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Space-based telescopes offer unparalleled opportunities for characterising exoplanets, Solar System bodies and stellar objects. However, observatories in low Earth orbits (e.g. Hubble, CHEOPS, Twinkle and an ever increasing number of…
The Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System (MIDAS) atomic force microscope (AFM) onboard the Rosetta orbiter was the first such instrument launched into space in 2004. Designed only a few years after the technique was invented, MIDAS is…
Forecasting optical turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere has been an ambitious challenge for the astronomical scientific community for several decades. While earlier research primarily focused on whether it was possible to predict optical…
Wide-angle surveys have been an engine for new discoveries throughout the modern history of astronomy, and have been among the most highly cited and scientifically productive observing facilities in recent years. This trend is likely to…
In the coming decade, astronomical surveys of the sky will generate tens of terabytes of images and detect hundreds of millions of sources every night. The study of these sources will involve computation challenges such as anomaly detection…
Astrophotonics lies at the interface of astronomy and photonics. This burgeoning field -- now formally recognized by the optics community -- has emerged over the past decade in response to the increasing demands of astronomical…
Solar observations at sub-THz frequencies detected a new flare spectral component peaking in the THz range, simultaneously with the well known microwaves component, bringing challenging constraints for interpretation. Higher THz frequencies…
Macroscopic dark matter (macros) are a broad class of alternative candidates to particle dark matter. These candidates would transfer energy primarily through elastic scattering, and this linear energy deposition would produce observable…
Stratospheric aerosols play an important role in the earth system and can affect the climate on timescales of months to years. However, estimating the characteristics of partially observed aerosol injections, such as those from volcanic…
Multi-epoch radio-interferometric observations of young stellar objects can be used to measure their displacement over the celestial sphere with a level of accuracy that currently cannot be attained at any other wavelength. In particular,…
One of the new frontiers of astronomical research is the exploration of time variability on the sky at different wavelengths and flux levels. We have carried out a pilot project using DPOSS data to study strong variables and transients, and…
Astrophysics and cosmology are rich with data. The advent of wide-area digital cameras on large aperture telescopes has led to ever more ambitious surveys of the sky. Data volumes of entire surveys a decade ago can now be acquired in a…
The next decade of survey astronomy has the potential to transform our knowledge of variable stars. Stellar variability underpins our knowledge of the cosmological distance ladder, and provides direct tests of stellar formation and…
Polarized thermal emission from interstellar dust grains can be used to map magnetic fields in star forming molecular clouds and the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM). The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry…
We discuss several improvements in the detection of atmospheric turbulence using SLOpe Detection And Ranging (SLODAR). Frequently, SLODAR observations have shown strong ground-layer turbulence, which is beneficial to adaptive optics. We…
CUBES is a X-ray detector payload which will be installed on the KTH 3U CubeSat mission, MIST. The detector comprises cerium-doped Gd3Al2Ga3O12 (GAGG) scintillators read out with silicon photomultipliers through a Citiroc…
The simple physics of microlensing provides a well-understood tool with which to probe the atmospheres of distant stars in the Galaxy and Local Group with high magnification and resolution. Recent results in measuring stellar surface…
THESEUS is a medium size space mission of the European Space Agency, currently under evaluation for a possible launch in 2032. Its main objectives are to investigate the early Universe through the observation of gamma-ray bursts and to…
New development approaches, including launch vehicles and advances in sensors, computing, and software, have lowered the cost of entry into space, and have enabled a revolution in low-cost, high-risk Small Satellite (SmallSat) missions. To…
The Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) is a new continuum camera operating on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. It consists of two arrays of bolometric detectors; a 91 pixel 350/450 micron array…