I SAAC N EWTON G ROUP OF T ELESCOPES Biennial Report 2006 2007 Published in Spain by the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) ISSN 1575–8966 Legal license: TF–1142 /99 Apartado de correos, 321 E-38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma; Canary Islands; Spain Tel: +34 922 425 400 Fax: +34 922 425 401 URL: http://www.ing.iac.es/ Editor and designer: Javier Méndez ([email protected]) Printing: Gráficas Sabater. Tel: +34 922 623 555 Front cover: The Milky Way from the site of the William Herschel Telescope. Credit: Nik Szymanek. Inset: Photograph of the WHT at sunset. Credit: Nik Szymanek. Other picture credits: Nik Szymanek (WHT, p. 4; INT, p. 4; JKT, p. 4; ING, p. 5); Jens Moser (WHT, back; INT, back); Nik Szymanek (JKT, back). The ING Biennial Report is available online at http://www.ing.iac.es/PR/AR/. ISAAC NEWTON GROUP OF TELESCOPES Biennial Report of the STFC-NWO-IAC ING Board 2006 – 2007 ISAAC NEWTON GROUP William Herschel Telescope Isaac Newton Telescope Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope 4 • ING BIENNIAL R EPORT 2006–2007 OF TELESCOPES The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) consists of the 4.2- metre William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the 2.5-metre Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the 1.0-metre Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT). The ING is located 2350 metres above sea level at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. The WHT is the largest telescope of its kind in Western Europe. The construction, operation, and development of the ING telescopes are the result of a collaboration between the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Spain. The site is provided by Spain, and in return Spanish astronomers receive 20 per cent of the observing time on the telescopes. The operation of the site is overseen by an International Scientific Committee, or Comité Científico Internacional (CCI). A further 75 per cent of the observing time is shared by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the Spanish Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). The remaining 5 per cent is reserved for large scientific projects to promote international collaboration between institutions of the CCI member countries. The ING operates the telescopes on behalf of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) of The Netherlands and the IAC of Spain. The ORM, which is the principal European northern hemisphere observatory, is operated by the IAC. ING BIENNIAL R EPORT 2006–2007 • 5 6 • ING BIENNIAL R EPORT 2006–2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword . 8 Introduction . 9 Chapters 1. Scientific Highlights . 10 2. Operation, Maintenance and Developments . 49 3. Use of Observing Time and Scientific Productivity . 55 4. In-house Research . 59 5. Public Relations . 63 Appendices A. The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes . 65 B. Telescope Instrumentation . 68 C. Staff Organisation . .69 D. Telescope Time Awards . 70 E. ING Bibliography . 79 F. Astronomy Staff Research Publications . .94 G. Seminars . 99 H. Financial Statement . 100 I. Committee Membership . 101 J. Addresses and Contacts . 103 K. Acronyms and Abbreviations . 104 ING BIENNIAL R EPORT 2006–2007 • 7 FOREWORD It is a pleasure to write this foreword to the 2006-2007 Biennial Report of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, on behalf of the ING Board. The period 2006-2007 was one of consolidating the efforts started several years ago to prepare for operating a world-class facility with a budget which at best is stable. In parallel, the discussion intensified with the partners (STCF, NWO and the IAC) on how to continue to operate the ING at the appropriate level after 2009 when the current agreement comes to an end. Despite these difficult circumstances the ING has been able not only to maintain a world-class observatory with facilities that are high in demand and produce excellent Prof. Thijs van der Hulst science, but also has developed and completed new facilities such as the Laser Guide Star system, GLAS, Chair of the ING Board opening an new area of science and expertise. The Board is very impressed with these accomplishments and wants to compliment the entire ING staff for carrying the observatory through continued harsh times in such an effective way. It clearly shows the motivation and dedication of all involved. The past two years have been very productive from a scientific point of view. LIRIS, the near infrared imager/spectrograph designed and built by the IAC for the WHT, is in high demand and producing excellent science. The same statement can be made for the other new instrument OASIS now routinely available at the WHT in combination with NAOMI, the adaptive optics system. Its capabilities will be greatly enhanced with the laser guide star system, GLAS, successfully developed and installed and almost ready for routine observing. GLAS opens up the entire northern sky for Adaptive Optics (AO) assisted spectroscopy and imaging. It is the final step in a strategic development to bring the WHT to the forefront of AO and to bring to fruition a science area that will prove to be very interesting and strategically important for both the ING and its communities. Outside interest in these capabilities is already quite strong. Another asset of the WHT, accessibility for visiting instruments, continues to prove itself. The demand for visiting instruments, all producing high quality science, remains higher than can be accommodated, and over the last two years we saw INTEGRAL, SAURON, PN.S, PLANETPOL, FASTCAM, GHaFaS (IAC's new Fabry-Perot imager), and ULTRACAM use the WHT, many several times. A new, very valuable and exciting addition in this respect will be the very-high-resolution fibre-fed spectrograph HARPS-NEF, a Harvard planet- finder (complementing the NASA Kepler mission) which will probably come to the WHT and also be available to the general ING community. Negotiations were conducted in 2007 and will be completed early in 2008. The INT, initially operational in a single instrument mode with the WFC, but now a dual instrument facility again with the IDS back on-line, continues to entertain excellent projects. Use of the INT for large scale surveys has led to the recent first data release of the (H-alpha, r, i) survey of the galactic plane, IPHAS, providing a fascinating view of the northern galactic plane. The Board continued to focus its attention on the future of the ING past 2009 when the present contracts between the funding agencies, NWO, PPARC and the IAC terminate. The high potential of the ING, in particular the WHT, is widely recognised. The partner countries are close to an agreement with the IAC and NWO continuing to support the ING at the current level past 2009, and the STFC indicating that it will continue supporting the ING, though at a reduced level. With the imminent contract with Harvard for the use of the WHT for HARPS-NEF, it will be possible to find sufficient funding to continue the ING past 2009. The Board and Director have put continued efforts into finding a constructive way forward and it is gratifying to see that a very positive solution is within reach. 8 • ING BIENNIAL R EPORT 2006–2007 INTRODUCTION Welcome to the bi-annual report of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes. This report is prepared at a time where the observatory finds itself at a crossroads. On the one hand, the telescopes, after more than 20 years of successful operation continue to deliver excellent science and new opportunities, while on the other hand we live in uncertain and turbulent times when funding for continued operation of the telescopes is under pressure. But if history is our guide to the future, with the WHT having contributed to over 1500 science papers in refereed journals and having played an important role in shaping a generation of scientists, my expectation is that also in future years the ING telescopes will provide a valuable resource to astronomers. Also during the Dr. René Rutten past two years the ING telescopes contributed to exciting research fields ranging from trans-Neptunian Director of ING objects, through exo-planets and brown dwarfs, to gamma-ray bursters, galaxy formation and evolution, as you can read in this report. The positive outlook onto the future is underpinned by the prospects of exciting new scientific potential offered by recent and planned developments at the WHT. Just to mention a few highlights: recently a Rayleigh laser beacon was completed that greatly enhances the sky coverage of the adaptive optics system, thus providing Adaptive Optics survey capability. A new imager and low-resolution spectrograph, ACAM, is in an advanced state of development for the WHT, and together with the Center for Astrophysics and Geneva Observatory we are advancing the development of an extremely stable high-resolution spectrograph that will be in operation in 2010 and will have a major impact in the search for extra-solar planets, and ultimately even Earth-size planets. Developments at the ING must be seen in a wider, European perspective. During the last few years, ideas have been developed to facilitate collaboration on medium-size telescopes across Europe. It is generally recognised that these telescopes remain a valuable scientific resource, but at the same time financial realities make it difficult to maintain and develop them. Cooperation must be the answer. Such a long-term vision of creating a pan-European facility in which the ING will play a central role is strongly endorsed by the partners in the ING and actively pursued in the OPTICON network. Hopefully in the next few years we will see this become a reality.