one billion years after the Big Bang.
IfA
astronomers share the RAS's Group Achievement Award
18th January 2012
The Group Achievement Award goes to members behind UKIDSS, the next generation near-infrared sky survey. Sharing in the award are IfA astronomers Prof Andy Lawrence and Dr Nigel Hambly.
The Group Achievement Award recognises outstanding achievement by large consortia in any branch of astronomy or geophysics where it is not appropriate to present, jointly, one of the other awards of the Society. The Award is made only occasionally, although nominations are sought annually.
Dr Tom Kitching collects the RAS's Winton Capital Award for Astronomy
18th January 2012
Tom Kitching was given the Winton Capital Award for Astronomy, granted to a postdoctoral researcher who completed their PhD no more than 5 years previously and whose career has shown the most promising development.
Dr Kitching, who now holds a RAS postdoctoral fellowship, contributes at all levels to research into weak gravitational lensing, from the details of shape measurement of galaxies, through development of sophisticated analysis tools, to leadership roles in ESA's forthcoming Euclid space mission that will map dark matter and investigate dark energy.
As a student, he helped to develop the new field of 3D weak lensing and with its inventor, Professor Lance Miller, is the co-creator of an algorithm that measures the distortion of galaxy images. As a result of his particular expertise he was invited to join the leading ground-based lensing survey (CFHTLenS) and the leading space-based survey (COSMOS, using the Hubble Space Telescope).
Astronomers
reach new frontiers of dark matter
9th January 2012
For the first time, astronomers have mapped dark matter on the largest scale ever observed. The results, presented by Dr Catherine Heymans of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Associate Professor Ludovic Van Waerbeke of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, are being presented today (09/01/12) to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas. Their findings reveal a Universe comprised of an intricate cosmic web of dark matter and galaxies spanning more than one billion light years.
Revolutionary new camera reveals the dark side of the Universe
06 December 2011
A new camera that will revolutionise the field of submillimetre astronomy has been unveiled on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. SCUBA-2 is far more sensitive and powerful than previous instruments and can map areas of the sky hundreds of times faster.
SCUBA-2 will provide unprecedented information on the early life of stars - normally obscured by the remains of the very dust and gas cloud that collapsed under its own gravity to form the star.
The
future of UK Submillimetre Astronomy Workshop
12th-13th December 2011
This year has seen the start of operations with ALMA and SCUBA2 and many results from Herschel and Planck are emerging. A consultation on the future science with JCMT is currently underway.
With these events in mind a small workshop for UK astronomers has been organised to discuss the science drivers at submm wavelengths that will shape the UK science programme at these wavelengths over the coming decade. In particular, in the era of full ALMA operations we aim to discuss the scientific rationale for UK potential involvement in an extended or developed JCMT, involvement in CCAT and/or other future projects.
More information about the workshop can be found at: http://www.roe.ac.uk/workshop/submm/
Theatre show explores Dark Skies
07 November 2011
Sound & Fury theatre company perform “Going Dark” at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, 11-12 November 2011. Written by Hattie Naylor, the show explores contemporary society's lost connection with the night sky and its wonder at the cosmos, as one astronomer slowly loses his sight. The show was part funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
STFC
funding paves the way for UK leadership in E-ELT instrumentation
03 October 2011
£3.5 million in funding from STFC over the next two years has put UK astronomers in a strong position to take a leading role in the development of key instruments on the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). The E-ELT is planned to be the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world and will be tens of times more sensitive than any current ground-based optical telescope. The project is currently awaiting final approval for construction to begin.
Full text of the Press Release.
ROE
Workshop 2011 - Second Announcement
Following the Photons: Astronomical
Simulations for Instruments & Telescopes
10-12 October 2011
The scientific questions posed by modern astronomy require facilities and surveys with greater complexity and data volumes than ever before. To ensure the maximum return from the investment in these facilities, simulations have become an integral part of their design and operation, and in the extraction of optimum scientific results from the observations.
This three-day workshop at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh will provide an informal and vibrant forum to discuss simulation efforts across a range of new and future facilities. The objective of the workshop is to highlight the essential role that such efforts now play in astronomy and to gather experiences from past and current efforts.
Registration is now open for the workshop at the Workshop Registration Page
General information about the workshop can be found at:
Case
study featuring UK ATC precision manufacturing capability
08 August 2011
Edgecam is a market leading computer aided manufacturing (CAM) system produced by Planit CAD/Cam software. They produced a case study featuring UK ATC projects and engineering capability that they published on their web site and issued to the trade press.
Link to the case study article.
ROE
Workshop 2011 - First Announcement
Following the Photons: Astronomical
Simulations for Instruments & Telescopes
10-12 October 2011
The scientific questions posed by modern astronomy require facilities and surveys with greater complexity and data volumes than ever before. To ensure the maximum return from the investment in these facilities, simulations have become an integral part of their design and operation, and in the extraction of optimum scientific results from the observations.
This three-day workshop at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh will provide an informal and vibrant forum to discuss simulation efforts across a range of new and future facilities. The objective of the workshop is to highlight the essential role that such efforts now play in astronomy and to gather experiences from past and current efforts.
Formal registration will open in August. To pre-register your interest in attending, please follow the link from:
IfA
Postdoc awarded Royal Astronomical Society prize
7th July 2011
Dr Duncan Forgan of the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Astronomy has been recognised with an award from the prestigious Royal Astronomical Society. Dr Forgan’s thesis, titled 'Probing Self-Gravitating Discs Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics with Radiative Transfer' is this year’s winner of the RAS Michael Penston prize. The prize is awarded for the best doctoral thesis in Astronomy or Astrophysics, and is open to all students registered at UK universities (excluding those focusing on planetary science, for which a separate prize is available). As well as a monetary prize, the award includes the opportunity to give a short presentation on their thesis to an Ordinary Meeting of the Society.
Full list of current and past winners.
More detail about the Michael Penston prize.
UK
astronomers find brightest quasar in the early universe
29 June 2011
An international team of astronomers announced today the discovery of the most distant known supermassive black hole, seen as a luminous quasar created by gas falling into the black hole.
Full text of the press release.
'Extremely Large' opportunity for UK companies
20 May 2011
British companies are being urged to bid for a share of a billion Euros that are available in contracts on what will be the biggest optical and infrared telescope in the world - the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).
Full text of the press release.
Herschel maintains the family connection
16 May 2011
The Herschel Space Observatory has been observing the sky at infrared wavelengths since shortly after its launch two years ago, on 14th May 2009. But the name Herschel has a much longer legacy than that. The observatory is named after the astronomers William and Caroline Herschel, a brother-and-sister team who were two of Britain's leading astronomers in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Full text of the press release.
ALMA Software Ready for Action
13 April 2011
ALMA is an array of millimetre wave telescopes being constructed in the Atacama desert of Chile by an international consortium including Europe, the USA and Japan. With 16 of its planned 50 antennas now available, ALMA is ready for early scientific exploitation and its first call for proposals was issued on March 30th 2011.
Full text of the press release.
Public
screening of 'The Space Between'
24 March 2011
On Thursday 24th March, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh will be holding a public screening of The Space Between, the latest production by Lyre Productions, written and directed by Tim Barrow.
For full details and trailer see main page.
Scottish
astronomers and engineers join search for new earth-like planets
12th February 2011
Astronomers from the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh are joining their counterparts from Queen's University Belfast and the Universities of Geneva, Harvard and INAF-TNG in the hunt for extra-solar planets similar to the Earth. Together they will be building and using a new instrument called HARPS-N for the Italian 3.5-metre Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in the Canary Islands. The instrument will be able to analyze the light of candidates identified from NASA’s Kepler space probe.
Full text of the Press Release.
Spectacular
New Images Taken With SPIRE
14 January 2011
Herschel images of the Andromeda galaxy taken with SPIRE feature in press releases issued today, 14th January 2011, by the Herschel Space Observatory and the UK Space Agency. SPIRE is one of three instruments used with the Herschel Space Observatory and was built by a consortium of 15 institutes in the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden and the USA. The UK ATC built the SPIRE Beam Steering Mechanism, a moveable mirror inside the cold instrument that allows the instrument field of view to be moved on the sky in a controlled way. In addition they led the overall system engineering for SPIRE for the first four years, including designing the optical layout of the imager, and UK ATC staff participated in the development of the ICC.
The press releases can be found on the Herschel Space Observatory site and the UK Space Agency site.
VISTA
goes deep into the Blue Lagoon
5 January 2011
A new image of a star-forming region known as the Lagoon Nebula that lies about 4-5000 light years away has been captured by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) UK-designed and built VISTA telescope. The image demonstrates once again the capability of the world’s largest survey telescope of producing infrared images that are unparalleled in the detail they reveal about the history and development of our galaxy.
Full text of the press release.
Old news items are listed on this page: Old News Page