UK Astronomy Technology Centre Research Articles

News in Astronomy & Geophysics – June 2023

... The first UK winner of the new Caroline Herschel Medal received the award in a ceremony held at the residence of the German Ambassador, Miguel Berger, on 13 April 2023. Prof. Gillian Wright, Director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, received the award for her outstanding work in developing instrumentation, notably in infrared astronomy, and most recently leading the international consortium that built the Mid-Infrared Instrument, MIRI, for the James Webb Space Telescope. At the ceremony, Prof. Wright received the medal and award from Professor Stefanie Walch-Gassner, incoming President of the Astronomische Gesellschaft, then gave a very well-received address on the power of technology to reveal the hidden infrared universe. She shared with the audience her first-hand account of the design and development of the Webb telescope, stressing the unique contribution that MIRI is already making to our understanding of the universe. The Caroline Herschel Medal is a new award funded by the UK government to recognise outstanding women astrophysicists in the UK and Germany. It is administered jointly by the Royal Astronomical Society and the Astronomische Gesellschaft, with the medal awarded in the UK and Germany in alternate years. bit.ly/3oPo7Xn

News in Astronomy & Geophysics – April 2023

... The first UK winner of the new Caroline Herschel Medal is astronomer Professor Gillian Wright CDE FRSE, longstanding European Principal Investigator of the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the JWST. Prof. Wright is director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. “Gillian is a global scientific leader in astronomy. She worked tirelessly to bring MIRI to fruition, and it is now delivering unparalleled advances in our scientific understanding of the universe,” said RAS President Mike Edmunds. “On behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society, I would like to offer her my warmest congratulations as the first UK winner of the Caroline Herschel Medal.” The medal was launched in 2021 by the UK Government in honour of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It commemorates astronomer Caroline Herschel (1750–1828), who with her brother William revised and greatly improved catalogues of stars, clusters and nebulae, and herself discovered eight comets. The medal recognises both her legacy and the deep and enduring scientific links between Germany and the UK.

Profile: Ian Robson

The Director of the UK Astronomy Technology Centre talks about the challenges of changing cultures and continents through his career, as well as the UK plans for International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Mid-infrared instruments on the Gemini 8-m telescopes

The mid-infrared instruments, operating in the 10 and 20 μm atmospheric windows, on the Gemini 8-m telescopes are described. The advantages and disadvantages of ground-based telescopes compared to satellite observatories are briefly discussed. On Gemini-N, Michelle, a cryogenic imager and grating and echelle spectrometer built at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh offers imaging, long-slit spectroscopy and polarimetry. Spectral resolving powers between 200 and 20,000 are available by selecting one of five interchangeable gratings held in the cold grating drum. The Thermal Region Camera-Spectrometer (TReCS) is undergoing final tests at the University of Florida before delivery to Gemini-S. It offers imaging and low or moderate resolving power ( R<1000) spectroscopy. Even with the excellent image quality and low-emissivity of the Gemini telescopes, the thermal background from the sky, telescope and instrument windows are many orders of magnitude greater than the mid-infrared background emission in space. The main advantages of the Gemini instruments are the high spatial resolution available from large aperture ground-based telescopes (FWHM ∼ λ/ D=0.3 arcsec at 12 μm), the versatile instrumentation and the high spectral resolution, which coupled with the 50 m 2 collecting area, gives good spectroscopic performance. Some initial performance figures and results are given.