Professor Tom Ray at the IAU Above and Beyond exhibition in 2019
Ariel is a space telescope, built to study the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. Following the Institute’s successful work on the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists at DIAS have been working – with European partners – to build Ariel since 2016.
Yesterday’s ESA approval means the Ariel observatory is now set to launch in 2029. Ariel will be despatched to a special observing position that is approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth to probe the gases that surround exoplanets with the aim of discovering how these objects formed and how they have evolved over time.
Commenting today (13.11.20), DIAS’s Professor Tom Ray, a Co-Principal Investigator for the mission, said: “We are delighted that Ariel has been formally adopted by the ESA and now has the green light to launch in 2029. This is an exciting achievement for scientists here in Ireland – and across Europe.
“The findings of the Ariel mission will help scientists better understand the nature of our Solar System in a wider context.”
Professor Ray and his colleagues at DIAS and UCD are responsible for Ariel’s special optical and infrared filters, which will split up the light from the exoplanets and their parent stars into different wavelengths. Exoplanet research is a new research theme for DIAS, as outlined in our strategy Embedded globally, strength locally.
Further information about the Ariel mission is available at: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Ariel_moves_from_blueprint_to_reality
Meet the Judges of our Astrophotography Competition.
First up is @EoinCarley of @DIASAstronomy. Eoin is a Schrödinger Research Fellow, currently working on observation of solar eruptions and flares using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR).
Learn more: dias.ie/2020/12/16/rea…
Congratulation to @edmatters on the launch of Ireland's Education Yearbook launched yesterday evening! If you missed it you can watch back at the below link! twitter.com/edmatters/stat…
The ISOS project was launched in 1999, and since then has digitised many historical Irish manuscripts from across the world. This work continues today.
Another example of COVID creativity arises from Celtic Studies researchers, who launched the Irish Script on Screen project, so Scholars worldwide could access ancient manuscripts online. So far this year there has been 2,676,399 hits on the on the website.
@DIAS_ISOS
Our second example of creativity was from our Theoretical physicists, who continued their collaborative work on complex theorems by installing some blackboards on the railings outside DIAS to work safely in the open air.
More: dias.ie/2021/01/13/dia…#DIASdiscovers#blackboard
DIAS Professor @TomRayDIAS, worked on the JWST to produce the special infrared filters required by the Mid Infra-Red Instrument (MIRI), that break up the light into its various components.
JWST is now due to launch in 2021!
bbc.com/news/science-e…#DIASdiscovers#JWST#MIRI
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DIAS scientist amongst leaders of Ariel mission to explore distant exoplanets
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Last Updated: 13th November 2020 by Caoimhe Mulhall
Irish scientist Tom Ray – based at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) – is one of the leaders of the Ariel mission that has been adopted by the European Space Agency (ESA) this week to explore the atmospheres of distant worlds.
Ariel is a space telescope, built to study the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. Following the Institute’s successful work on the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists at DIAS have been working – with European partners – to build Ariel since 2016.
Yesterday’s ESA approval means the Ariel observatory is now set to launch in 2029. Ariel will be despatched to a special observing position that is approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth to probe the gases that surround exoplanets with the aim of discovering how these objects formed and how they have evolved over time.
Commenting today (13.11.20), DIAS’s Professor Tom Ray, a Co-Principal Investigator for the mission, said: “We are delighted that Ariel has been formally adopted by the ESA and now has the green light to launch in 2029. This is an exciting achievement for scientists here in Ireland – and across Europe.
“The findings of the Ariel mission will help scientists better understand the nature of our Solar System in a wider context.”
Professor Ray and his colleagues at DIAS and UCD are responsible for Ariel’s special optical and infrared filters, which will split up the light from the exoplanets and their parent stars into different wavelengths. Exoplanet research is a new research theme for DIAS, as outlined in our strategy Embedded globally, strength locally.
Further information about the Ariel mission is available at: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Ariel_moves_from_blueprint_to_reality
Category: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics Section News & Events, DIAS, Featured Blog Posts, News
Meet the Judges of our Astrophotography Competition. First up is @EoinCarley of @DIASAstronomy. Eoin is a Schrödinger Research Fellow, currently working on observation of solar eruptions and flares using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). Learn more: dias.ie/2020/12/16/rea…
Congratulation to @edmatters on the launch of Ireland's Education Yearbook launched yesterday evening! If you missed it you can watch back at the below link! twitter.com/edmatters/stat…
The provision of such a resource has never been more important to allow Celtic studies scholars continue their work during the time of COVID.
The ISOS project was launched in 1999, and since then has digitised many historical Irish manuscripts from across the world. This work continues today.
#PhD #Studentship #planetary twitter.com/DIASAstronomy/…
Another example of COVID creativity arises from Celtic Studies researchers, who launched the Irish Script on Screen project, so Scholars worldwide could access ancient manuscripts online. So far this year there has been 2,676,399 hits on the on the website. @DIAS_ISOS
Our second example of creativity was from our Theoretical physicists, who continued their collaborative work on complex theorems by installing some blackboards on the railings outside DIAS to work safely in the open air. More: dias.ie/2021/01/13/dia… #DIASdiscovers #blackboard
This week we are looking back over the COVID year of 2020 and celebrating the adaptability of our researchers. First up was the successful COVID compliant @SEA_SEIS expedition in May 2020. Read More: dias.ie/2021/01/13/dia… #covid19 #research #DIASdiscovers #INSN #seismology
DIAS Professor @TomRayDIAS, worked on the JWST to produce the special infrared filters required by the Mid Infra-Red Instrument (MIRI), that break up the light into its various components. JWST is now due to launch in 2021! bbc.com/news/science-e… #DIASdiscovers #JWST #MIRI
Happy New Year! Make the right career move and come work with the incredible team at DIAS supporting frontier research disciplines. More information dias.ie/2020/11/23/sen… #jobfairy #itadmin #it #Systems