Tim D. Staley
We introduce the 4 Pi Sky 'hub', a collection of open data-services and underlying software packages built for rapid, fully automated reporting and response to astronomical transient alerts. These packages build on the mature 'VOEvent'…
The tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole leads to a short-lived thermal flare. Despite extensive searches, radio follow-up observations of known thermal stellar tidal disruption flares (TDFs) have not yet produced a…
In preparing the way for the Square Kilometre Array and its pathfinders, there is a pressing need to begin probing the transient sky in a fully robotic fashion using the current generation of radio telescopes. Effective exploitation of such…
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has greatly expanded the number and energy window of observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, the coarse localizations of tens to a hundred square degrees provided by the Fermi GRB Monitor…
Near-diffraction limited imaging and spectroscopy in the visible on large (8-10 meter) class telescopes has proved to be beyond the capabilities of current adaptive optics technologies, even when using laser guide stars. The need for high…
The design of electron multiplying CCD cameras require a very different approach from that appropriate for slow scan CCD operation. This paper describes the main problems in using electron multiplying CCDs for high-speed, photon counting…
Current and future astronomical survey facilities provide a remarkably rich opportunity for transient astronomy, combining unprecedented fields of view with high sensitivity and the ability to access previously unexplored wavelength…