Prof Gavin Dalton

Abstract:

The Polar Large Telescope (PLT) aims at performing a new generation of astronomical Infrared Synoptic Survey from Antarctica (ISSA). It would carry out for the first time large scale periodic imaging surveys at ˜ 0.3 arcsec angular resolution in the short thermal infrared (2-5 micron) range benefiting from the extremely dry, cold, and stable polar atmosphere. The PLT consists of a 2.5 m class telescope equipped with a 250-Mpixel infrared camera. The survey would produce diffraction limited images at 2 micron covering a total of ˜ 5000 square degrees, explore the time domain from seconds to years down to mab =25.5 in Kd, generate alerts of transients and react quickly to alerts from other ground based or space borne facilities.

Abstract:

We have chosen the name of GYES, one of the mythological giants with one hundred arms, offspring of Gaia and Uranus, for our instrument study of a multifibre spectrograph for the prime focus of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Such an instrument could provide an excellent ground-based complement for the Gaia mission and a northern complement to the HERMES project on the AAT. The CFHT is well known for providing a stable prime focus environment, with a large field of view, which has hosted several imaging instruments, but has never hosted a multifibre spectrograph. Building upon the experience gained at GÉPI with FLAMES-Giraffe and X-Shooter, we are investigating the feasibility of a high multiplex spectrograph (about 500 fibres) over a field of view one degree in diameter. We are investigating an instrument with resolution in the range 15000 to 30000, which should provide accurate chemical abundances for stars down to 16th magnitude and radial velocities, accurate to 1 kms -1 for fainter stars. The study is led by GÉPI-Observatoire de Paris with a contribution from Oxford for the study of the positioner. The financing for the study comes from INSU CSAA and Observatoire de Paris. The conceptual study will be delivered to CFHT for review by October 1st 2010. © EAS, EDP Sciences 2011.

Abstract:

This paper presents an environment and stellar mass study of a large sample of star-forming Hα emitters at z= 0.84 from the High-z Emission Line Survey (HiZELS), over 1.3 deg² split over two fields (COSMOS and UKIDSS UDS). By taking advantage of a truly panoramic coverage of a wide range of environments, from the field to a rich cluster, it is shown that both stellar mass and environment play crucial roles in determining the properties of star-forming galaxies. Specific star formation rates (sSFRs) decline with stellar mass in all environments, and the fraction of Hα star-forming galaxies declines sharply from ≈40 per cent for galaxies with masses around 10¹⁰M⊙ to effectively zero above 10^11.5M⊙, confirming that mass-downsizing is generally in place by z∼ 1. The fraction of star-forming galaxies is also found to fall sharply as a function of local environmental density from ≈40 per cent in the field to approaching zero at rich group/cluster densities. When star formation does occur in such high density regions, it is found to be mostly dominated by potential mergers and, indeed, if only non-merging star-forming galaxies are considered, then the environment and mass trends are even stronger and are qualitatively similar at all masses and environments, respectively, as in the local Universe. The median SFR of Hα emitters at z= 0.84 is found to increase with density for both field and intermediate (group or cluster outskirts) densities; this is clearly seen as a change in the faint-end slope of the Hα luminosity function from steep (α≈-1.9), in poor fields, to shallow (α≈-1.1) in groups and clusters. Interestingly, the relation between median SFR and environment is only found for low- to moderate-mass galaxies (with stellar masses below about 10^10.6M⊙), and is not seen for the most massive star-forming galaxies. Overall, these observations provide a detailed view over a sufficiently large range of mass and environment to reconcile previous observational claims: stellar mass is the primary predictor of star formation activity at z∼ 1, but the environment, while initially enhancing the median SFR of (lower mass) star-forming galaxies, is ultimately responsible for suppressing star formation activity in all galaxies above surface densities of 10-30 Mpc^-2 (group and cluster environments). © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 RAS.

Abstract:

VISTA was designed as a survey facility, and was optimized for use with the 64Mpix VISTA IR Camera in the sense that the optical system of the instrument and telescope was designed as a single entity. The commissioning of the IR camera therefore formed a major part of the system integration and commissioning of the whole VISTA system. We describe some aspects of the commissioning process for VISTA, the interplay between the camera and telescope systems, and summarize the results of the verification phase. © 2010 Copyright SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.