Ph.D. (NUIG then UCG)1989Royal Greenwich Observatory:Research Associate1989-1991Observatoire de Meudon, Paris: Research Associate1991-1992Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias: Support Astronomer1993-1995GRANTECAN, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias: Adaptive Optics Manager1995-2005University of Galway: Senior Lecturer2005- My background is in Astronomical Imaging with high spatial resolution, mostly involving Adaptive Optics and Image Processing. I am co-Investigator of the MORFEO project - this will be the wide-field adaptive optics system on the ESO Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). I carry out research into chromatic effects in adaptive optics - these will limit AO performance at large elevation angles, which may be the case when observing the Sun (best conditions at sunrise) or attempting to make an optical link to a Low Earth Orbit satellite. I also research novel wavefront sensing schemes, specifically modal wavefront sensors and diffuser-based sensors. Together with post-doctoral researcher Ali Khorshad I have developed a digital holographic microscope, used to detect and track micro particles launched from MEMS devices - a prototype for quantum experiments in Space. Other recent areas of research include fast optical polarimetry of pulsars, using the GASP instrument on the Gemini 8m telescope in Chile, Development of an Active Optics prototype system for Space Telescopes and investigating the effects of aberrations on the LISA gravitational wave observatory.

MORFEO Adaptive Optics for the ELTThe European Southern Observatory (ESO) Extremely Large Telescope, currently being constructed in Chile, will be the largest optical telescope in the world. MORFEO will be the instrumentresponsible for providing wide-field adaptive optics to correct for the effects of atmospheric turbulence. In operation, it will deliver images that are four times sharper than possible with current telescopes.The University of Galway is a member of the consortium building MORFEO, together with the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). I am Co-Investigator of MORFEO, responsible together with Dr. Goncharov for the Test Unit, which will simulate natural and laser guide stars as delivered by the ELT, and be used to test and commission MORFEO.MEMS for Quantum Optics in Space Future experiments in matter-wave interferometry toinvestigate the transition from quantum to classical physicswill have to be performed in space in order to avoid the effects of gravity. For this it will be necessary to store and release sub-micron sized particles in a controlled way. Together with the Tyndall National Institute we are carrying out a project to experimentally validate an approach using arrays of MEMS devices inside a vacuum chamber. We have developed a high-speed digital holographic microscope and algorithms to detect and track the particles. This project is funded by the European Space Agency. Chromatic effects in Adaptive Optics The refractive index of the atmosphere depends on wavelength, and this leads to well-known refractive effects in atmospheric optics. There are subtle effects which can severely limit the performance of adaptive optics, especially at low elevation angles. These include chromatic anisoplanatism due to rays of different colours traversing different parts of the turbulent atmosphere. Solar astronomy and opticalsatellite communications are frequently required to operate at low elevation angles, and so these effects deserve more attention. Together with Bruno Femenía Castellá (DLR) I have examined the theoretical behaviour of these errors, including a spherical model of the Earths atmosphere and finite turbulence outer scale to give more accurate predictions than possible before.High speed optical polarimetry The Galway Astronomical high Speed Polarimeter (GASP) allows simultaneous measurement of the four Stokes parameters at high speed (as the name indicates). This prototype instrument has been successfully installed at both the 3.6m telescope on La Silla and the 8m Gemini telescope and used to observe pulsars. The data analysis is challenging, partially due to potential drifts in detector gain, and methods to determine gain from on-sky data have been developed. Active Optics for Space TelescopesFuture Space Telescopes will be required to provide exquisite image quality, especially for such challenging tasks as the detection of extrasolar planets. The optics of these telescopes may be misaligned during launch, or through thermal effects, and it is essential to have a way to automatically measure and correct these errors. This is the purpose of Active Optics. In this work, we have proposed a 4m Space Telescope (Hypatia) the image quality of which is constantly maintained by an active optics system. The system consists of a wavefront sensor and a deformable mirror. We are designing the system and building a laboratory prototype to demonstrate the required extreme accuracy and stability of the wavefront correction.Exoplanet DetectionA large number of planets have been detected outside our solar system using indirect techniques (e.g. see here). Imaging of these exoplanets is extremely challenging given how close they are to their parent stars, and how much fainter. The brightness ratio with the parent star is of the order 10^-6 to 10^-9. Obtaining such images will require using large (or extremely large) telescopes, with practically perfect adaptive optics. Even so, residual speckle effects severely hamper our ability to unambiguously detect exoplanets. We have developed optimal techniques based on using knowledge of the data statistics. We have also developed a powerful inverse-problem approach applicable to multi-wavelength data. This exploits the fact that the position of residual speckles scales with wavelength, and this fact may be used to discriminate speckles from planets. We want to extend these approaches to future Extremely Large Telescopes.

I hold a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning (CELT, University of Galway)Current Teaching: PH2106: Atomic and Nuclear PhysicsPH351 : Wave OpticsPrevious:PH211: Electricity, Magnetism and circuits PH103: History of AstronomyPH459: Applied OpticsPH431: Medical Image processing