New Fellows

Fellows who are PhD student supervisors should be on the lookout for exceptionally good work from research students submitting their theses this year, for nomination for the RAS Michael Penston Astronomy Prize and the RAS Keith Runcorn Prize.     

Return to Burlington House

RAS meetings returned to Burlington House in December, to find the familiar apartments transformed – thanks to a lot of hard work from RAS staff and contractors.     

The VolSatView information system for Monitoring the Volcanic Activity in Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands

Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands are home to 36 active volcanoes with yearly explosive eruptions that eject ash to heights of 8 to 15 km above sea level, posing hazards to jet planes. In order to reduce the risk of planes colliding with ash clouds in the north Pacific, the KVERT team affiliated with the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IV&S FEB RAS) has conducted daily satellite-based monitoring of Kamchatka volcanoes since 2002. Specialists at the IV&S FEB RAS, Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SRI RAS), the Computing Center of the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CC FEB RAS), and the Far East Planeta Center of Space Hydrometeorology Research (FEPC SHR) have developed, introduced into practice, and were continuing to refine the VolSatView information system for Monitoring of Volcanic Activity in Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands during the 2011–2015 period. This system enables integrated processing of various satellite data, as well as of weather and land-based information for continuous monitoring and investigation of volcanic activity in the Kuril–Kamchatka region. No other information system worldwide offers the abilities that the Vol-SatView has for studies of volcanoes. This paper shows the main abilities of the application of VolSatView for routine monitoring and retrospective analysis of volcanic activity in Kamchatka and on the Kuril Islands.     

Klimovskaya: A new geomagnetic observatory

In 2011 Geophysical Center RAS (GC RAS) began to deploy the Klimovskaya geomagnetic observatory in the south of Arkhangelsk region on the territory of the Institute of Physiology of Natural Adaptations, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (IPNA UB RAS). The construction works followed the complex of preparatory measures taken in order to confirm that the observatory can be constructed on this territory and to select the optimal configuration of observatory structures. The observatory equipping stages are described in detail, the technological and design solutions are described, and the first results of the registered data quality control are presented. It has been concluded that Klimovskaya observatory can be included in INTERMAGNET network. The observatory can be used to monitor and estimate geomagnetic activity, because it is located at high latitudes and provides data in a timely manner to the scientific community via the web-site of the Russian–Ukrainian Geomagnetic Data Center. The role of ground observatories such as Klimovskaya remains critical for long-term observations of secular variation and for complex monitoring of the geomagnetic field in combination with low-orbiting satellite data.     

Stonehenge story

The Queen's Birthday Honours list announced on 16 June contained some familiar names from astronomy. Prof. Mark Bailey (1) of Armagh Observatory, currently a Vice-President of the RAS, was awarded an MBE and Dr Heather Couper (2), former President of the British Astronomical Association, a CBE. Prof. Nigel Mason (3) of the Open University and inaugural Director of the Milton Keynes Science Festival received an OBE. Prof. Jocelyn Bell-Burnell (4), President of the RAS from 2002–2004, was awarded a DBE – and an Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University. In addition, Prof. Lord Rees (5), Astronomer Royal, president of the Royal Society and President of the RAS from 1992–1994, was appointed to the Order of Merit.     

Terahertz molecular line astronomy

In his Address for 2006, RAS President Michael Rowan-Robinson examines the development of the terahertz waveband: submillimetre and far-infrared astronomy.     

New editor for GJI

The RAS awards prizes and medals annually and is currently seeking nominations for the 2010 awards, with a deadline of 31 July 2009.     

Robert Hutchison 1938–2007

Fellow and Treasurer of the RAS; long-standing radio and optical observer who discovered the gravitational lens; unassuming and efficient organizer for astronomy.     

The 2004 RAS National Astronomy Meeting

This year's RAS National Astronomy Meeting was held at the Open University's Milton Keynes campus from 29 March to 2 April. The event was organized by members of the OU Physics & Astronomy Department and Planetary & Space Science Research Institute. Around 450 people attended the meeting, at which more than 220 talks were presented, along with around 90 posters. Co-chairs of RAS NAM04, Barrie Jones and Andrew Norton , summarize.     

The European Extremely Large Telescope

Chris Evans reports on plans for the world's largest optical–infrared telescope, as discussed at the RAS Specialist Discussion Meeting held on 9 May 2008.     

GPS monitoring of recent crustal movements in Kamchatka and the Commander Islands during 1997–2007

This is a review of the geodetic monitoring of the horizontal component of recent crustal movements (RCMs) in Kamchatka and the Commander Islands for the period 1979–2007. Examples are provided of the RCMs recorded in Kamchatka and the Commander Islands for the period 1997–2007 by the Kamchatka regional GPS network (KAMNET) set up by workers at the Kamchatka Branch of the RAS Geophysical Service (KB GS RAS) in collaboration with the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far East Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences to study the geodynamic processes that are occurring in the Kamchatka subduction zone. An interpretation of examples of recorded RCMs is given.     

Have you considered a legacy to the RAS?

Francisco Diego has some ideas and suggestions for outreach from his experience as RAS Lecturer on the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria .     

Results of seismological observations in the western Kaliningrad region and in the Baltic Sea water area

In 2006–2007, researchers of the IO RAS conducted seismological observations in the Baltic Sea and western Kaliningrad region with the use of ocean-bottom and land-based autonomous seismic stations. According to maps of general seismic zoning of the territory of Russia, the Kaliningrad region is aseismic. However, a series of seismic phenomena with magnitudes of about 5 and sources located near the Bay of Gdansk coast occurred here in September 2004. The total duration of the IO RAS seismological observations in five areas of the region under investigation was more than 200 days. The analysis of seismic records of the IO RAS network located sources of two local weak earthquakes with magnitudes M _L = 3.4–3.5, which indicates that the seismic process in the western part of the Kaliningrad region continues and the region is far from being seismically stable.     

The scientific case for human space exploration

Ian Crawford and Charles Cockell report on a wide-ranging RAS Discussion Meeting putting the broad scientific case for people in space, at the Linnean Society on 10 December 2004.     

Magnetotelluric fieldwork adventures in Africa

In her RAS Presidential Address for 2005, Kathryn A Whaler discusses how mapping the electrical resistivity of the subsurface can be used to investigate continental rifting, with examples from Africa.     

RAS takes action on Fellows' views

This is the text of a letter sent by the President of the RAS to Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science, following the Discussion Meeting on ESO.     

Online Publication of Tiltmeter Data Based on the SeedLink Protocol

The main goal of this work is to provide real-time access to the data of the NSH tunnel tiltmeters via the Internet. Software is developed that solves this problem and also provides real-time visualization and archiving of data. The solution is based the specialized real-time protocol SeedLink, which ensures lossless data delivery with minimal transmission overhead. In order to simplify access to the device via IPv4 and to protect data from unauthorized access, a secure channel based on virtual private networks has been used. The solution was tested on two tiltmeters installed in the building of the Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences (IPE RAS). Further device testing with an unstable power supply and communication conditions is planned. Therefore, the developed software was ported to energy-efficient ARM computers. Data transmission tests were carried out in the local IPE RAS network and in the wireless network of a mobile network operator. Real-time visualization of data from both tiltmeters and access to the archive are provided in addition to real-time access to data on the IPE RAS website.     

Redshift surveys

Recent results and current plans for redshift surveys were the subject of an RAS discussion meeting on 10 October 2003, organized by Ofer Lahav and Jon Loveday. Sarah Bridle and Alan Heavens report.     

Mixed fortunes for X-ray observatories

A new name for XMM, a boost for Hubble and the happy demise of a mirror ball satellite are among the space activities reported by Peter Bond .
Peter Bond is the RAS PR Officeer (Space Science).     

Deaths of Fellows

RAS Fellow and President, broad and rigorous scientist and driving force behind the Opacity Project.