Astronomical Instrumentation
The Infrared Laboratory under the direction of Professors Robert Gehrz, Terry Jones, and Charles Woodward specializes in infrared instrumentation. Professor Shaul Hanany's group builds balloon borne instruments to study the Cosmic Microwave Background.
Research Topics
Michael Coughlin – Photometric Instrumentation
Bob Gehrz – Infrared Astronomy
Terry Jay Jones – Astronomical Polarimetry
Chick Woodward – Instrumentation
Michael Coughlin
Professor Coughlin's group is actively involved in the development of optical instrumentation for follow-up of survey systems such as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. In addition to developing photometric calibration systems for these surveys, the group develops instrumentation to perform rapid and sensitive photometric measurements of several classes of objects such as compact binary mergers and white dwarf binaries. Prof. Coughlin is project scientist for the Kitt Peak Electron Multiplying CCD (EMCCD) demonstrator (KPED), an instrument consisting of an EMCCD and a filter wheel, on the Kitt Peak 84 inch telescope. The goal for the system is to allow for high cadence photometry with a large field of view with seeing-limited image quality. The group is involved in the development of the next generation of instruments for this telescope, a combination of a low-resolution spectrograph with a high-cadence EMCCD photometer, known as the SED Machine, an evolution of a first system on the Palomar 60 inch.
Bob Gehrz
Gehrz is an expert in infrared ground and space-based observational astrophysics, instrumentation development, and telescope construction. His primary research is on the physical properties of astrophysical grains in interstellar, circumstellar, and solar system environments, the physics of nova explosions and their chemical contributions to the interstellar medium, the physical characteristics of the circumstellar ejecta of luminous evolved stars, the infrared morphology of regions of star formation, and the infrared activity of comet nuclei.
Terry Jay Jones
I build instruments for deployment on ground-based telescopes such as the Large Binocular Telescope and the MMT. My research covers a broad range of topics, but I specialize in infrared imaging and astronomical polarimetry. Recent instrument projects include LMIRCam, the 2-5 micron imager on the LBT and MMTPol, the 1-4 micron imaging polarimeter on the MMT. With these instruments, I study dusty hypergiants, very young stars, and extragalactic sources.
Patrick Kelly
Patrick Kelly is developing a new pair of rapid-response telescope arrays called the Total-Coverage Ultrafast Response to Binary-Mergers Observatory (TURBO) funded by the National Science Foundation. TURBO consists of large-format CMOS detectors that will be mounted on twelve 0.20-meter diameter optical telescopes both at Magdalena Ridge Observatory near Soccoro, NM and at Skinakas Observatory in Crete, Greece. Within two seconds of a trigger alert, TURBO will begin obtaining multi-band images of almost one-hundred square degrees. Counterparts to gravitational-wave detections of mergers will multiply the information available from just the gravitational waves alone by revealing the mergers’ distances, environments, and nucleosynthetic products. Given its unique sensitivity to prompt emission, TURBO may detect novel types of counterparts, yielding potential insights, for example, into the poorly understood observed population of binary black-hole mergers. When not responding to gravitational-wave mergers, TURBO will obtain observations of supernovae in nearby galaxies at the time of explosion, which can be expected to provide new understanding of their stellar progenitor populations and explosion mechanisms.
Prof. Kelly is also helping to lead the effort to roboticize UMN’s 1.5 meter telescope on Mount Lemmon, AZ to follow up discoveries with TURBO and other facilities automatically. He has worked with students and postdoctoral scholars to design a transfer box that allows the telescope beam to be redirected to optical and infrared cameras. The transfer box has been fabricated and is being outfitted with electronics. Prof. Kelly is also contributing to the design and fabrication of a pair of optical and infrared spectrographs and imagers that will correct off-axis distortions.
Finally, he is exploring new approaches for spectroscopic follow-up of large numbers of transients using novel, inexpensive instruments.
Chick Woodward
Woodward is an international expert in XUVOIR ground, and space-based observational astrophysics, instrumentation development, and telescope construction, management, and operations. He also has significant experience in national space policy. His primary research is on the physical properties of astrophysical grains in interstellar, circumstellar, and solar system environments, the physics of nova explosions and their chemical contributions to the interstellar medium, and the IR activity of comet nuclei and small solar system bodies. He played a significant role in the programmatic development of the NASA’s Spitzer legacy science opportunities and has participated in mentoring programs to enhance diversity in the field of astrophysics. Woodward is also a member of a JWST GTO team. His research is supported by the NSF and NASA.
