Research Division Seminar
Time Domain Astrophysics with Liverpool and New Robotic Telescopes
Abstract
Since first light in 2004 the 2.0m Liverpool Telescope has been the world’s largest
fully robotic telescope. It specialises in time domain astrophysics and has
a dedicated instrument suite giving imagining, spectroscopic and
polarimetric capabilities. In this seminar I will describe how the robotic
operation of the telescope works and give examples of the science
accomplished in areas such as gamma ray burst follow-up and supernova
classification. I will also present our plans to develop a new 4.0m robotic telescope
in collaboration with colleagues at IAC which will deliver faster reaction and
increased sensitivity.
About the talk
Liverpool John Moores University
iCalendar Google Calendar
About the speaker
Iain Steele is Professor of Astronomical Technology and Liverpool Telescope
Director at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. He obtained his PhD in
observational infrared astronomy at the University of Leicester in 1994 before
working as a Research Fellow in galactic high energy astrophysics
at the University of Southampton from 1994-1996. He moved to Liverpool
in 1996 and has worked on the Liverpool Telescope project ever since. He
is an experienced observational astronomer, with over 200 refereed journal
publications in the areas of low mass stars, massive stars, exoplanets,
gamma ray bursts, blazars and astronomical instrumentation. At LJMU he
is also programme leader for a new taught Masters level course in Data Science.