Looking out to see in

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:40:59 +0000

As the lead Canadian researcher for the Canadian Space Agency's contribution to the Herschel Space Observatory, U of L scholar Dr. David Naylor (Physics and Astronomy) has played a key role in the development of the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE). SPIRE is one of three instruments on the Herschel spacecraft that is orbiting 1.5 million km from the earth. Functioning at a chilly -270C, SPIRE observes the universe at very long wavelengths, those well beyond the limit of human vision. Radiation emitted at these wavelengths is able to travel relatively unimpeded through even the densest regions of space, which allows astronomers to view back in time to the formation of the first galaxies. This technology is similar to, but far more sophisticated than, the full body scanners now being installed at airports.

Naylor's group designs and builds exquisitely sensitive systems to convert the energy in long wavelength photons into meaningful information on the composition and physical conditions of the astronomical objects under study.

As Naylor explains, "That's what physicists do – they think of the question and then build the equipment to answer that question."

Naylor is also a co-founder of the Institute for Space Imaging Science (ISIS) and director of its Space Astronomy Division. ISIS is a collaboration between the Universities of Athabasca, Calgary and Lethbridge. Scientists from the three institutions, and their research partners worldwide, share technology and other resources to tackle leading edge questions in space imaging.

Most recently, Naylor is collaborating with Dr. Jeff Dunn, a Canada Research Chair of radiology and biophysics in the U of C's Faculty of Medicine, to explore the utility of his detection system to the medical field, initially in cancer detection. In a recent paper, a team of Taiwanese scientists have shown that THz imaging is capable of detecting breast cancer without the lengthy time requirement for histological staining of samples and visual inspection by a technician.

Naylor quickly realized that even his run of the mill detectors are 100,000 times more sensitive, which means they have the potential to identify not only the cancerous cells, but also their boundaries, substantially faster. Dunn and Naylor are working to explore if this gain can be realized.

Some people question why anyone would study astronomy. Can research into the world around us help advance us as a species? Naylor emphatically says yes.

The universe is the astronomer's laboratory, and the instrumentation Naylor has developed to look outward may just provide us a better way to see in.

"One only has to look at the impact of the laser and MRI on society, whose roots lie in basic physics research, to answer the relevance question."

U of L joins U of C in creating ISIS

trevor.kenney — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:37:26 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary have joined forces to create a new institute to lead Canada in innovative space imaging technologies and their applications to advance our understanding of space.

A memorandum of understanding has been agreed by the two universities to start up the Institute for Space Imaging Science (ISIS).

"We have a very strong and productive history of space science in the province, both universities having been involved in major international space exploration missions. ISIS builds on this history by marrying the expertise and broad experience at each university," says Chris Nicol, Dean of Arts and Science at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. "In addition to the pure fundamental research, this program promotes a cross-university, cross-faculty and highly interdisciplinary approach to the wide-range of technology challenges and science opportunities presented by space imaging."

Russ Taylor, director of ISIS and the head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the U of C, adds the future of space imaging now resides in Alberta.

"This is a huge undertaking but a very worthwhile venture for the institutions and for the future of space science imaging in this province," says Taylor. "The province of Alberta is already a national leader in space sciences. The agreement builds on this strength to create a unique international centre for space imaging sciences, technology and innovation here in southern Alberta."

Space imaging science uses imaging technologies to understand space, from the near-Earth environment and space weather to the edge of the observable universe and the origins of cosmic structure. ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professor Dr. David Naylor heads up the Astronomical Instrumentation Group (AIG) and under his leadership, the ISIS project became a reality.

Within ISIS, researchers seek answers to questions about the northern lights, the Earth's geomagnetic field that protects us from explosions on the Sun, space weather that affects global navigation systems, meteorites and potentially harmful near-Earth asteroids, the formation of stars and new planets, the nature of the Milky Way Galaxy that we live in, and the origin and evolution of the universe itself.

Engineers and technicians work with the scientists to develop new and improved ways to image space to provide the data that we need.

The Square Kilometre array(SKA) project, led by the U of C in collaboration with institutions overseas and in the U.S., will design and construct the largest radio telescope ever built which will be used to study naturally occurring radio emissions from stars, galaxies and the edge of the universe to a time before stars and galaxies.

The Astronomical Instrumentation group, headquartered out of the U of L, is leading the development of Canadian imaging technology at far infrared wavelengths, just beyond the range of light visible to humans. Its work contributes to many international projects and will be part of the European Space Agency's Herschel space launch, scheduled to take place in April.

The NESS (Near Earth Space Surveillance) project led by Alan Hildebrand, holder of the Canada Research Chair in Planetary Science in U of C's Department of Geoscience, will use the NEOSSat microsatellite to search the inner solar system for unknown asteroids. This innovative spacecraft is funded by the Canadian Space Agency and Defence Research and Development Canada and will be launched next year.

UNews - space imaging

Looking out to see in

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U of L joins U of C in creating ISIS

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