UNews - microwave

SPIRE earns international award

trevor.kenney — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 22:20:47 +0000

A ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge physics research team and a Lethbridge-based high tech data processing company are among the collective group of people behind the Herschel Space Telescope's Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instrument, which has been awarded the prestigious 2013 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for academic study and research.

The award is in recognition of the scientific achievements of the SPIRE instrument, which was designed, built and operated by an international team of astronomers, scientists and engineers.

SPIRE was co-developed by Dr. David Naylor (physics and astronomy) and a team of researchers who led Canada's contribution to the Herschel project on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency.

Blue Sky Spectroscopy, a Lethbridge-based, high tech company, is one of the three international Data Processing and Science Analysis Software centres for the SPIRE instrument. The mission, launched on May 14, 2009 from the Ariane Spaceport in French Guyana, almost immediately began to shed new light on stars and galaxies by measuring a level of light called far-infrared.

Over a four-year mission period, Herschel -- the largest, most powerful infrared telescope ever flown in space -- made extraordinary discoveries across a wide range of topics, from starburst galaxies in the distant Universe to newly forming planetary systems orbiting nearby young stars. SPIRE is one of three devices attached to the Herschel telescope system.

"SPIRE detects heat and chemical signals that are not visible by optical telescopes, and turns that data into the amazing images and information we and other scientists are using to learn more about the life and death of stars and galaxies," says Naylor.

In addition to literally 'clearing up' the images people have been using for two centuries to look into space, Naylor said the Herschel mission is confirming the existence of molecules on earth that originated in space.

"With SPIRE we can look at the big picture, or the very tiny picture, and gain a whole new insight into how stars live and die. The reason the imagery is so clear is that the space observatory sits more than 1.5 million km from earth, far from our atmosphere, which absorbs virtually all radiation at which far-infrared wavelengths travel. Since the universe emits most of its energy at these wavelengths, Herschel provides us with our first comprehensive view of the universe."

The data and crisp images come from a device about as big as a large microwave oven that took more than 15 years and $100 million to develop – and has to function at a chilly -270C. Herschel operated until the end of its scientific mission on Apr. 29, 2013.

A multi-year data analysis period is now taking place.

The award was collected on behalf of the team by Tanya Lim, of the UK-based STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

"A lot of people from both science and engineering disciplines have dedicated up to 15 years of their lives of making SPIRE a scientific success," says Lim. "It is wonderful that we can all share in this award and we are very grateful for receiving it."

The UK team is led by Naylor's colleague Matt Griffin, of Cardiff ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Wales.

"Building and operating SPIRE has taken many years of effort by a lot of very talented people in our multi-national team. They are rightly proud of the scientific success of Herschel and SPIRE, and they are delighted to win this award."

The Sir Arthur Clarke awards are presented annually in recognition of notable or outstanding achievements in, or contributions to, all space activities. They are organized by the Arthur C Clarke Foundation and the British Interplanetary Society, and this year were presented during the conference dinner at the UK Space Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

The full list of 2013 winners are available on the British Interplanetary Society website.

This is the second Sir Arthur Clarke Award for the SPIRE team, with Matt Griffin receiving the award for individual achievement in 2010.

Herschel Mission Operating Phase Wrapping Up

trevor.kenney — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:54:37 +0000

A pioneering space imaging mission that sent a scientific instrument co-developed by a U of L researcher on a 1.5 million kilometre trip to deep space aboard the Herschel Space Observatory might be nearing its conclusion, but that doesn't mean the end of the project for the research team.

Dr. David Naylor (Physics and Astronomy) and his team of researchers lead Canada's contribution to the Herschel project on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency.

The instrument, called the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver ("SPIRE"), is one of three devices attached to the Herschel telescope system.

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/satellites/herschel/default.asp

The helium-filled 'gas tank' cooling Herschel's equipment is expected to run dry over the next few weeks – an expected process.

As the coolant diminishes, equipment will stop working, but data transmission will continue until the bus-sized telescope parks itself in a permanent orbit around the sun.

What follows is a five-year post operation phase, where the data obtained during the mission are used to develop improved calibration algorithms to allow the most information to be extracted from the images. Eventually the data will be reprocessed and placed in an archive that will have legacy value.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Herschel_to_finish_observing_soon

The mission, launched on May 14, 2009 from the Ariane Spaceport in French Guyana, almost immediately began to shed new light on stars and galaxies by measuring a level of light called far-infrared.

Infrared light is invisible to the human eye, but travels well across the universe. Star forming regions emit light at these wavelengths and Herschel can detect it, capturing a wealth of detail such as heat signatures and chemical composition that help astronomers clearly see, for the first time, stars and whole galaxies that have previously remained hidden or only poorly understood.

"SPIRE picks up heat and chemical signals that are not visible by optical telescopes, and turns that data into the amazing images and information we and other scientists are using to learn more about the life and death of stars and galaxies," Naylor said.

In addition to literally 'clearing up' the images people have been using for two centuries to look into space, Naylor said the Herschel mission is confirming the existence of molecules on earth that originated in space.

"With SPIRE we can look at the big picture, or the very tiny picture, and gain a whole new insight into how stars live and die. The reason the imagery is so clear is that the space observatory sits more than 1.5 million km from earth, far from our atmosphere which absorbs virtually all radiation at which far-infrared wavelengths. Since the universe emits most of its energy at these wavelengths, Herschel provides us with our first comprehensive view of the universe."

The data and crisp images come from a device about as big as a large microwave oven that took more than 15 years and $100 million to develop – and has to function at a chilly -270C.

Also gratifying are the unique research collaborations that Naylor sees happening in the future. "Approximately one-third of the time available to researchers is guaranteed to those involved in key projects, and our time is included in that. We see the data here in Lethbridge before anyone else does. Scientists will be seeking our help in analyzing their data and the U of L group will be an important Canadian and international resource."

With an estimated output of up to 7,000 hours per year of data, there should be enough information to keep researchers busy for years – and some of that data flows through Blue Sky Spectroscopy, a Lethbridge-based, high tech spinoff company founded by Naylor in 2003, and now privately owned and operated.

Blue Sky is one of the three international Data Processing and Science Analysis Software centres for the SPIRE instrument. Data are downloaded daily from the spacecraft and stored on the Blue Sky servers.

Its highly qualified staff, all with postgraduate degrees, specialize in custom hardware and software spectroscopic solutions. Customers include NASA, ESA, and CSA, and many leading research institutes such as Harvard, Berkeley, Chicago, Max Planck and Cardiff, NIST, Centre d'Etudes Atomique, Paris, Institute National d'Optique, Canada to name a few.

What's next?

According to Naylor, more research that refines his current SPIRE device to make it suitable for yet another space mission currently under review by the Japanese, European and Canadian Space Agencies.

The project – SPICA, which stands for Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics – is a next-generation version of the SPIRE device, and would perform a similar function on a space telescope planned to launch in 2022.

Learn more about the SPICA project, here: http://research.uleth.ca/spica/index.php

Naylor said Herschel has been an overwhelming success, but its sensitivity is limited by its 'warm' telescope. "At a temperature of -80K (-193C) this may sound cold, but it limits the achievable sensitivity. By cooling a telescope to -6K (-267C) would increase the sensitivity by an astonishing factor of 100, allowing it to explore a volume of space 1000x greater than Herschel".

Building on the success of Herschel, the Japanese Space Agency JAXA is developing such a cooled telescope. ESA has joined forces with JAXA; in return for ESA providing the telescope and a ground station, European scientists will build one of the flight instruments.

Based on the Herschel experience, an imaging FTS similar to the ones Naylor's group has been building for over two decades has been selected and Naylor has been invited to join the international team that will build the instrument known as SAFARI.

The instrument is similar to one that the U of L team has recently commissioned on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the world's largest submillimetre telescope located atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/JCMT/

The space-based project, SPICA – which stands for Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics – is a next-generation version of the SPIRE device, and would perform a similar function on a space telescope planned to launch in 2022.

In Alberta, a recent and significant collaboration has also been launched with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, where the U of L and the U of C and Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ have formed the Institute for Space Imaging Science (ISIS) to work together on projects that take space research further than Herschel technology, whether on the ground or in the atmosphere.

"By nature, physics researchers don't get too excited, but to see these images and know that we're looking at them in a whole new way, and further that we'll be able to share this information with the public so they can learn about the origins of the universe, is truly exciting," Naylor said.

He estimates that more than 200 papers have already been produced using data from the Herschel mission, and approximately half of those have Canadian co-authors.

The geographical distribution of SPIRE science within Canada is broad with authors affiliated with the following universities/institutions: UBC, Calgary, CFHT, HIA/UVic, Laval, Lethbridge, McMaster, Toronto, Waterloo. As well, a large group of researchers, including more than 30 post docs, undergrad and grad students have conducted research using SPIRE data.

An example of the type of imaging and discoveries made possible by the Herschel Space Observatory can be found here:

Comet 'Demolition Derby' Creates New Information About Solar System Origin

Compelling new images from the Herschel Space Telescope – parked more than 1.5 million kilometres from earth and facing into deep space -- are showing researchers what the formation of our solar system must have looked like at its early stages: a violent, comet-laden disk of debris where thousands of 1 km wide chunks of ice collide and spin around a young star.

http://oshi.esa.int/#list=/images.html?q=pillars;detail=image.html?id=89

The images are made possible in part by technology created by ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers, and designed and built by an international consortium of space agencies, universities and research institutes.

http://www.uleth.ca/notice/display.html?b=300&s=17611

An Apple A Day - Trouble with Trans Fats

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:14:50 +0000

Are you used to grabbing a muffin for a quick energy boost? How about munching on a donut to fill your stomach until you can get home to eat? You may be filling up on trans fats and increasing your bad cholesterol (LDL).

Trans fats increase our bad cholesterol (LDL), and decrease our good cholesterol (HDL), making them the worst kind of fat for your heart health. According to Health Canada, Canadians consume about 8.4 grams of trans fats daily. That's bad news according to the World Health Organization and the National Academy of Sciences.

Trans fats are very useful in the fast-food industry because they are a very stable fat for repeated bouts of deep-frying. Trans fats are also found in processed or packaged foods because they increase product shelf life.

Their abundance in our food chain makes it almost impossible to consume no trans fats. The goal is to reduce trans fat consumption. Here are some tips to decrease your trans fat intake:

Eat less processed foods

Bake your own muffins using healthy oils such as olive, canola or sunflower oil.

Enjoy fresh rather than fried

Choose wraps, pitas, subs and sandwiches made with whole grain breads.

Limit fast food

Pack meals and snacks from home and avoid the inherent trans fats in most fast food products.

Smart snacking

If you want crackers, choose low fat crackers such as WASA bread, Ryvita crackers or Stone Wheat Thins. And keep nutritious snacks handy. Try eating nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, yogurt, homemade muffins, fig newtons, graham wafers and air-popped popcorn instead of doughnuts, cookies, chips, microwave popcorn or chocolate bars.

Diane Britton is the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's on-campus registered dietitian

For an individual nutrition appointment, call the Health Centre (SU020) at
403-329-2484. Initial sessions are $40.

For a look at the February issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Learning to snack the right way

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:27:46 +0000

Canadians eat 60 per cent of their daily calories from snacks. If you choose wisely, healthy snacks help control appetite, cravings and give you an energy boost. Be aware of portion size no matter what snack you choose.

Little changes make a big difference

• Pretzels (30 ml/100 calories) instead of corn chips (30 ml / 150 calories) saves 50 calories

• Low fat microwave popcorn (250 ml/70 calories) instead of buttered (250 ml/140 calories) saves 70 calories

• Frozen yogurt (125 ml/115 calories) instead of ice cream (125 ml/349 calories) saves 234 calories

Plan for success

• Buy healthy snacks when grocery shopping. It's easy to stay on track if you have them available.

• People are less likely to pack healthy foods in the morning rush, so plan and pack snacks each night for the next day. Packing healthy snacks with you helps avoid impulse decisions to purchase low nutrient/high calorie snacks. It's also less expensive.

• Eat no more than 40g of sugar a day (not including natural sugar (fructose) found in whole fruit) – read labels to see where sugar is hidden in foods.

• Compare nutrition information labels to choose the best snacks for you. Look for brands lower in fat and salt, and higher in fibre.

• Portion snacks out before you start eating. It's harder to keep track of how much you've eaten and easier to overeat when you eat right from the bag or box.

• Vegetables and fruits have no labels and always make a great snack! Each day, at least one of your snacks should include vegetables and fruit.

Diane Britton is available for individual nutrition consultations at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Health Centre (403-329-2484)

UNews - microwave

SPIRE earns international award

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