th
th
Ernst de Mooij
Queen’s University Belfast
“Ground-based observations of a super-Earth”
At V=5.95, the star 55Cnc is currently one of the brightest stars in the sky known to host a transiting planet, the super-Earth 55Cnc e. This super-Earth has a density lower than that of the Earth and could potentially have either a significant water fraction or a hydrogen-rich envelope, although a hydrogen-rich envelope could have evaporated. I will present high-cadence differential spectrophotometric transit observations of this planet, which constitute the first ground-based detection of the transit of 55Cnc e.
Eoin O Connor/Andrew Shearer
National University of Ireland, Galway
“HTRA with GASP”
The Galway Astronomical Stokes Polarimeter [GASP] is able to study linear and circular polarisarion on time scales down to 1ms. Our prime targets are optical pulsars, magnetars and compact binary systems. This talk will describe the

capabilities of GASP, some of the first results and possibilities for the future.
NOTES

Eamonn Harvey
National University of Ireland, Galway
“Old Nova Remanants”
There are many unknowns surrounding the origin of the morphology of nova shells, such as if their ejection is spherically uniform or intrinsically bipolar, e.g.
Porter et al. (1998); Lloyd et al. (1997). The common envelope phase is thought to play a major role in the shaping of nova remnants and planetary nebulae alike
(Balick 1994; Nordhaus & Blackman 2006). Slower nova events are believed to have stronger deviations from spherical symmetry e.g. V1280 Sco (Chesneau et al. 2012) when compared to their more energetic counterparts, such as GK Per. The intereruption timescale of classical novae is under debate as is their reliance as distance indicators. They are also candidate progenitor systems of type 1a supernovae. We investigate their morphology of nova remnants and the implication the inclination has on various features. A hunt for old nova remnants is currently underway with the Aristarchos telescope.
Laura Boyle
National University of Ireland, Galway
“ Planet Destruction and the Shaping of nebulae”
The majority of planetary nebulae are highly a-spherical, a characteristic that continues to be the major mystery in the field of planetary nebulae research today. It is still unclear how sun-like stars evolve past the asymptotic giant branch phase to become an asymmetrical planetary nebula. Binarity of the central star is a possible cause for the break in spherical symmetry, however it fails to adequately resolve the question due to a lack of close in binaries to explain the number of asymmetrical planetary nebulae observed. A new hypothesis which hasn't been considered in detail before now is one in which a tidally-destroyed planet, with a mass exceeding that of Jupiter, may form an accretion disk around the stellar core, causing a break in spherical symmetry through disk driven jets and bipolar outflows. The topic of my PhD studies is to investigate the possibilities of planet destruction events and the shaping of nebulae. We present here numerical calculations to describe the spiral in of an exoplanet into the envelope of its host star.
Lisa Marie-Browne
National University of Ireland, Galway
“The Search for Optical Companions of Millisecond Pulsars in the Globular
Cluster Terzan 5”

To date over 144 pulsars have been found in 28 different globular clusters. The majority of these pulsars are millisecond pulsars (MSP). MSPs can be distinguished from other pulsars by their rapid spin and lower magnetic field strength. The dense cores of globular clusters favour the formation of binaries, suitable for the recycling of neutron stars into MSPs through dynamical interactions. These binary systems can be characterised more accurately by searching for their optical counterparts in very high-resolution optical images.
Radio observations give information on the MSP, while optical observations of the companion star provide information on the evolution and nature of the system.
From these observations, the masses of the companion and the MSP can both be determined. Such information would help in the understanding of how these systems form in extremely crowded environments. In the present work, an optical study of the core of the globular cluster Terzan 5 has been undertaken. This cluster was selected because it has 34 known MSPs of which 26 lie within the field of view of HST/WFPC2 images. Positional coincidence and light curve analysis are being employed, focusing initially on the half of this sample that are in binaries.
Morgan Fraser
Cambridge University
“Gaia and Gaia alerts”
ESA's flagship astronomy mission, Gaia, will deliver milli-arcsecond astrometry and precision spectrophotometry across the entire sky. This dataset will not only enable Galactic archaeology and revolutionise our understanding of the
Milky Way, but will yield a rich set of data for transient astronomy. I will review the Gaia mission, it's science goals and present some of the first results from the Gaia Science Alerts project.
Venu Kalari
Armagh Observatory/Queen's University Belfast
“Star clusters, and star formation using opical /infrared surveys”
I will briefly talk about the work being conducted in Armagh in characterizing extremely young open clusters, and their stellar populations using the optical
Galactic planes surveys IPHAS/VPHAS+ in combination with infrared surveys. I aim to summarise current results in several young clusters including NGC 6530, M20,
Tr14, and describe the challenges currently faced in such work, and future prospects.
Jorick Vink
Armagh Observatory
“The most massive stars in the most massive clusters”
I will provide an overview of very massive stars (VMS) in the Local Universe.

VMS are usually found in the most massive nearby clusters, such as the Arches cluster in the Milky Way and Radcliffe 136 in the LMC. However, we have recently found VMS outside clusters, which raise interesting prospects for their origin and fate.
John Regan
University of Helsinki/Durham University
“Quasars at z >= 6 – how is that even possible?”
I'll outline current research into the possible mechanisms for forming one billion solar mass objects less than one billion years after the Big Bang. Given that stellar collapse and subsequent growth appears extremely challenging I will present some compelling alternatives including a recent observational candidate.
NOTES

Nevenoe Guegan
National University of Ireland, Galway
“Tracing molecular oxygen in star forming regions using NO as a tracer species”
Currently the direct observation of molecular oxygen (O2) in space is not possible with existing instruments. However, chemical models indicate that
Nitric Oxide (NO) may trace oxygen well. Due to its many electronic states the radiative transfer of NO is complex, and here the code MOLLIE (MOLecular LIne
Explorer) is used to replicate the spectrum of NO in detail for the first time. ALMA introduces the possibility of high resolution imaging of NO in molecular clouds and thus a new possibility to trace the key O2 species in protostellar chemical networks.
Adam Avison (Invited)
ALMA/Jordrell Bank (University of Manchester)
“The ALMA telescope: Current status and user support”
The ALMA telescope is about to start its fourth cycle of observing since scientific observations began in 2011. In this talk the current status of ALMA will be reviewed along with science highlights from previous observing cycles and recent ‘extension of capabilities’ observing campaigns. Such highlights include the dust free rings of HL Tau and the Einstein ring of SDP.81 from the recent Long Baseline Campaign. The international user support structure will be introduced, focusing on that based within Europe and specifically the facilities and support/expertise the UK ALMA Regional Centre Node provides.
Stephen Bourke
Caltech
“The Owens Valley Low Frequency Array”
The Owens Valley array is a low frequency (31-88 MHz) telescope located at
Caltech's Owens Valley Radio Observatory. It operates as a 288-element interferometer continuously observing all-sky with its full bandwidth. The observed data is used by several science projects: stellar coronal mass ejections (CMEs), planetary auroral radio emission, cosmic Dawn (redshift ~20), dynamic Imaging spectroscopy of the Sun, as well as continuous monitoring of the ionosphere. The data rate of the telescope is ~ 2 TB/day and poses many data processing, calibration and imaging challenges.
Peter Gallagher (Invited)

NOTES
Trinity College Dublin
“Low Frequency Observations of Solar Radio Bursts”
Cosmic rays and solar energetic particles may be accelerated to relativistic energies by shock waves in astrophysical plasmas. On the Sun, shocks and particle acceleration are often associated with the eruption of magnetized plasmoids, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). However, the physical relationship between CMEs and shock particle acceleration is not well understood.
In this talk, I will describe how low frequency radio observations of the Sun from facilities such as the Rosse Observatory at Birr Castle and LOFAR can be used to study solar activity and shock waves in the solar corona.

Eamonn Scullion
Trinity College Dublin
“Observing Cascades of solar Bullets at High Resolution”
High-resolution observations from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope revealed bright, discrete, blob-like structures (which we refer to as solar bullets herein) in H-alpha 656.28 nm line core, which appear to propagate laterally across the solar atmosphere as clusters in active regions (Lin et al. 2012,
Paper-I). These small-scale structures appear to be field aligned and many bullets become triggered simultaneously and traverse collectively as a cluster.
Here, we conduct a follow-up study on these rapidly evolving structures with coincident observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Atmospheric
Imaging Assembly (AIA). With the co-aligned data sets, we reveal (a) an evolving multi-thermal structure in the bullet cluster (b) evidence for cascade-like behavior and corresponding bi-directional motions in bullets within the cluster, which indicate that there is a common source of the initial instability leading to bullet formation (c) a direct relationship between coincident bullet velocities observed in H-alpha and He II 30.4 nm and an inverse relationship with respect to bullet intensity in these channels. We find evidence supporting that bullets are typically composed of a cooler, higher density core detectable in H-alpha with a less dense, hotter and fainter co-moving outer sheath detectable in 30.4 nm. They do not necessarily evolve as localised cooling or heating processes. Solar bullets unequivocally demonstrate the finely structured nature of the active region corona. We have no clear evidence for bullets being associated with locally heated, fast flowing plasma. With current observational capabilities, solar solitons best describe the evolutionary properties of bullets.
Michael Kennedy
Queen's University Belfast
“The EUV spectrum of Hydrogen and Helium Observed during Solar Flares”
The EUV spectrum of hydrogen, and neutral and ionised helium has been observed and characterised for a sample of thirteen solar flares. The EVE MEGS-A, B, and
P instruments observe the H Lyman, He I, and He II recombination continua, the H
Lyman Alpha to Epsilon lines, the He I 58.4 and 53.7 nm lines, and the He II
30.4 and 25.6 nm lines. The radiated energy through these lines and continua was measured, and continuum colour temperatures were derived. It was found that the
Lyman continuum colour temperatures during the impulsive phase of the studied flares ranged from 8 to 13 kK. The observed continuum flux was strongly correlated with the observed colour temperature. The He I continuum irradiance was found to be 5 - 10 % that of the H Lyman continuum, and had colour temperatures in the range 9 - 15 kK. The low colour temperatures of He I suggest

that it is formed through the photo-ionisation/recombination process in solar flares. The ratio of the Ly Alpha to Ly Beta line was found to be a minimum during the impulsive phase and increased during the decay phase. This is consistent with level populations at flare footpoints being driven closer to their LTE values in the impulsive phase. The observed line ratios for the higher
Lyman lines were found to be close to their optically thin, LTE values. The He
II continuum was very weak, and observations of this spectral region were dominated by coronal emission lines. The EUV spectra of solar flares were found to be surprisingly homogeneous. There was little variation in the measured values of the line ratios and line to continuum ratios between different flares.
These observations of the solar flare EUV spectrum will be used to compare to, and constrain radiation hydrodynamical models of solar flare atmospheres generated using the RADYN code.

David Kuridze
Queen's University Belfast
“Chromospheric Line Profile Asymmetries in an M1.1 Solar Flare”
The line profile asymmetries of the flaring chromosphere can provide important diagnostics on the properties and dynamics of the flaring plasma. We study the evolution of Halpha and Ca ii 8542 Å lines using unprecedented high spatiotemporal and spectral resolution ground-based observations of an M1.1 flare obtained with the Swedish Solar Telescope. The temporal evolution of the Halpha line profiles show excess emission in the red wing (red asymmetry) in the early phase of flare and excess emission in the blue wing (blue asymmetry) after the flare maximum. The Ca ii 8542 Å line does not follow the same pattern. We use
RADYN simulations to synthesize spectral line profiles and find good agreement with the observations. We conclude that the complex Halpha asymmetries are produced by steep velocity gradients and opacity effects.
Juie Shetye
Armagh Observatory
“Analysis of apparent ultra-fast spicules using high-resolution ground-based data”
A statistical study of spectral images, taken from the CRISP instrument at the
Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope in H-alpha 656.28 nm of fast spicules, present
Doppler velocities in the range of -41km/s to +41 km/s. Remarkably, many of these spicules display apparent velocities above 500 km/s, with very short lifetimes of up to 20 s and apparent lengths of around 3500 km. Here we present, the other spectral properties of these events in the line scan. One result is that they are repetitive i.e. appear at the same location but they are not cotemporal or necessarily periodic in nature. In 89% of the cases there is temporal offset by 3.7 s to 5 s. We interpret the observations as mass motions that appear in the field-of-view of CRISP’s 0.0060 nm filters in the line of sight, along their projection. We observed that 30% of the features showed repetitions at same location. This confirms that these are in fact, elongated
Doppler mass motions rather than so called sheets, fast spicules or fibrils.
Further we observed lateral motion, which could be related to waves. The energies associated with these features can transfer mass to the corona. We are at present investigating their signatures in CaII and IRIS.
Vasco Henriques
Queen's University Belfast
“Small-scale transients connecting the Chromosphere to the Transition Region in the Quiet Sun”
Rapid Blue Excursions (RBEs) are likely to be the on-disk counterparts of Type

II spicules. Recently, heating signatures from RBEs have been detected by IRIS in slit-jaw images dominated by transition-region lines over a network patch.
Additionally, signatures of Type II spicules have been observed in AIA diagnostics at the limb and at an active region on-disk. The full-disk, everpresent nature of the AIA diagnostics should allow us to directly determine how important RBEs are to the heating of the Transition Region (TR) and lower corona should these be easily identifiable in its channels. We present matches between heating signatures in TR diagnostic channels in AIA and RBEs, identified and characterised using H-alpha spectra from CRISP at the SST, as well as Rapid Red
Excursions (RREs) and other small scale H-alpha wing transients not easily classifiable. For the first time these matches were found at a quiet-Sun region at disk centre, which indicates that these small-scale phenomena are likely to be important continuous contributors of energy to the TR.
Peter Keys
Queen's University Belfast
“Observations of surface and body modes in pores”
MHD wave phenomena have been readily observed in recent years in various magnetic elements found within the solar atmosphere. They are often touted as a possible mechanism in channeling energy to the outer layers of the solar atmosphere. Recent advances in both observational techniques and instrumentation has gradually bridged the gap between observations and theory of these phenomena, as various wave modes have been identified and their properties studied across a wide range of structures. For example, numerous contemporary studies have identified and studied the properties associated with compressible sausage modes in different band-passes, often employing magnetic pores as a test bed. However, the spatial structuring of the mode within the flux tube, that is the surface/body characteristics, has thus far been ignored in observational studies.
We employed high spatial and temporal resolution observations from a combination of both ground- (ROSA) and space-based (SDO) instrumentation to study several pore datasets that were observed to support sausage modes. Using a range of techniques, we observed and were able to classify for the first time the surface and body characteristics for the wave modes observed within the pores. The most frequently occurring oscillation period in our observations was found to be
~300s, which is consistent with the p-mode spectrum. Estimates made for the energetics of these wave modes will also be discussed within the context of our results.
Heather Cegla
Queen's University Belfast
“Using Models of the Solar Photosphere to Improve High Precision Radial
Velocities”

Cool, low mass stars with a convective envelope have bubbles of hot, bright plasma rising to the surface where they eventually cool, darken and sink. The motions of these plasma bubbles induce stellar line asymmetries since the radial velocity (RV) shift induced from the uprising granules does not completely cancel the shift from the sinking intergranular lanes. Furthermore, these line asymmetries are constantly changing as the ratio of granular to intergranular lane material continues to change due to magnetic field interplay. The net result for Sun-like stars is shifts in the line profiles on the order of several tens of cm/s. Hence an understanding of magneto-convection and its effects is paramount in any high precision RV study. One particular area impacted is the RV confirmation of Earth-analogs; the astrophysical noise from the host star stellar surface magneto-convection completely swamps the 10 cm/s signal induced from the planet. We aim to understand the physical processes involved here so that we may disentangle the effects of magneto-convection from observed stellar lines. To do so, we construct model Sun-as-a-star observations, based off a state-of-the-art 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the solar surface. These model observations are then used to understand the relationship between the convective induced line profile variations and resultant RV shifts. We find several line characteristics are linearly correlated with the induced RV shifts, and removing these allows for significant improvement in the RV precision.

Mihalis Mathioudakis
Queen's University Belfast
“Thebuilding blocks of solar magnetism – Solar physics”
Upwardly propagating slow magnetoacoustic waves are believed to be the cause of
(quasi-)periodic shock brightenings in the umbrae of chromospheric sunspots.
Previously, tentative evidence has been shown to suggest that umbral flashes are directly related to heightened localised temperatures within the umbral plasma.
Here, the results of thermal inversions on Calcium 8542Å spectral imaging scans from the IBIS instrument at the Dunn Solar Telescope will be presented. The high spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions of the IBIS data allows for an indepth investigation of the plasma heating abilities of (quasi-)periodic umbral flashes at unprecedented scales. Employing both imaging spectroscopy and statistical techniques on the dynamic properties of umbral flashes, their characterisation on small spatial scales and their potential contribution to the localised heating of chromospheric plasma will be discussed.
NOTES

Donna Rodgers-Lee
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
“How was the solar system formed? A complete explanation”
It is important to understand the evolution of protoplanetary disks (PPDs) around young Sun-like stars in order to advance our knowledge of the formation of the solar system and of its uniqueness. PPD evolution is driven by accretion onto the central protostar. However, the mechanism that facilitates this accretion is still poorly understood. I will present the results of our global non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The simulations focus on the turbulence created by the magnetorotational instability. This turbulence is thought to allow the redistribution of angular momentum in the PPD, meaning accretion can occur. The novelty of our simulations is the inclusion of the nonideal MHD effect, namely the Hall effect. The Hall effect introduces a dichotomy of behaviour that will inevitably influence planet formation.
Eamonn Ansbro
Kingsland Observatory/Public
“Results from the search for a planet X in the outer Solar System”
Researchers have hypothesised the existence of an undiscovered planet based on the following, regions of the outer Solar System where there has been clumping of a larger number of comets; specific analysis of some comet orbits; perturbations of the outer planets and /or a signature large mass body extracted from resonant architectural structure of the Edgeworth Kuiper Belt, but only one study had indicated a specific location. This location resulted in a list of candidate suspects found from a search on archived UK Schmidt sky survey plates.
We report the results of a follow up observation programme to determine if any of the candidate targets exhibited planetary characteristics. In addition, we report the same fields using the WISE data. Images were analysed for infrared signature on single images but not parallax motion. We have applied wide constraints for combinations of mass and separation for a planet X to be discovered.
Aswin Sekhar
Armagh Observatory
“Evidence of Three Body Resonance in Meteoroid Stream”
In this work, we find a new resonance mechanism involving 3 bodies i.e. meteoroid particle, Jupiter and Saturn being resonant together at the same time in the Perseid meteoroid stream. Long term three body resonances are not very common in real small bodies in our solar system although they can mathematically

exist at many resonant sweet spots in any dynamical system. This particular resonance combination in the Perseid stream is such that it is close to the ratio of 1:4:10 if the orbital periods of Perseid particle, Saturn and Jupiter are considered respectively. Our calculations show that resonant Perseid meteoroids stay resonant for typically about 2 kyr. The presence of highly compact dust trails due to this unique resonance phenomenon is confirmed from our numerical integrations. This is the first dynamical evidence of an active and stable three-body resonance mechanism in the realm of meteoroid streams.

Alan Fitzsimmons
Queen's University Belfast
“First ground-based observations of a SOHO sunskirting comet”
The SOHO satellite has allowed the discovery of almost 3,000 comets approaching the Sun to date. Most of these are small Kreutz sungrazing comets that normally vaporise by approaching to 2 solar radii. SOHO has also revealed a smaller population of sunskirting comets, whose slightly larger perihelion distances may allow them to survive. However, the physical and compositional properties of these comets are highly uncertain as they are only observed for a few hours near the Sun. The sunskirting comet P/1999 R1 = 322P (SOHO) has been observed at 4 perihelion passages, and is due to return again in September 2015. We recently used the ESO VLT to obtain the first ground-based recovery of this (or any other) periodic sunskirting comet. We will describe our observation campaign and our initial findings on this intriguing object.
Andra Muntean
Queen's University Belfast
“A Laboratory Study of Ice Erosion by Low Energy Ions”
Icy bodies in the outer Solar system are continuously bombarded by various energetic particles due to the solar wind and cosmic rays, which modify their surfaces. As a result of irradiation some particles are sputtered off into space and form planetary atmospheres whilst others remain embedded into the ice, changing its composition and leading to the formation of new species. Water ice is a primary constituent for many objects, but other ices such as O2 are also important. An extreme example is Europa, where O2 on the trailing hemisphere of
Jupiter's moon Europa is sputtered by low-energy ions to become the dominant component of the moon's atmosphere and neutral gas torus. We have performed laboratory measurements of the sputtering yield of oxygen ice as a result of bombardment by 4 keV singly (He+, C+, N+, O+ and Ar+) and doubly charged ions
(C2+, N2+ and O2+). Our results show that the sputtering yield increases linearly as the ion mass increase for both singly and doubly charged ions and the sputtering yield is proportional to the square of the momentum. There was no difference found between the sputtering yield of singly and doubly charged ions.
Additionally, thermal programmed desorption measurements of oxygen ice after irradiation with O+ showed the formation of O3. We will report on these results in more detail, along with preliminary findings for sputtering of H2O ice.
Oliver Roberts
University College Dublin
“Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes Detected by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor”
Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) are short bursts (0.1 to 1 ms) of very

energetic (generally up to 20 MeV) radiation. As gamma rays are heavily attenuated by the Earth's atmosphere, these energetic phenomena are generally detected by satellites in low-earth orbit. The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is an example of such a satellite and consists of two instruments; the Large
Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). Since its launch in
2008, a sequence of flight software enhancements and new observing modes have resulted in the detection of around 2700 TGFs by GBM. Although connections between intra-cloud lightning activity in thunderstorms and TGFs are well known, the mechanisms responsible for the generation of these atmospheric phenomenon is still ambiguous. This brief talk will introduce TGFs and comment on the current theoretical models used to try and describe their nature.
Carlo Romoli
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
“H.E.S.S. observations of PSR B1259-63 during its 2014 periastron passage”
An extended observation campaign of the gamma-ray binary system PSR B1259-63 has been conducted with the H.E.S.S.II 5-telescope system during the source’s periastron passage in 2014. Here we report on the outcome of this campaign, which consists of more than 85 h of observations covering both pre- and postperiastron orbital phases and, for the first time, very-high-energy (VHE, E >
200 GeV) observations at the periastron passage. The new data set partly overlaps with and extends in phase previous H.E.S.S. campaigns on this source in
2004, 2007 and 2011, allowing for a detailed long-term characterisation of the flux level at VHEs.
Mark Kennedy
University College Cork
“CSS120422 J111127+571239: diving Below the Period Minimum with HST and LBT spectra”
The evolutionary paths of ultra-compact interacting binaries often lead to helium transfer in AM CVn systems. But an "evolved main-sequence" channel has long been hypothesized to create ultra-compact binaries dominated by helium but with some hydrogen remaining. The evolved-CV channel is thought to contribute significantly to the amount of AM CVn type systems in the Galaxy. This channel helps to account for the number of cataclysmic variables detected below the period minimum for hydrogen rich systems. CSS120422 was discovered by the
Catalina Sky Survey in April 2012. Its period was found to be 56 minutes, well below the minimum. The optical spectrum of CSS120422 is clearly depleted in hydrogen relative to helium, but still has two orders of magnitude more hydrogen

than AM CVn stars and Doppler tomography of the H alpha line hinted at a spiral structure existing in the disk (Littlefield et al., 2013). In this talk, we present spectroscopy of CSS120422 using the COS FUV instrument on the Hubble
Space Telescope and using the MODS spectrograph on the Large Binocular Telescope.
The UV spectrum shows SiIV, NV and HeII, but no detectable CIV. The anomalous carbon/nitrogen ratio is seen in a small number of other CVs and confirms a unique binary evolution.
Colin Hill
Queen's University Belfast
“Roche Tomography: Mapping stellar activity in close binaries”
The donor stars in compact binaries are key to the evolution of these systems over both long and short timescales. The high levels of magnetic activity on these stars is most easily observed as star spots on the stellar surface, with
Doppler images of rapidly rotating low-mass stars typically showing high spot coverages. Furthermore, the impact of irradiation from accretion regions is clearly evident in such maps. These surface features can dramatically alter the measured fundamental parameters such as radial velocity and mass, and as such, it is crucial to understand how these stars behave over both short and long time periods to be able to determine robust parameters. In addition, the number, size, distribution and variability of star spots with time provides critical tests of stellar dynamo theory in a unique test-bed of both rapid rotation and tidal distortion. I will present results of a long-term study of the magnetic activity on the cataclysmic variable, AE Aqr, spanning an 8 year period, as well as discussing the magnetic activity on the M dwarf in the eclipsing binary, QS Vir.
Felix Ahornian/Carlo Romoli
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
“The supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center as a powerful proton accelerator”
The recent morphological and spectral studies of gamma rays from the central region of our galaxy call for the presence a powerful PeVatron - an object that accelerates particles up to PeV energies (1 PeV=10 15 eV). I will argue that the most feasible supplier of ultra-relativistic protons is Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center. The acceleration can take place either in the accretion flow, i.e. in the immediate vicinity of the black hole or at the site of termination of a outflow. The required acceleration rate of about 10 38 erg/s exceeds by two orders of magnitude the current bolometric luminosity of Sgr A*, and constitutes more than 1% of the current accretion power of the central black hole.
NOTES

Seán Clooney
University College Dublin
“Python-based optical analysis for undergraduate astrophysics labs”
Third year UCD undergraduate Physics with Astronomy and Space Science (PASS) degree students learn optical data analysis as part of the course. Traditionally
IRAF (Image Reduction and Analysis Facility) is used but the software produces too many errors and isn’t very user friendly. The motivation of this project is to improve the accuracy and time efficiency of this analysis by;
• Removing the use of IRAF from the PASS degree and replacing it with Python.
• Converting the image analysis GUI from “ds9” to a new one called “ginga”.
Maeve Doyle
University College Dublin
“Searching for Pulsed X-ray Emission from a Pulsar Candidate”
Prompted by a hard X-ray burst observed by INTEGRAL in 2007, we search for
"hidden" pulsed X-ray emission from the pulsar candidate AX J1818.8-1559 using
XMM-Newton data. Using two known X-ray pulsars (Geminga and PSR J0007+7303) the novel search techniques to be applied to the pulsar candidate are demonstrated.
The importance of observation time on the discovery of pulsed emission is highlighted. We report on the results of the XMM observation and present a case for a Magnetar candidate.
Lorraine Hanlon
University College Dublin
“Optical monitoring of V404 Cygni in outburst with the Watcher robotic telescope.”
V404 Cygni is a low-mass X-ray binary that went into outburst in June 2015, showing strong, variable, emission at all wavelengths from radio to gamma-rays.
We report on the optical monitoring of this source with the 0.4m UCD Watcher robotic telescope at Boyden Observatory, South Africa. Observations started on
June 15th and are still on-going, resulting in more than 10,000 observations in the SDSS r' band, with exposure times ranging between 0.5 sec and 120 sec. The source was at ~14th mag from June 15th-18th and then brightened over the two following nights, reaching magnitude ~11. A report of this optical monitoring programme will be presented.

Laurence Hogan
Trinity College Dublin
“Radio Observations of Shock Waves Excited by a Coronal Mass Ejection”
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can excite shock waves as they expand and propagate away from the Sun into the Heliosphere. Quasi-parallel shock waves are predicted to occur along the leading edges of CMEs, while quasi-perpendicular shocks are likely to occur along their expanding flanks in the lower corona.
Here, the locations and properties of CME shocks are studied using low frequency
(10-400 MHz) e-Callisto radio spectra from the Rosse Solar-Terrestrial
Observatory at Birr Castle in conjunction with extreme-ultraviolet and whitelight images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Solar and
Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). In addition, the radio observations are used to determine fundamental properties of the CME shock waves, including their velocities, compression ratios and Alfven Mach numbers. These multi-wavelength observations give an insight into the formation of quasi-parallel and quasiperpendicular shocks driven by CMEs propagating through the high and low solar corona.
Seoid Ni Laoire
University College Dublin
“Determining the Black Hole Mass in Active Galactic Nuclei from Optical
Variability”
Blazars are compact astrophysical sources, believed to be powered by the accretion of material onto a supermassive black hole at the centre of an active, giant elliptical galaxy. Key defining characteristics of blazars include their rapid variability at all wavelengths and their high luminosities, both characteristics that may be enhanced by relativistic beaming effects. In
Galactic black hole sources, the variability time-scale has been shown to be connected to the black hole mass. If data over a sufficiently long time baseline are collected, it is possible to test this hypothesis for blazars and potentially constrain the mass of the supermassive black hole. The method is presented for the blazar PKS 2155-304 using publicly available data from the
SMARTS 1-m telescope.
Cormac Larkin
University College Cork
“V-band photometry of V404 Cygni”
V404 Cygni, a low mass X-ray binary system in the constellation Cygnus has gone into outburst at least four times in the last 100 years, most recently in June
2015. Here we present the results of our photometry on the emissions in the Vband in the optical spectrum using the Faulkes Telescope North in Haleakalā,

Hawaii in order to try to determine whether V404 Cygni had returned to quiescence or whether there was still an increased level of emission resulting from the outburst at the time of our observations.

Killian Long
University College Cork
“X-ray Observations of Black Holes in M22”
We report an X-ray search for two stellar mass black holes (M22-VLA1 and M22-
VLA2) and the proposed intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) in the globular cluster M22 (NGC 6656). No X-ray sources were detected at the positions of any of the objects. An upper limit of L x
≤2.8x10
30 was established for VLA1 and the
IMBH, while an upper limit of L x
≤1.9x10
30 was established for VLA2. The IMBH upper limit suggests a mass of ~3x10 3 M

.
Andrew McNeill
Queen's University Belfast
“The search for contact binary asteroids in the PanSTARRS Survey”
In recent years, several contact binary systems have been discovered among small body populations in the Solar System (Sheppard & Jewitt 2004, Lacerda, McNeill &
Peixinho 2014). These objects will display extremely variable light curves.
Using photometric results from the PanSTARRS survey for main belt asteroids contained in the Moving Object Processing System database (Denneau et al. 2013) we have identified a series of objects showing unusually large variations in magnitude. We have carried out further observations of the identified objects with a view to finding evidence that these large variations correspond to high amplitude asteroids. This will potentially lead to the discovery of contact binary systems and/or unusually elongated single objects. Initial results from this search will be presented.
Owen McConnell
University College Cork
“Optical Photometry of Binary Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1023+0038 During its
Recent Outburst”
PSR J102347.6+003841 is a radio pulsar system with a spin period of 1.69 ms and an orbital period of 4.75 hours. Uniquely, it undergoes periods of transient accretion from its companion star: it occupies an important position in the evolutionary track from X-ray binary to isolated millisecond radio pulsar. Here we present and discuss new optical photometry of J1023 taken during the recent outburst of the system.

Matt Redman
National University of Ireland, Galway
“MOLLIE: Molecular line explorer for the ALMA era ”
The Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile has now commenced operations. ALMA is perhaps the largest international scientific project of the decade and will revolutionise our ability to observe star and planet formation. The latest observational data from ALMA of molecular clouds will be used to create the best possible models of low mass star formation.
Mollie (MOLecular LIne Explorer) is a fully 3D molecular line radiative transfer code. It can be used for standalone modeling purposes, to directly fit observations, and to visualise chemical and hydrodynamic simulation outputs. Mollie will be used to characterise and model ALMA data of molecular lines from star forming molecular clouds. The models of individual low mass clouds at different evolutionary stages will be assembled into a model of the overall massive star-forming region. This model can then be compared to the new data emerging from ALMA.
Vaibhav Savant
Cork Institute of Technology
“Optimising Robotic Telescope Network for monitoring Transient Phenomena”
Project TARA is an experimental network of small sized (6 - 16”) robotic telescopes working at optical wavelengths with the ultimate objective of operating as a cost-effective linked system capable of monitoring variable objects over periods of days. A novel automated data reduction pipeline,
LuckyPhot, has been developed at BCO to generate precision photometry by significantly reducing turbulent atmospheric effects. The telescope backend, a
Two Channel Optical Photometric Imaging Camera, also developed at BCO has already been used to obtain data on the 2.2m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory.
This work aims at automating and optimising the entire data acquisition and reduction process to ultimately detect and characterise QSO short-timescale variability and hence understand more about the intrinsic processes driving it.
Since the phenomenon is stochastic in nature, and since different models of variability predict different behaviours in terms of an object’s differential colours, there is a need for continuous pseudo-realtime QSO monitoring to maximise the probability of detecting and tracking transient variability. QSOs that are in an active flaring state are the most interesting to follow up. In project TARA we are examining different operational methodologies wherein each node communicates with each other node(s) and reports its health and status to a central database at BCO which streamlines observation strategies and parameters based on several factors including local observing conditions.