Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell FRS
Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE, FRS is an astrophysicist. She was responsible for the discovery of pulsars while a radio astronomy graduate student in Cambridge and has subsequently worked in gamma ray, X-ray, infrared and millimetre wavelength astronomy. She currently holds a Professorial Fellowship in Mansfield College, University of Oxford, and is a Visiting Academic in the University’s Department of Physics
She was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize (2010) and a Royal Medal (2015) by the Royal Society and also holds major awards from French, Spanish and USA bodies. A member of 7 Academies worldwide, she was the first female President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (as well as of the Institute of Physics).
She is currently Chancellor of the University of Dundee and was previously a Pro Vice Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin. She holds numerous Honorary Doctorate
Brian Coleman – UK Meteor Radio Beacon Project Lead
In addition to a fascination with astronomy Brian obtained his first amateur radio licence in 1967. Always interested in the technical challenges of designing and building radio equipment particularly for the higher frequency bands, VHF, UHF and Microwave this led to the challenge of Earth – Moon – Earth communications ( EME ) where the moon is used as a reflector to extend range beyond the horizon for frequencies not refracted or reflected by the ionosphere. After a career in the electronics industry the two interests, Radio and Astronomy inevitably came together. After completing the Introduction to Radio Astronomy course run by the University of Manchester Brian used his 3.7m EME antenna to study the radiation from Neutral Hydrogen in our Galaxy. The Hydrogen Line Observing Group was established giving its members the opportunity to make their own observations controlling Brian’s telescope remotely. Recently, with support from the RSGB and the BAA Brian has led a group of volunteers who are building a bi-static radar system to study meteors entering the earth’s atmosphere over the UK
The UK Meteor Radar Project has been established and run by a group of skilled volunteers from the amateur radio and radio astronomy fields. These volunteers bring the specialist skills required to design, build and run both the radio beacon and the receiver network.
The aim of the project is to provide an extensive and capable resource to the science and STEM communities to enable the study of meteors over the UK, although coverage further afield is possible but not currently covered by the receiver network.
This is an extensive project that has only been made possible by the generosity of both the dedicated design team and a number of external organisations. This resource is planned to be provided without charge to all those who wish to use it and hence the donation of time, funds and equipment has been essential to realise this ambition. We would like to thank those who have already supported us and would of course welcome any addition support.
Web site: https://ukmeteorbeacon.org/Home
Professor Ian McCrea – RAL Head of Space Physics
In 2013, Ian became Deputy Head of the Space Physics Division and when the division was amalgamated with the former Space Data Division in 2015, he took over as head of the resulting new Space Physics and Operations Division.
Ian’s research background is in ionospheric physics, with his PhD (University of Leicester, 1989) focusing on energy deposition and dissipation in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. He joined RAL in 1991 and became head of its UK EISCAT Support Group in 1996, establishing a long heritage as a support scientist for ground-based instruments. He continues to work with the EISCAT Scientific Association and has chaired both its Council and Scientific Advisory Committee.
He is currently a member of the Natural Environment Research Council peer review college and the science strategy board for the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. In addition to upper atmosphere physics he has strong interests in space weather and in the radar tracking of space debris.
Dr Chris Pearson RAL Space Astronomy Group leader
SKA Science Data Processor Team.
Title: The Square Kilometre Array: Big Data and Transformational Science
Synopsis: The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will become the next generation radio telescope for astronomy. The SKA observatory comprises of two telescope arrays across three continents and when finished in 2029 will be the largest scientific facility in the history of humankind. The SKA will address and answer key scientific questions, ranging from the origins of the structure we see in our Universe today to the cradle and origins of life. Such a large facility will naturally create vast amounts of data, around 10 million Gigabytes per hour of operation, that raises new challenges in engineering and computing. This talk will give an overview into the engineering and computational challenges that need to be met and the transformational science the SKA will deliver.
Bio:
Dr Chris Pearson is head of the Astrophysics programme at RAL Space. His PhD was in “Galaxy Evolution and Cosmology” with Prof. Michael Rowan-Robinson at Imperial College, London and has worked on large galaxy surveys for both ground based telescopes and space borne missions. He worked for 7 years in Japan on the AKARI space telescope before moving to the UK to RAL Space to work on the Herschel Space Observatory. He now works on the ARIEL mission searching for exoplanets and the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope, the largest scientific facility in the history of humankind.
Dr Andrew Thornett
3D and 4D mapping of the Milky Way, using data from Lichfield Radio Observatory (LRO), central UK, collected by two radio telescopes, an ex-military dipole array and a parabolic solar cooker.
Measuring hydrogen line (1420.405MHz) in the Milky Way is a common project for amateur radio astronomers. Such measurements can be used to map the galactic arms of the Milky Way, measure our galaxy’s mass, and demonstrate the presence of dark matter in the galaxy.
Methods of displaying the data obtained from such projects has been limited to graphical plots of data and 2 dimensional maps of the galaxy. These are often difficult for members of the general public to properly appreciate, which makes their use in outreach of limited value.
There are now new ways of presenting our findings which can provide greater appeal to those who are not well versed in radio astronomy methods and interpretations.
This talk explores these new methods, including displaying the data in three spatial dimensions, using free software packages such as Easy Radio Astronomy Software and Rinearn 3D. In addition, these programmes can be used to map the data to a sphere in order to give views of the Milky Way as it would be seen from the surface of the Earth or from outside a ball surrounding the Earth.
The methods are used to display data collected at Lichfield Radio Observatory (LRO) in central United Kingdom, from its three hydrogen line radio telescopes, LRO-H1, based on an ex-military dipole array 86cm x 86cm in size, LRO-H2, built around an 150cm diameter parabolic reflector originally designed to act as a solar cooker, and LRO-H3, which uses as its aerial a 13-element Patch Yagi.
Bio
Dr Andrew Thornett is a General Medical Practitioner in Birmingham with an eclectic interest and passion for all things astronomy. He is a member of the BAA Radio Astronomy Group and Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers in the USA, and of Rosliston Astronomy Group in Derbyshire, and the Astronomical Society of Penang in Malaysia.
He has special intersts in radio astronomy and solar astronomy – he considers himself to be one of a new breed of radio astronomer who don’t understand half of what is going on but finds that modern technology and software allows him to get it working and to achieve amazing things! He then spends his time learning as much as he can and he is keen to encourage other people to consider this part of the hobby.
From the solar perspective, using his Daystar Quark Filters, he loves to photograph the Sun and produce solar animations, and he has recently acquired a spectrohelioscope and is amazed by what this technology can offer amateurs, especially as it can be largely 3D-printed at home!!
His message: You can do it and you can do it even with loads of cloud and light pollution from your suburban or urban home, with minimal knowledge and for reasonable cost! You just need the passion!