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Staff at the Armagh Observatory carry out research in the following
principal areas:
- 1.
- Stellar Astrophysics, including star formation,
astrophysical jets, the Sun, so-called `cool' stars, evolved hot stars
and helium stars, star-spots, flares, the physics of stellar
chromospheres (the transition layer between the stellar surface and
the extremely hot outer layers of stellar atmospheres known as the
corona), the mechanisms of coronal heating in active stars including
the Sun, the environments around evolved stars, and stellar clusters.
- 2.
- Solar System Astronomy, including celestial mechanics,
numerical and semi-analytic methods, the origin and dynamical
evolution of comets, asteroids and meteorites, the evolution of
interplanetary dust; the formation of Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects,
the origin and evolution of planetary systems, and the structure and
evolution of extra-solar planetary systems.
- 3.
- Solar System - Terrestrial Relationships, including
solar variability and climate (mediated by Sun-spot and solar flare
activity, and galactic cosmic rays), the effects of accretion of
cosmic dust and larger bodies (comets and asteroids) on the Earth, the
impact hazard posed by comets and asteroids, and the possible link
between interplanetary bodies and the historical and climatological
records.
Staff at the Observatory have also carried out research on (i) meteor
streams, (ii) testing the apparent quantization discovered in
extragalactic redshifts; and (iii) climate change at Armagh during the
past two hundred years. The Armagh climate series, which is one of the
longest in the world from a single site, is of particular interest in
being (a) virtually continuous since its inception in 1795, and (b)
only slightly affected by surrounding urban development.
A few highlights from 1998:
- Brendan Byrne Memorial Meeting: a highly successful
conference with more than 60 participants from 15 countries, 1998
September 2-4. The proceedings of the conference Solar and
Stellar Activity: Similarities and Differences, edited by C.J. Butler & J.G. Doyle, were published as volume 158 in the ASP
Conference Series.
- 1998 Robinson Lecture: delivered by Professor
John C. Brown of the University of Glasgow, Astronomer Royal for
Scotland. Professor Brown's lecture `Life in a Stormy Universe' was
well received and published in summary form in the Irish Astronomical
Journal 26, 21-22, 1999. The lecture was followed the next day
by a Schools Lecture `Black Holes and White Rabbits'. The events were
well attended and enjoyed by all.
- Media Coverage: The Observatory is the principal
point of contact for astronomy in both Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland, with frequent mentions in the national and
international press, and on radio and television. The 147 identified
occasions on which the Observatory was noted in one or another medium
during the calendar year 1998, up almost 40% from the number in the
previous year, are listed in Appendix E. The
success of this activity, which promotes astronomy and disseminates
the research output of the Observatory to a non-professional audience,
highlights the strength of public interest in astronomy and related
sciences, and in particular in work currently carried out at Armagh.
- External Grant Income: Total external grant income was
£195k during the financial year 1998/1999, a significant fraction
(47%) of the DENI recurrent grant-in-aid. Total external income
during the year was £213k.
Next: Staff Movements
Up: annrep
Previous: Introduction
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ARM Starlink Manager Martin Murphy
1999-12-14