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Research Areas and Facilities

The principal research interests of Observatory staff now include

1.

Stellar Astrophysics: including star formation, astrophysical jets, the Sun, cool stars, hot stars, helium stars, star-spots, flares, circumstellar dust;

2.

Solar System Astronomy: including celestial mechanics, planet formation, dynamical evolution of comets and asteroids, interplanetary dust; and

3.

Solar System - Terrestrial Relationships: including solar variability, climate, accretion of interplanetary dust and comet/asteroid impacts.

These areas of astronomy, namely: Stellar Astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System Astronomy, and the Earth's Climate, encompass those areas of astronomy which promise to have maximum impact on our lives over the next decade or two. In the short-term, the value of astronomy in Armagh can also be measured by the amount of external income (and number of people) attracted into Northern Ireland by Armagh Observatory staff, and by the positive publicity generated for Northern Ireland on both the national and international scenes.

In addition to these principal research areas, staff at the Observatory have also carried out research on (i) the structure of meteor streams; (ii) the puzzling 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, has special value in being (a) virtually continuous since its inception in 1795, and (b) only slightly affected by surrounding urban development.

The 20-30 astronomers of graduate or postdoctoral status who work at the Armagh Observatory come from many countries, and are actively involved in many research collaborations and international partnerships, including scientific links with almost 60 groups from more than a dozen countries around the world. These are listed in Appendix E. Full details about the Armagh Observatory and its current research programmes are available from the Observatory web-site: http://www.arm.ac.uk/.

The astronomical research facilities at Armagh Observatory, including those for computing and data reduction, are mostly excellent, and include a local Starlink node funded in part by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and partly by the DENI/DCAL, and (from March 2000) an Origin2000 supercomputer. Armagh Observatory staff receive regular awards of telescope time and research grants from the PPARC and other organizations, and are eligible to apply for grants from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and other grant awarding organizations.