Tag Archives: AAO

My contribution to 2018 #StargazingABC

Posted on May 30, 2018 | 2 comments

How can I say it in just few words? It was both very exciting and exhausting, with a little bit of bitter too. But, overall, last week at Siding Spring Observatory was one of the best experiences I have had in a long time working at the telescope, combining science research, amateur astronomy, outreach and science communication during the Stargazing ABC Live shows.

The AAT is ready for #StargazingABC. Hosts Julia Zemiro and Prof Brian Cox are sit in the piano, while Brian still rehearsing. Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

When I’m writing this, at 6:44pm 30th May 2018, I’m still observing at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. I’m doing it remotely from Sydney. It is my last night in a very long run (18 nights in May) for my own research project, which I will detail here eventually. I’m exhausted and need a good break, body and mind can’t survive this crazy rhythm, sleeping an average of 4-5 hours per day, and without any break during the weekends.

But let me at least quickly mention here my contribution to the 2018 Stargazing Live shows:

1. I provided A LOT OF information about Astronomy and the Anglo-Australian Telescope to the ABC and BBC crews. This is something that I’ve been doing during the last months, and might be considered as part of my role of “AAO Science Communicator Officer”.

2. I provided plenty of astrophotography and video-timelapse material, which was used during the shows. The most important of these is the new timelapse video “Stargazing at Siding Spring Observatory“, that you can enjoy here:

3. I spent some of my scheduled time at the Anglo-Australian Telescope to prepare a nice, new image of a beautiful astronomy object, that was later discussed during the show. It was the planetary nebula NGC 5189, for which I provided extra information in the previous post.

4. But the most important contribution for the show was actually observing with the AAT two transients reported by the citizen scientists who participated in a program to search for type Ia supernova in other galaxies. After confirming that the transient was there, we got spectroscopic information using KOALA+AAOmega, reduced the data, analysed the data, confirmed that both transients were type Ia supernova in distant galaxies, and wrote a science report with the discovery!

This was something I originally didn’t plan to do, but, as I said, it was my own research program that scheduled at the AAT during the StargazingABC, so I decided to do it and it got a reward, as this also allowed us to submit two science reports with the discoveries!

Screenshot of the ATel #11667 by López-Sánchez et al. submitted on 23 May 2018.

Screenshot of the ATel #11671 by López-Sánchez et al. submitted on 24 May 2018.

These two nights were really exciting! I really want to thank my friends and colleagues Lluís Galbany and Yago Ascasibar, as well as the AAT Night Assistant Kristin Fiegert (AAO), for their wonderful help in all of this.

The discovery of the transients and the confirmation that they were type Ia supernova in distant galaxies has appeared in many media news these days, including in ABC Science News, and also here: “Citizen scientists find two supernovae and (slightly) revise the age of the cosmos“.

It was also a privilege talking with Prof Brian Cox, who is absolutely great, and even recorded a short video with me for my son. Thank you a lot, Brian!

Prof Brian Cox and me are ready for #StargazingABC.

Where is the “bitter” I mentioned in the first paragraph? Well it is when the credit is not given. And not credit was given to me during the shows. I was still hoping at least having my name in the screen, in an ideal world even participating in person during the shows. But with my name (Ángel) and my strong English accent… well… perhaps in another life… I know what I did and I know how important my contribution was, and as I said I really enjoyed a lot all the time.

I hope I’ll be back if #StargazingABC returns in 2019!

PS: If you are in Australia, you can watch anytime the 3 episodes of 2018 #StargazingABC following this link to the ABC webpages.

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Posted in Astrophysics, Cosmology, Dark Energy, Nebulae, Observation, Observatories, Optical, Outreach, Planetary Nebulae, Profesional, Timelapses, Wavelengths

Tagged 2018, AAO, AAT, astronomy, astrophotography, Astrophysics, Outreach, Siding Spring Observatory, SSO, StargazingABC, Timelapse

AAO #Scicomm events during Australian National Science Week 2017

Posted on August 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

The AAO organized and/or participated in 7 events during Australia’s National Science Week in August 2017, including the very successful and sold-out events “Star Tales of Winter Nights” and “Stargazing in the Park”.

Astronomers at the AAO’s “Star Tales of Winter Nights” event at the Powerhouse Museum during National Science Week 2017. From left to right: Adam Schaefer, Dr Devika Kotachery, Dr. Ángel López-Sánchez (MC), Carlos Bacigalupo and Rebecca Brown. Credit: Ángel López-Sánchez.

The event “Star Tales of Winter Nights”, hosted at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum had a very similar structure than our ViVID Sydney Ideas events: 5 astronomers talking about science and later answering questions from the audience. The speakers were Rebecca Brown, Adam Schaefer, Dr Devika Kotachery, Carlos Bacigalupo and myself. This event was another big success for the AAO.

Setting up the telescopes for AAO’s “Stargazing in the Park” in Sydney’s Centennial Park. Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

AAO’s Ángel López-Sánchez, Stuart Ryder and Duncan Wright (from left to right) ready for “Stargazing in the Park” in Sydney’s Centennial Park. Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

On the other hand, the “Stargazing in the Park” in Sydney’s Centennial Park was another sold-out event, with more than 120 people enjoying first a short lecture about the AAO and introduction to stargazing and later looking at the sky through the telescopes.

AAO’s Stuart Ryder attending visitors at the AAO desk during the “Science and Tech” expo at Chatswood Library on Saturday 12th August. Credit: Ángel López-Sánchez.

During National Science Week 20017 the AAO also participated in two of the events organized by the recently created “North Sydney Science Hub” . First on Saturday 12th August in the “Science and Tech” expo at Chatswood Library, and later in the Public Discussion “Big Data And Visual Analytics – What is it good for?”, on Thursday 17th August, also at Chatswood Library, being myself one of the panelists of the discussion.

Panel for the Public Discussion “Big Data And Visual Analytics – What is it good for?”, on Thursday 17th August, also at Chatswood Library. From left to right: Mark Ballico (NMI), Tomasz Bednarz (Data61 and UNSW Art & Design), Angela (CSIRO) and Ángel R. López-Sánchez (AAO.MQU). Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

“The Story of Light: Surveying the Cosmos”, in Vivid Sydney Ideas 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 | Leave a comment

Article originally written by Ángel R. López-Sánchez for the “AAO Observer” 132, August 2017.

Following the success of our sold-out Event “The Story of Light – The Astronomer’s Perspective” for ViVID Sydney Ideas 2015, and “The Story of Light – Deciphering the data encoded on the cosmic light” (see photos and the video of this event), the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) continued its collaboration with ViVID Sydney 2017 organizing “The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos”.

This successful science communication event was held at the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney) on Sunday 4th June 2017. Having an audience of 300 people, it was sold out more than two weeks before the event.

“The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos” was connected to the 2017 Southern Cross Astrophysics Conference: Surveying the Cosmos, the Science from massively multiplexed surveys, that was held in Luna Park, Sydney, between 5th and 9th June 2017.

Poster for the AAO’s “The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos” Science Communication event for Vivid Sydney Ideas 2017. Credit: Angel R. Lopez-Sanchez.

In this event, five professional astrophysicists discussed how astronomers map the Cosmos using the big data collected with optical and radio telescopes by large astronomical surveys.

How do astronomers explore the Universe? Astrophysicists use extremely sensitive telescopes and instruments to collect the light emitted by stars, gas and galaxies. The analysis of this data provides the information needed to unlock the mysteries of the Cosmos.

However, this is not an easy task. Over the last two decades large international collaborations have been formed with the aim to map the skies, catalogue celestial objects, extract their properties and perform statistical analyses. These large astronomical surveys are now providing major advances in our understanding of the Cosmos at all scales, from searching for planets around other stars to detecting gravitational waves.

Australia is at the forefront of these collaborations thanks to the unique instruments at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and the development of radio-interferometers as the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP).

Panel members and MC of AAO’s “The Story of Light – Surveying the Cosmos” Science Communication event for Vivid Sydney Ideas 2017. From left to right: Katie Mack, Alan Duffy, Simon O’Toole, Tara Murphy and Ángel López-Sánchez. Credit: Duncan Wright (AAO/UNSW).

The panel members were Dr. Simon O’Toole (Australian Astronomical Observatory), who talked about surveying stars and exoplanets, Dr. Ángel R. López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University), who discussed how we surveying the galaxies, A/Prof. Tara Murphy (University of Sydney / CAASTRO), who invited us to surveying the invisible Universe, and Dr. Katie Mack (University of Melbourne), who talked about surveying the deep Universe. The event was hosted by famous astrophysicist and science communicator A/Prof. Alan R. Duffy (Swinburne University).

After short (15 minutes) talks, the panel answered questions about the Universe and challenging Physics questions as the nature of the dark matter and the dark energy. They also received some more philosophical questions that engaged the audience.

More information:

AAO joins organization of International Science Communication Festival “Pint of Science”

Posted on May 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

Article originally written by Ángel R. López-Sánchez for the “AAO Observer” 132, August 2017.

In 2017 the Australian Astronomical Observatory joined the international Science Communication festival Pint of Science. The festival started in the UK and runs every May in over 150 cities across 12 different countries, including Australia. This year Pint of Science took place in 13 cities across Australia (including Sydney) over 15, 16 and 17 May 2017.

The Pint of Science festival aims to promote Science and Science Communication in a very relaxing atmosphere: in a pub with a drink. It brings scientists to a local pub to discuss their latest research and findings with the public.

Poster of Sydney’s “Atoms to Galaxies” for Pint of Science Australia 2017. Credit: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

The Australian Astronomical Observatory joined CSIRO, the ARC Centre of Excellence CAASTRO, and the Spanish Researchers in Australia-Pacific (SRAP) association as a sponsor of Sydney’s Pint of Science Festival in 2017. Our astronomer Ángel López-Sánchez (AAO/MQU) co-leaded the organization of the “Atoms to Galaxies” talks. These sessions included talks about Physics, Math, Chemistry and Astronomy and were hosted at Bar Cleveland, in Surry Hills.

Sydney’s “Atoms to Galaxies” program (which was the largest for Pint of Science Australia 2017) included talks about applied maths, search for exoplanets, explore quantum computing, play with the light, learn the origin of the chemical elements, map distant galaxies and challenge the laws of Physics.

Angel López-Sánchez during his talk “The Cosmic Origin of the Elements”.

The first night, “Elements in Space”, included talks by AAO astronomer and engineer Kyler Kuehn, who talked about astronomy neutrinos presenting the work he conducted in Antarctica for his PhD Thesis, and by AAO and Macquarie University astronomer Ángel López-Sánchez, who transported the audience to distant stars and galaxies to know when and how the atoms that compose our body were created.

Kyler Kuehn (AAO) before starting his talk “Pint of neutrinos”. Credit: Ángel López-Sánchez.

In the third night, “Decodifying the Light of the Cosmos”, AAO astronomer an eResearch administrator Simon O’Toole described how we use the light collected by optical telescopes to search for planets around other stars, with the ultimate aim of finding an “Earth 2.0”.

Simon O’Toole during his talk for “Pint of Science” festival “Searching for Earth 2.0”. Credit: Angel López-Sánchez.

Astronomers George Hobbs (CSIRO), Luke Barnes (University of Sydney) and Baerbel Koribalski (CSIRO), as well as physicists Dr. Sergio León-Saval (University of Sydney) and Prof. Jason Twamley (Macquarie University), and mathematician Emi Tanaka (University of Sydney) completed the “Atoms to Galaxies” program.

Rebecca Brown during her talk for “Pint of Science” festival explaining how the Starbugs developed for the new TAIPAN instrument at the UKST work. Credit: Rebecca Brown.

Besides organizing Sydney’s “Atoms to Galaxies” talks for Pint of Science Australia 2017, the Australian Astronomical Observatory was also present in the “Tech me out!” session Space Oddities on Wednesday 17th May. AAO’s optical engineer Rebecca Brown gave the talk “Capturing the Light of the Universe“, where she summarized the technologies used in optical telescopes, how they work and what we can learn, including example technologies developed at the AAO.

Addendum:

The details of the talks for the “Atoms to Galaxies” events in Pint of Science Sydney 2017 (info extracted from this AAO website) were:

Monday 15th May: Elements in Space

Tonight we will explore the conjunction between math, chemistry and astronomy. First Dr. Emi Tanaka (University of Sydney) will talk about how statistics feeds us, introducing the basic mathematical tools of statistics and their application in agriculture. Then Dr. Lamiae Azizi (University of Sydney) will be talking about how mathematical sciences coupled with computing have the potential to improve our lives. Finally, astrophysicist and science communicator Dr. Ángel López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University) will transport us to distant stars and galaxies to know when and how the atoms that compose our body were created.

More details and tickets for “Elements in Space” in the Pint of Science website.

Tuesday 16th May: Challenging the Laws of Physics

Tonight we will aim to change the Laws of Physics. Our first speaker, Prof. Jason Twamley (Macquarie University), will talk about quantum computing and why this research is so important. Then, astrophysicist Dr. George Hobbs (CSIRO) will explain what mysterious pulsars are and why their study is so important for physicists. After the break, cosmologist Dr. Luke Barnes (University of Sydney) will challenge our understanding of the physical constants to demonstrate that we live in a finely-tuned Universe.

More details and tickets for “Challenging the Laws of Physics” in the Pint of Science website.

Wednesday 17th May: Decodifying the Light of the Cosmos

Tonight we seek to get a better understanding of what the light can tell us about the Universe. Our first speaker, Dr. Sergio León-Saval (University of Sydney) will show us some of the photonic instruments that are now used in optical telescopes to direct the light of the stars from the optics to the detectors. In the second talk Dr. Simon O’Toole (Australian Astronomical Observatory) will describe how we use the light collected by optical telescopes to search for planets around other stars, with the ultimate aim of finding an “Earth 2.0”. Lastly, Dr. Baerbel Koribalski (CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science) will describe how radio-astronomers study the light of distant galaxies emitted in radio waves using facilities as the new “Australian SKA Pathfinder” (ASKAP) interferometer.

More details and tickets for “Decodifying the Light of the Cosmos” in the Pint of Science website.

Timelapse: A SAMI night at the AAT

Posted on April 5, 2017 | 1 comment

See below the new Media Release published by the AAO. This new timelapse video has been also used for StargazingBBC and StargazingABC on March and April 2017.

This new astronomical time-lapse video features the unique SAMI (Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field unit) instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the beauty of the dark sky over Siding Spring Observatory.

One of the most powerful instruments at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (Siding Spring Observatory, NSW) is the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field unit (SAMI). SAMI provides 13 fibred based IFUs called “hexabundles” that can “dissect” astronomical objects using spectroscopy. This instrument is used by the SAMI Galaxy Survey, that aims to “dissect” 3000 galaxies in different environments to help astronomers understand galaxy evolution and the tight relationship between gas and stars in galaxies.

However, unlike what the 2dF robot does, SAMI hexabundles must be plugged and unplugged manually very carefully by an expert user.

This video tells the story of a typical observing night with SAMI at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. In the first part, observers carefully prepare the SAMI instrument unplugging the plate they observed the previous night and plugging a complete new plate to be observed that night. SAMI observers usually need half an hour to complete this task, but in this timelapse video it is done in just a minute. Later they move to the AAT Control Room and start observations just as the sun sets. The twilight moves to a moonless, dark night, when only the stars shine over the Anglo-Australian Telescope, providing an spectacular view of the night sky from the Southern Hemisphere, and clear skies for the SAMI Galaxy Survey team to dissect distant galaxies.

In this timelapse you will see the Milky Way rising and setting, the Southern Cross with the Coalsack, the globular cluster 47 Tucanae near the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Large Magellanic Cloud with its strong star-forming region the Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus), star clusters like the Pleiades moving behind the AAT, Orion rising and setting, the Carina Nebula rising, the magestic Emu in the Sky, and circumpolar stars (with the International Space Station) turning above the dome of the Anglo-Australian Telescope.

All the sequences have been filmed and processed in high resolution (4K) by astronomer Ángel R. López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University) while observing at the AAT for the SAMI Galaxy Survey, between September 2015 and March 2017. He used a CANON 5D Mark III with different lenses, all at f2.8. The night sequences tipically have 24 frames per second, each frame lasting 30 seconds in real time. Therefore 1 second of the night sequences corresponds to 12 minutes in real time.

To enjoy this video, watch it in full screen and at least in Full-HD (4K resolution recommended), in a dark room. As in real live, the details in the sky appear when we are far from the light pollution.

Credits of the video: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (Australian Astronomical Observatory / Macquarie University)
Featuring: Luca Cortese (ICRAR-UWA), Jesse van de Sande (University of Sydney) and Steve Chapman (Night Assistant at the AAT)
SAMI plugger: Ángel R. López-Sánchez (AAO/MQU)
Music: It’s personal (World in flames, 2011), Celestial Aeon Project.

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Posted in Astrophotography, Outreach, Timelapses

Tagged 2017, AAO, AAT, astronomy, astrophotography, SAMI, Timelapse