UNews - Astronomical Instrumentation Group

U of L played a role in siting the world’s largest telescope

caroline.zentner — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 17:46:26 +0000

Astronomers will be able to peer farther back in time with the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), an international astronomy project that has involved the utilization of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge technology.

Canada recently announced it will provide almost $250 million in funding over the next 10 years to help build the telescope. The United States, Japan, India and China have already committed funds toward the construction of the world’s largest telescope at the top of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, and U of L Infrared Radiometer for Millimetre Astronomy (IRMA) technology played a key role in site selection.

“We are very pleased that the IRMA technology developed at the U of L was used at each of the five proposed sites for TMT,” says Dr. David Naylor, U of L astronomy professor. “As with any real estate, location is key. When you are committing $1.5 billion, one has to be confident one has picked the right site.”

IRMA, shown in the top left inset, was one of several technological tools used at the testing sites.

Over the last decade, the Astronomical Instrumentation Group (AIG) at the U of L, led by Naylor, developed IRMA to determine the best site for locating the TMT. Several IRMA units were built by Naylor’s team and deployed at various mountaintops in North and South America during site testing for TMT. Naylor and six graduate students worked on the project.

Since most of the infrared spectrum emitted by stars and galaxies is absorbed by atmospheric water vapour, telescopes are situated in high, dry places to obtain the best possible astronomical measurements. IRMA itself is a compact, lightweight radiometer that can operate autonomously or be controlled directly from the U of L. Being located atop a high altitude mountain was not fundamentally different from being a space borne instrument.

“It had to be designed with risk mitigation in mind and be able to recover from such things as cosmic ray impacts which could trigger failures in the on-board code,” says Naylor, adding the mountaintop environment was more hostile than space on one occasion. “One of our IRMAs was struck by lightning and the damage was really quite impressive. We keep that IRMA as a reminder of the force of nature.”

TMT is expected to be operational by 2024. Canada’s funding contribution will be spent at home to construct and assemble the telescope. A British Columbia-based company, Dynamic Structures, designed the TMT and will also build it. The federal government’s funding will also insure Canadian researchers get a viewing share of the telescope.

“For IRMA to be used in site testing indicates our technology is among the best in the world,” he says. “Reliable measurements of atmospheric conditions, including water vapour, are absolutely essential in a project of this magnitude.”

The survey results were released in 2010 and more information about the water vapour testing was published by The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.The six graduate students involved in the project have since gone on to be employed in a variety of positions around the world, from monitoring the atmosphere in what’s considered to be the cleanest place on earth to protecting Canada’s coastline from illegal immigrants.

The TMT, with its 30-metre segmented mirror, will be able to provide a resolution 12 times better than that possible using the Hubble Space Telescope, allowing astronomers to study the origins of the planets, stars, galaxies and black holes.

Cryogenic system delivers the cold to AIG

trevor.kenney — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:12:12 +0000

The Astronomical Instrumentation Group (AIG) at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, a research group led by Dr. David Naylor, has taken delivery of a cryogenic system that is being used to evaluate the performance of detectors that will be on board the Herschel Space Observatory set to launch on Apr. 16.

With funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the pulse tube cooler allows researchers to test instrumentation at temperatures down to 0.3 K above absolute zero.

Dr. Darren Hayton, the project manager for the AIG's Canadian Space Agency-funded SPICA/SAFARI study, said that the device does not use expensive helium or liquid nitrogen, and allows researchers to conjure up any experiment that requires cooling to 0.3 K and maintain that temperature for up to 77 hours.

"This technology will undoubtedly find its way into other fields requiring low temperatures," Hayton says. "The ability to try out new concepts on a daily basis without the requirement for liquid cryogens, which are not only expensive, but also inherently dangerous and challenging to handle, represents a significant shift in how we operate."

The product is considered to be revolutionary in the physics research community and according to manufacturer Oxford Instruments, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the AIG has the first cryofree system in Canada and one of a precious few in North America.

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 - Astronomical Instrumentation Group

U of L played a role in siting the world’s largest telescope

Related Topics

Cryogenic system delivers the cold to AIG

Related Topics

U of L joins U of C in creating ISIS

Related Topics