HARMONI - A UK led first light spectrograph for the E-ELT
Clarke, Fraser, Niranjan Thatte (PI)
University of Oxford
16 April, 10:45

HARMONI is a visible/near-infrared integral field spectrograph currently being considered as one of the first light instruments for the 42-m European Extremely Large Telescope. HARMONI will provide medium-high resolution (R~5000-20000) spectroscopy in the V-K bands (0.47-2.5 microns) over an extended field of up to 10x5 arcseconds. It will provide a range of pixels scales of 40mas/pixel to sample the telescope's GLAO corrected PSF, down to 4mas/pixel to sample the diffraction limited images provided by the ATLAS-LTAO system.

I will outline the key science cases for HARMONI, ranging from extrasolar planets to high redshift galaxies, along with the key technologies which will make HARMONI possible.

The HARMONI consortium is UK-led (University of Oxford and UKATC), with French and Spanish partners, and offers the possibility of key UK involvement in the E-ELT at the very earliest opportunity. Along with 7 other instruments, HARMONI has recently completed a phase A conceptual study for ESO.

Lumped Element Kinetic Inductance Detectors suitable for large arrays of astronomical detectors.
Doyle, Simon, Phil Mauskopf
Cardiff UNiversity
16 April, 11:00

The Lumped Element Kinetic Inductance Detector (LEKID) is a simple to fabricate, superconducting device suitable for use in large multiplexed detector arrays. To date the LEKID has demonstrated 200 micron detection of a cryogenic blackbody source and successful testing of a demonstration array operating at 2mm on the IRAM telescope in October 2009. Due to its combined absorbing and detecting elements the LEKID is an extremely simple detector to fabricate requiring only one deposition and etch step to produce an array of up to 1000 pixels being multiplexed onto a single feed-line. The LEKID is also a very compact detector making it ideal for producing arrays with high filling factors. The suitability of the LEKID for use in large arrays has prompted a return visit to the IRAM telescope with a dual band instrument in 2010. This presentation will give an overview of the LEKID detector as well as its use outside the mm and sub mm astronomy bands.

Novel deformable mirror developments for astronomy applications
Strachan, Mel
UKATC
16 April, 11:15

The UKATC has been collaborating is a series of projects directed towards addressing the adaptive optic challenges posed by the European Extremely large telescope. We have developed novel technological solutions for both large deformable mirrors for telescope wavefront correction, and miniature deformable mirrors for use within instruments. Our large deformable mirror surface material, a compliant from of silicon carbide, offers a Young's Modulus comparable to glass but with greater, non-catastrophic, resistance to fracture. In combination with the extraordinary new material we have been working on a new low power actuator with a deflection capability of tens of microns.

Adaptive optic requirements for instrumentation such as EAGLE for the European extremely large telescope present an enormous challenge to deformable mirror technology. We have developed a unique approach using fabricated arrays of multilayer actuator technology to address the requirements of actuator density and deflection. Our programme of work has uncovered a novel approach which has led to a built in test capability. We will present the outcomes of our work which we believe will lead to a compact deformable mirror.

High-Precision Interferometry and Low-Loss materials for future Gravitational Wave Observatories
Hild, Stefan
University of Glasgow
16 April, 11:30

Large-scale Michelson interferometers form the core of current and future Gravitational Wave Antennas. Since the days of Albert Michelson and Edward Morley, the sensitivity of Michelson interferometers has been improved by more than 12 orders of magnitude. To further improve our ability to scan the sky for gravitational wave signals a variety of innovative interferometric techniques and low loss materials are required. This will lead to 2nd and 3rd generation detectors such as Advanced LIGO and the Einstein Telescope.

This talk will survey current/future techniques in interferometry such as squeezed light, optical rigidity and other Quantum-Non-Demolition techniques. Furthermore, the properties of Silicon as a cryogenic material and the novel concept of a monolithic reflector based on micro-structured surfaces will also be presented. This allows the fabrication of highly reflective mirrors without the use of different materials, which results is an optical component with a low thermal noise.

Milli-kelvin cooler for the XMS instrument on the International X-ray Observatory
Hepburn, Ian
UCL/MSSL
16 April, 11:45

The worlds first cryogen free flight worthy adiabatic demagnetisation refrigerator for the cooling of cryogenic detectors to 50 mK was delivered to ESA in June 2008. This system was developed by MSSL in association with EADS Astrium under contract to ESA and developed as a technology development for the XEUS mission (now renamed the IXO). The ADR was constructed as a set of sub-systems in order to enable changes in technology and requirements at a later date to be integrated into the system. Vibration qualification was performed on the sub-systems to Ariane 5 levels.

In this presentation we present details of the delivered ADR, its sub-systems, the proposed 50 mK cooler for the cooling of the TES detectors on the X-ray microcalorimeter spectrometer instrument (XMS) for the International X-ray observatory and ongoing development in heat switch technology which will enable a continuous ADR to be constructed.

Hydroxide catalysis bonding research for astronomical applications
Beveridge, Nicola
University of Glasgow
16 April, 12:00

The Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow has a well established history in the research of hydroxide catalysis bonding for ground and space based gravitational wave detector applications. Hydroxide catalysis bonding, used to bond silica suspension elements to silica mirrors and for bonding silica optics to Zerodur, produces strong, thermally conductive and low loss bonds. The technique can be applied to many other (oxide) materials and is therefore of interest for alternative purposes, including astronomical projects such as the Extremely Large Telescope where PZT material is bonded to silicon or silicon carbide, or optical filter applications where coated silica substrates to can be bonded onto silica discs in order to transfer coatings. This presentation is aimed at giving a brief overview of the research of a few of these applications.

FIRST Explorer - spaceborne low-frequency radio astronomy using passive formation flying
Bergman, Jan, Richard Blott, Alistair Forbes, David Humphreys, David Robinsson, Constantinos Stavrinidis
Swedish Institute of Space Physics
16 April, 12:15

Space-borne low-frequency radio astronomy has been identified as a key science application for a conceptual pathfinder mission, using a novel space-flight concept called “passive formation flying”. The mission, FIRST Explorer (Formation-flying sub-Ionospheric Radio astronomy Science and Technology), is currently under study by the European Space Agency (ESA). Its objective is to demonstrate passive formation-flying and to perform unique science with a very high serendipity factor, by opening a new frequency window to astronomy. Traditionally, formation-flying requires continuous and minute corrections of the orbital elements and attitudes of the spacecraft. This increases the complexity, and associated risk, of controlling the formation, which often makes such studies infeasible for technological and economic reasons. Passive formation-flying offers a remedy to those problems. Spacecraft in a passive formation are allowed to drift and rotate slowly, but by using advanced metrology and statistical modelling methods, their relative positions, velocities, and orientations are determined with very high accuracy. The metrology data is used directly by the radio astronomy payload to compensate for spacecraft motions in software. The normally very stringent spacecraft control requirements are thereby relaxed, which significantly reduces mission complexity and cost.

Reducing risk in cryogenic instrument design: thermal conductivity measurements at the Cryogenic Instrumentation Research Lab
Kennedy, Julia, A.L. Woodcraft
Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh

Poor knowledge of the physical properties of materials is a severe limitation on cryogenic design, and as instruments increase in complexity while budgets shrink this lack of knowledge is posing an increasing risk to costs and schedules.

Furthermore many new materials, particularly polymers, offer the prospect of improved performance but there is little information on their cryogenic properties.

Unfortunately, very few groups capable of making useful measurements are able to devote significant time to doing so. At the CIRL (Cryogenic Instrumentation Research Laboratory), we are carrying out a systematic programme of measurements of the thermal and electrical properties of materials from below 4 K to room temperature, concentrating on those of use in large cryogenic instruments.

These measurements are part of a UK government funded programme to improve the ability to construct cryogenic instruments in both academia and industry.

We present the results of initial measurements and discuss our plans for the near and longer-term future.

Probing the atmospheres of extrasolar worlds with a dedicated mission from space
Tinetti, Giovanna, M. Swain, M. Tessenyi, M. Ollivier, G. Vasisht, P. Deroo, J. P. Beaulieu, T. Henning, THESIS team
UCL

The THESIS mission concept is a space-based, modest cost, low technical risk mission capable of characterizing the atmospheres of exoplanets, including super-Earths in the habitable zone. Significantly, THESIS does not require new technology. Building on the successes of the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, THESIS would be highly optimized for system stability (1 part in 10^5) and would deliver photon-noise-limited spectroscopy and photometry over the crucial 0.5 –16 micron wavelength range. This range of wavelengths contains signatures of water, methane, ammonia, carbon monoxide, and numerous other molecules, and includes molecules of potential prebiotic significance. Because molecules serve as probes of composition, conditions, and chemistry, molecular spectroscopy of the dayside and nightside regions of exoplanet atmospheres is the most powerful tool available for studying these objects. THESIS would be the first mission explicitly designed to characterize planets where life could exist; THESIS would profoundly advance our understanding of the physical conditions and likely the histories of exoplanets, ranging from hot-Jovians to super-Earths. THESIS would be a low-cost US-European mission with enormous discovery potential.

Astronomy at the highest energies: the Cherenkov Telescope Array
White, Richard
University of Leeds

Very-high energy (VHE) γ-ray astronomy is dominated by Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) and is reliant upon the detection of Cherenkov radiation from electrons in cascades initiated by astrophysical gamma-rays high in the Earth's atmosphere. Results from the latest generation of telescopes, such as HESS, MAGIC and VERITAS have revealed a sky rich with different classes of VHE object.

Still the limits of the IACT have not yet been reached, and to push the high-energy frontier of photon astronomy the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) has been proposed. Comprising 50-100 IACTs of two to three sizes, CTA will provide an order of magnitude increase in sensitivity from ~3 x 10^10 to ~10^14 eV. Despite the extreme energies, CTA will possess the best sensitivity and angular resolution at any energy above the hard X-ray band.