Research Interests: My work involves the analysis of gravitational wave data. I am specifically interested in wide area parameter space searches for gravitational waves from continuously emitting sources.
Room 608
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
Email:
Tel: +44 141 330 5388
Fax: +44 141 330 8600
Dr Peter Levens
PhD Student
I am working with Dr. Nicolas Labrosse and Prof. Lyndsay Fletcher on solar tornado-like prominences – these features appear to be the rotating legs of prominences.
My research has mostly been using UV and EUV observations from the Hinode and IRIS satellites and the ground-based THEMIS telescope in the Canary Islands. In 2014 and 2015 I was part of an international team that coordinated and performed observations with Hinode, IRIS, and THEMIS. I had the opportunity to spend four weeks making observations of prominences at THEMIS as part of that campaign. I also spent four months at the Observatoire de Paris in Meudon, working with Dr. Brigitte Schmieder on analysing IRIS data that we gathered in 2014.
I have also spent some time developing a radiative transfer code that simulates the emission of ionised magnesium (Mg II) lines in prominences. This work has built upon the already-substantial code for modelling hydrogen, helium, and calcium in prominences, provided to me by Dr. Nicolas Labrosse. The aim of this work was to extend previous prominence Mg II models to explain recent IRIS observations.
I am currently at the end of my PhD, writing my thesis.
Publications:
“Comparing UV/EUV line parameters and magnetic field in a quiescent prominence with tornadoes” — P. J. Levens, N. Labrosse, B. Schmieder, A. López Ariste, L.Fletcher. 2017, Astronomy and Astrophysics, (accepted, awaiting publication) [doi] [arXiv]
“Reconstruction of a helical prominence in 3D from IRIS spectra and images” — B. Schmieder, M. Zapiór, A. López Ariste, P. J. Levens, N. Labrosse, R. Gravet. 2017, Astronomy and Astrophysics, (accepted, awaiting publication) [doi] [arXiv]
My research efforts are focussed towards the active Sun, in particular with flares and electron beams. To investigate this phenomena I use multi-wavelength observational studies with a particular focus on radio and X-ray wavelengths. I also use numerical simulations to model electron transport including the kinetic plasma processes that are involved with generating the radio emission we observe in space weather.
Room 608
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
Room 604
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
Email: s.islam.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Tel: +44 141 330 2960
Fax: +44 141 330 8600
Dr Duncan Stackhouse
PhD Student
I work on electron acceleration in Solar Flares. Taking a particular interest in the distribution of these electrons and processes behind the acceleration.
Room 604
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
Email: d.stackhouse.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Tel: 2960
Fax: +44 141 330 8600
Dr Graham Kerr
PhD Student
I have now completed my PhD, which was supervised by Prof Lyndsay Fletcher, and am about to start a postdoctoral fellowship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (~April 2017).
My research interests are in solar physics, particularly in energy and radiation transport through the solar atmosphere during solar flares. I have expertise in data analysis using both imaging and spectroscopic observations from the Hinode, IRIS and SDO spacecraft, as well as using the numerical codes RADYN and RH to simulate solar flares, and the radiation they produce. I am eager to use a combination of both observations and numerical simulations to better understand the processes involved in solar flares.
“Observations and modelling of Helium lines in solar flares”, P.J.A. Simões, L. Fletcher, N. Labrosse, & G.S. Kerr. In: Coimbra Solar Physics Meeting 2015: Ground-based Solar Observations in the Space Instrumentation Era. ASP Conference Series, Vol. 504, 2016.
I am active in public outreach, and throughout the 2015-2016 academic year I worked with St. Vincent’s Primary School in East Kilbride as part of the Rolls-Royce Science Prize. Our team was awarded second place with a project that was focused on the ‘Earth in Space’. To learn more about our entry click here.
Room 604
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
I am interested in particle acceleration and propagation processes in solar flares. I use satellite data, mainly from RHESSI to better understand the physics of those processes.
Research Interests: My research involves targeted searches for gravitational waves from known pulsars using GEO 600 and LIGO data. My work also includes searches for quasi-normal mode oscillations in neutron stars induced by glitches.
I’m working on ‘Semantic Resource Discovery for the Virtual Observatories’ (aka ‘astronomical data management’, or ‘astroinformatics’, or some variant on that).
Stellar Astronomy and Atmospheric Physics – Development of optical equipmemt for undertaking spectropolarimetric measurements of stars and of the radiation from the daytime sky associated with scattering processes within stellar shells, the interstellar medium and the Earth’s atmosphere.
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
My research now centers on observations of solar X-rays and flare physics. I also work on solar global structure topics, mainly via RHESSI data. Also there’s an ongoing solar search for axions. I maintain a Web-based archive of flare/CME cartoons and have served as editor of the Yohkoh Science Nuggets, a program now ended. Now I edit the RHESSI Science Nuggets instead. Contributions are always welcome!
Room 620
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
Personal homepage
(the contents of which are the responsibility of Mr Colin Hunter)
Dr Alexander Russell
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow
I am investigating whether MHD waves can transport large amounts of energy from the solar corona to the chromosphere during solar flares, and possible mechanisms by which these waves might accelerate electrons to high energies. I am especially keen to exploit parallels with auroral physics, building bridges between solar and magnetospheric physics. My work is supported by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
Room 620
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
Personal homepage
(the contents of which are the responsibility of Alexander Russell)
Dr Alasdair Wilson
I am a postdoctoral research associate primarily interested in the theoretical and numerical modeling of both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. In particular my past work has involved low temperature, partially ionized plasmas.
Room 616
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland
I am working on a PhD in Solar Physics with Dr. Lyndsay Fletcher and I am currently busy with automated feature detection in solar images making use of image processing techniques. At the moment, my research involves looking at the fragmentation and breakup of solar active regions by studying MDI magnetograms I am also actively involved with the Astro group outreach program and had an active role in planetarium shows in schools as part of the Constellation Project with Professor John Brown. This was a project to promote Astronomy during IYA2009.
Room 604
School of Physics and Astronomy
Kelvin Building
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Scotland