10 March 2010:Innovation Bursaries 2010. The Astrophysics Group has been awarded two research grants under TCD's Innovation Bursarues 2010 scheme. In the MobileSun: A Smart Phone Application for Scientific Data Access project, the group will develope an application that will enable users to acccess and visualise near realtime images of the Sun from the SolarMonitor.org. The have also been awarded one of ten Interdisciplinary PhD Studentships, to study the physical link between solar storms and telecommunication dropouts in Ireland.
27 Jan 2009:TCD Space Scientists Create Technologies for Latest European Space Agency Satellite that Provide New Views of the Sun. Space scientists in Trinity's School of Physics are today celebrating the first images of the Sun from the European Space Agency's latest satellite, Proba-2, launched from northern Russia last November. The TCD Solar Physics team led by Dr Peter Gallagher were responsible for developing novel image processing techniques to enhance and analyse these spectacular new images. Read the TCD Press Release or the associated article in the Irish Independent
Check out Proba-2 on RTE TV News! They interviewed Dr. Shaun Bloomfield on January 26 and Dr. Peter Gallagher and Dr. James McAteer on January 27.
5 Jan 2009:The 21st STEREO Science Working Group (SWG) is to be held in TCD on March 22-26, 2010. We particularly encourage PhD students and young scientists to present their STEREO-related results as oral presentations. As part of the meeting, we intend to hold a tutorial session on STEREO data analysis software. This is a great opportunity to pose questions on STEREO data, discuss your projects and needs with the STEREO team, and help strengthen the mission as the spacecraft separate from Earth and we look forward to a new solar cycle.
2009
3 November 2009:
The Stellar Astronomy Section of the Astrophysics Research Group in
the School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin would like to bring
Government of Ireland EMPOWER Postdoctoral Fellowship positions to
the attention of interested parties. These awards are made to high quality early-stage researchers of
any nationality, and allow for up to two years of funding at an
Irish institution.
The Stellar Astronomy Group would be interested in hosting
postdoctoral fellows interested in the fields of:
Radio emission from symbiotic and zeta Aurigae systems
Radiative transfer modeling of extended (spherical geometry) cool star atmospheres
Proposals should be submitted after consultation with the host institution,
and the deadline for proposal submission is 17:00 GMT on Thursday,
29th November. Please contact either Dr. Brian Espey (espeyb@tcd.ie),
or Dr. Graham Harper (harperg@tcd.ie) in the first instance. Details of the EMPOWER programme are available on IRCSET's EPOWER page. Information on the people and activities of the research group are available on the staff page and research page respectively.
02 November 2009:Proba-2 was successfully launched at 1:50 UT today! The Solar Physics Group celebrated the launch of a new space weather satellite, which uses image analysing software developed at TCD during a special event, held in Trinity's Science Gallery. The event was featured on RTE TV News, the Irish Times, BBC and The Belfast Telegraph. The group, led by Dr Peter Gallagher, were joined at the launch event on November 2nd by the Belgian Ambassador and a representative from the Russian Federation embassy to see the European Space Agencys (ESA) second satellite in its technology demonstration series enter orbit above northern Russia. You can read more about this event at the TCD Communications Office.
13 October 2009: Some recent ARG group photos - now 19 members strong!
Front Row (Left to Right): Jason Byrne, Sophie Murray, Joseph Roche, Larisza Krista, Eoin Carley, Paul Conlon
Second Row: Graham Harper, Shane Maloney, David Long, Claire Raftery, David Perez-Suarez, Peter Byrne
Back Row: Eamon O'Gorman, Peter Gallagher, Joe McCauley, Shaun Bloomfield, James McAteer, Brian Espey, Daniel Ryan, Paul Higgins
14 September 2009:The launch of the second in the series of PROBA satellites has been confirmed for the beginning of November this year. PROBA2 will carry two instruments designed to study the Sun: SWAP and LYRA. These instruments will be used, not only acquire cutting edge observations, but also to validate new spacecraft technology. While the principle investigators of both instruments are based at the Royal Observatory in Belgium, the Astrophysics Research Group at Trinity College Dublin have played a significant role as co-investigators. Their contribution to the calibration of SWAP and the preparation of user-friendly software for both instruments has been vital to the pre-launch preparation processes. The satellite, one of the most compact ever built by ESA, has recently arrived at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, where it is being prepared for launch. The launch, which has been delayed in the past to allow for Russian launches is now set for 01:50 am (corrected to Irish local time) with separation occurring at 04:50am. For more information, tune into Ireland AM on Wednesday 16th September at 9.15am to hear Dr. Peter Gallagher, PI of the TCD solar physics group discuss the details of the mission.
25 August 2009:The stellar astrophysics portion of the Trinity Astrophysics Research Group was successful in being the only Irish-led group to be awarded observing time with the Hubble Space Telescope. The group consists of Dr. Brian Espey, Dr. Cian Crowley, Joseph Roche, Peter Byrne and, the latest member, Dr. Graham Harper. Spectra obtained form part of the stellar group's continuing programme to understand the mass-loss process in evolved cool red giants. Data are currently embargoed, but results will be announced when restrictions are lifted. A talk on the current work will be given by Dr. Espey as part of the DIAS seminar series. Details of the talk can be found at the DIAS Seminar Page.
24 August 2009: The 9th European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky takes place from September 17th - 19th 2009 at Armagh Observatory, Ireland. The Symposium will deal with the issue of light pollution, its effects on the environment, health, and astronomy and examine how bad lighting is contributing to global climate change. Click here to download the full programme.
22 April 2009:ARG member Claire Raftery has won two major awards in the space of six days. Claire won the Trinity heat of Science Speak which means she will now represent TCD in the final in the RDS on April 27th (see movie below). Claire gave an excellent presentation of her research, which included a practical demonstrations of how magnetic fields store and release energy on the Sun's surface. The overall winner of Science Speak will win €1,000 and an invite to the prestigious Landau Conference (an invite-only event for Nobel Laureates). Claire followed up this remarkable achievement by winning best poster in the solar physics section of the UK's largest annual meeting, the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting, with her poster The Flare - CME Connection.
6 April 2009: Congratulations to ARG Member Shane Maloney for his recent impressive placing in the prestigious Rosse Medal competition. Shane finished runner-up in the tightly contested competition that pitted almost forty postgraduates against each other. Students gathered from institutions around the country to present research from all areas of physics. The event took place as part of the Institute of Physics (IOP) Spring Meeting. Among the judges wowed by Shane's poster presentation, entitled 3-D Kinematics of CMEs in the Inner Heliosphere, was IOP President Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell.
6 April 2009: A fully-funded PhD position is available in Trinity's Astrophysics Research Group. The topic of the research project will be stellar mass-loss. Project details are available in PDF format here. Note: This position has now been filled.
14 March 2009:Prof Peter Hauschildt of the Hamburg Observatory will give a lunchtime seminar on Wednesday 18th of March on Finding Extrasolar Planets. The seminar will be held in the SNIAM Conference Room - directions can be found on our contacts page.
20 February 2009: The PROBA2 satellite has been given a September 8-9, 2009 launch window. ARG researchers are Co-Investogators for the SWAP extreme-ultraviolet camera. SWAP will, for the first time in space, use a cutting-edge CMOS APS detector to capture images of the Sun every minute.
16 February 2009:Peter Gallagher and his group recently appeared on an episode of RTE's The Investigators. See video below:
2008
11 December 2008:The School of Physics will be officially opening its teaching observatory on Friday, 12th December, 2008. The ceremony will be held in the Schrödinger Lecture Theatre, Fitzgerald Building, TCD, commencing at noon sharp. The observatory will be opened by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
15 August 2008: There will be a partial lunar eclipse tomorrow night (Saturday, 16th October). The Moon will pass right to left through the Earth's Nothern Shadow.
15 August 2008:
Trinity's ARG is the only Irish research group to have been awarded observing time on the Hubble Space Telescope's upcoming Cycle 17. This observing cycle will be first following the reparations and improvements made by Servicing Mission 4. This mission is scheduled for October 8th 2008.
01 August 2008: There will be a total solar eclipse visible today from northern Canada, Greenland, central Russia, China and India. Here in Ireland we'll be able to see a partial solar eclipse from 09:24am until 11:00am Irish Summer Time (IST) ... assuming the clouds stay away! NOTE: Never look at the Sun without proper protection. Failure to do so will result in irreversible eye damage.
19 July 2008: Congratulations to Sophie Murray who has just been awarded a 3-year Ussher Fellowship to support her PhD research. The Ussher Fellowships aim to support and develop gifted research students. Sophie will be working with Dr. Shaun Bloomfield and Dr. Peter Gallagher on the magnetic topology of active regions using vector magnetograms from the Hinode satellite.
6 June 2008: The School of Physics is currently advertising a position for a permanent lectureship in Astrophysics. Please see the Recruitment Page for more details. Note: This position has now been filled.
29 May 2008: Media attention to David Long et al.'s startling results unveiled at the 2008 National Astronomy Meeting continues unabated. Click here to see press release coverage from China.
9 April 2008:Astro commons took place on Wednesday, the 9th of April in the historic Trinity College Dining Hall, with ARG as the guests of honour. Each year Astro Commons provides a social environment for JS and SS astrophysics students to get to know the staff in the School of Physics currently carrying out research in the area of astrophysics.
7 April 2008: Following the unveiling of startling new results at the 2008 National Astronomy Meeting, both ARG and in particular David Long have received extensive media coverage for the recent discovery of Solar Tsunami. Movie clips showing these extraordinary findings and further details can be found here. The widespread media coverage can be viewed at the following links:
7 April 2008: The upcoming Cool Stars XV Meeting in St. Andrews Scotland will include a splinter session chaired by Dr. Cian Crowley of ARG. Details of this session can be found here.
11 Feb 2008:ARG continues to dominate the headlines at the Science Gallery. Click on the image below for the full story.
1 Feb 2008: The Science Gallery will be hosting an interactive exhibit entitled Heliosphere. The exhibit has been developed by Dr. Peter Gallagher and BAFTA-nominated artist, Anna Hill, and is open to the public during the LIGHTWAVE festival on February 2-9, 2008.
2007
29 Nov 2007: ARG would like to welcome three new Postdoctoral Research Fellows to the group. Dr. Chia-Hsien Lin joins us from Yale, Dr. Shaun Bloomfield from Max-Planck (Lindau) and Dr. James McAteer from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
20 Mar 2007: ARG wins research grant from Science Foundation Ireland to study the complex physics of coronal mass ejections using NASA's STEREO satellite.
2006
25 Oct 2006: NASA's STEREO spacecrafts lifted off at 01:52 pm Irish time today from Cape Canveral. Racing into space on a Boeing Delta II rocket, the spacecrafts are on their way to investigate the origin of solar storms erupting from the Sun.
Members of the School's Astrophysics Research Group in collaboration with the Trinity High Performance Computing Centre will play a leading role in analysing and interpreting the first 3D images of the Sun ever obtained.
10 Sep 2006: Congratulations to Paul Conlon for winning this year's Ussher Fellowship, and also to Claire Raftery for being awarded a 3-year College Scholarship. Both students will pursue PhD research in theoretical and observational solar physics.
25 Jul 2006:PhD Studentship in stellar mass loss has just become available. The Studentship is funded by Science Foundation Ireland's Research Frontiers Programme. Contact Dr. Brian Espey for further details. Note: This position has now been filled.
22 May 2006: Next year is International Heliophysical Year 2007 and we're coming to a school near you! Send an email to Dr. Peter Gallagher if you'd like us to give a talk about the Sun and the planets in 2006/2007. We're also looking for secondary schools interested in setting up a free Space Weather Monitors. We'll even come and set it up for you!
1 Apr 2006: TCD Astronomer, Dr. Brian Espey, is awarded a Science Foundation Ireland Research Frontiers Programme grant.
29 Mar 2006:Partial Solar Eclipse visible from Ireland. Click here to view an image taken from the roof of the physics building.
