Prf Ulrich Kolb

Astronomy Consolidated Grant

STFC DTG Quota 2015-16 AMS record for students starting on or after 01/10/2015

PLATO: Revealing habitable worlds around solar-like stars The PLATO space mission (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillation of stars) will detect terrestrial exoplanets at orbits up to the habitable zone of solar-type stars and characterise their bulk properties. PLATO will provide key information (planetary radii, mean densities, ages, stellar irradiation, and architecture of planetary systems) needed to determine the habitability of these diverse new worlds. PLATO will answer the scientific questions: • How do planets and planetary systems form and evolve? • Is our solar system special or are there other systems like ours? • Are there potentially habitable planets? PLATO is the ESA M3 (medium-class) mission, with a currently planned launch date in 2026, and an expected mission duration of at least four years. The search for planets similar to our Earth, potentially suitable for the development of life, is one of the greatest scientific, technological, and philosophical undertakings of our time, which is captivating public interest. The PLATO results will have a profound influence on our understanding of the Universe and our place in the Cosmos. PLATO will accurately measure the radii, masses, and ages of Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of stars similar to our own. This is unique to PLATO and will lay the foundations for exoplanetary research in the following decades. The Open University element of the PLATO Development Phase considers the problem of astrophysical false positives that will contaminate the sample of exoplanet candidates delivered by PLATO. The project will prepare tools that inform the PLATO field and target selection so as to minimize the number of contaminants, and to maximize information available for contaminant analysis of individual sources. The UK Support for the PLATO Development Phase is funded by the UK Space Agency and led by Prof Don Pollacco (University of Warwick). It involves elements at The Open University (PI Dr Ulrich Kolb), University of Warwick (PI Prof Don Pollacco), UCL/Mullard Space Science Laboratory (PI Prof Alan Smith), University of Cambridge (PI Dr Nic Walton), University of St. Andrews (PI Prof Andrew Collier-Cameron), University of Birmingham (PI Prof Bill Chaplin) and University of Oxford (Prof Suzanne Aigrain).

The Ogden Trust is providing matched funding to a maximum of £75k for 3 years for an 0.5 FTE outreach post, that we can add to the ASTERICS post and can therefore recruit a full-time postdoctoral research assistant.

This project will provide a robust and flexible online/onscreen environment for teaching practical aspects of STEM subjects. This encompasses lab-based activities, field-based investigations and workspaces for collaborative inquiries. The Open University’s distance learning model has incorporated various means of teaching practical subjects including sophisticated home experiment kits, short, intensive residential schools and, more recently, online interactions with real data through authentic interfaces (The OpenScience Laboratory). This last development has been made possible through continuing enhancements to national/global infrastructures for digital communication and data storage. We now propose to further develop the OSL context to create the OpenSTEM Laboratory that offers effective support for learning the practical aspects of science and engineering. The aims for the OpenSTEM Lab are (i) to incorporate an expanded version of the current OSL and (ii) to create an OpenEngineering Lab extension that accommodates collaborative workspaces as well as facilitating training and practice in engineering lab work. Facilities for practical investigations and inquiries are a major limitation to certain lines of study of STEM subjects within the OU model. This bid for capital investment is targeted at this constraint. At the same time it is our intention to use this investment to contribute to a number of associated challenges: teaching of STEM to higher professional standards, increased professional recognition, enhanced retention, new opportunities for the graduate supply chain with respect to key economic sectors of applied science and engineering, including the rapidly emerging space technology sector. The availability of online, onscreen options for practical STEM teaching is essential to our aspirations to increase the recruitment of distance learners based outside the UK.

The applicant proposes to use the Open University’s semi-robotic telescope PIRATE to conduct follow-up photometry of candidate transiting exoplanets discovered by the SuperWASP and QES projects. I will install an automated data-processing and target winnowing pipeline at the observatory to obtain light curves in near real-time. This will improve the effectiveness of the facility, increasing the planet haul, and allow me to address the true parameter distribution of exoplanets in the Galaxy. The applicant propsoes to also carry out detailed analysis of high-resolution transiting Hot Jupiter host spectra obtained from the UVES, COS, HARPS or CORALIE instruments. By comparing this population with control stars it is hoped that the chemical composition of any refractory material swept into the photosphere of these F-type stars as the result of planet migration will be determined. This will also require the development of atmospheric models and spectral synthesis tools that incorporate inhomogeneous metallicities throughout the structure of a star.

The aim of our programme in Astronomy & Planetary Science at the Open University (APSOU) is to carryout detailed investigations of the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars and planets with a special emphasis on our own Solar System through a combination of observation, simulation, laboratory analysis and theoretical modelling. Our research is divided into two broad areas, reflecting the historical research strengths. This research programme is well-matched to both nationally- and internationally-agreed research imperatives. In its final report, A Science Vision for European Astronomy2, Astronet’s Science Working Group identified four broad areas of strategic importance; our research covers major topics within each of these areas. APSOU projects also map onto two of the four Science Challenges that form STFC’s Road Map3 for science (‘How did the universe begin and how is it evolving?’ and ‘How do stars and planetary systems develop and is life unique to our planet?’). The present APSOU programme comprises 20 projects (labelled A to T), of which 6 are for consideration by the Astronomy Observation (AO) panel, 1 for Astronomy Theory (AT), and 13 for the Planetary Studies (PL) panel. The AO projects cover the breadth of the 7 themes recognised as UK strengths in the report of STFC’s Astronomy Advisory Panel (AAP), whilst the 13 PL projects are directed towards answering questions raised in two of the three themes identified as UK strengths in the roadmap of STFC’s Solar System Advisory Panel (SSAP)4.

(preliminary) This is a proposed pilot programme to understand how to engage football crowds with Science e.g. Liverpool or Everton with their typical crowds of 30,000 plus. The focus would be the ISS visit by Tim Peake with a “Hi Tim” from the football crowd and a short recorded response from Tim shown on the stadium screens. Supporting this would be a small app for smart phones which as well as introducing some basic science would get images of ISS passes over the sky using the Robotic Telescope and include a few free astronomy projects using the telescope. This would be supported by a number of other ISS Stadium links e.g. leaflets for the crowd and advertising sessions on the screens, each with a degree of evaluation feedback.