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JAC image gallery
JAC image gallery
The JCMT and UKIRT telescopes on Mauna Kea are used by astronomers to help unlock the secrets of the universe. Below are a selection of images of the telescopes and instruments used by the astronomers. A selection of science images produced are also given. For more information on the latest science undertaken with the telescopes please see the press releases web page.
JCMT
- The instrumentation
- The science - SCUBA-2
- The science - HARP
- The science - SCUBA
UKIRT
- The science -
- The science -
JCMT
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| The JCMT on Mauna Kea with the distant Mauna Loa seen in the background. |
The JCMT with its gortex covering is able to observe during the daytime. |
A view from inside JCMT. The backing structure provides support for the 15-meter dish. |
The instrumentation
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| SCUBA-2 |
Holography receiver |
Water Vapor Monitor |
Receiver A |
Receiver W |
HARP 16 pixel receiver |
ACSIS: the back-end spectrometer |
The science - SCUBA-2
The full SCUBA-2 Gallery may be seen at the following link
The science - HARP
The science - SCUBA
Although retired in 2005 the SCUBA (Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array) archive remains a powerful tool for astronomers with published papers still including results from this instrument (for further details read this article).
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The centre of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, lies 27,000 light years from Earth. SCUBA shows us
an exotic region of gas clouds, bubbles, and threads, shaped by stars, supernovae, and magnetic
fields. The view is blocked at optical wavelengths by the intervening dust. Credit: D. Pierce-Price et al.
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In galaxies far beyond our own, SCUBA sees dust heated from star formation from
when the universe was about one tenth its current age - nine tenths of the way back
to the start of time. Credit: D. Hughes et al.
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UKIRT
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| As the sun sets UKIRT opens for a nigh observing the universe. |
UKIRT on the summit of Mauna Kea. |
Inside the dome which houses UKIRT's 3.8-meter mirror. |
The science - WFCAM
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| Ten years in the making this data is part of the UKIDSS/GPS sky survey. The data was
acquired by both UKIRT in Hawaii and the Vista telescope in Chile. This data was included
in an article written by the bbc, to see the full article click
here.
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The science - UFIP
Although the primary instrument on UKIRT is WFCAM, unless a visiting instrument is in use, UKIRT has had many other instruments in its time including UFTI (UKIRT Fast-Track Imager). For more information on this and other instruments click here.
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| This is an image of the planetary nebula NGC 2392, also known as the Eskimo nebula.
Intricate rings surround the hot, ionised gas bubble. These result as the central, dying
star 'balloons off' its outer layers. A fainter, more diffuse, though larger ring surrounds
the whole system; this outer ring is presumably the result of an early outburst. This image
was taken with the Fabry Perot Interferometer and UFTI on UKIRT. Credit: Sandy Leggett,
Tim Carroll, Chris Davis (JAC)
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These images of the planetary nebula IC 418 reveal a bubble of hot gas surrounding
the central white dwarf star. The gas is only observed in the left-hand image because
the two images were obtained at different, discrete wavelengths, using the Fabry-Perot
Interferometer (FP) with the UFTI camera. The FP was tuned to transmit emission from
ionised hydrogen in the left-hand image, then tuned to a 'continuum' wavelength setting,
that does not transmit emission from the hot gas in this source. Credit: Sandy Leggett,
Tim Carroll, Chris Davis (JAC)
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| A 'true-colour' mosaic of the centre of our Galaxy taken in July 1999 through the
near-infrared J, H, and K band filters (30 second exposures per filter). The image covers
a region extending approximately 7.5'x4.5'. The figure clearly illustrates the vast number
of stars visible towards the centre of the Milky Way. The dark patches scattered throughout
the region represent areas of higher obscuration or 'extinction' due to clouds of gas and
dust (rather than patches where there are no stars!). Credit: Antonio Chrysostomou.
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This is an image of the star forming region called ON2, also known as "the Chicken
Nebula". The golden-colored cloud of gas and dust harbors numerous young, red stars.
These were all formed inside the nebula, as gas and dust collapsed under its own weight
to form dense, cold cores and, after the onset of nuclear burning, young stars. Credit:
Chris Davis (JAC)
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This image shows the star forming region W51. W51 is similar to the well known Orion nebula,
forming both low and high mass stars. The stars themselves form in a cluster, with
the more numerous low-mass stars distributed around their larger, more massive siblings.
The cluster itself is still surrounded by the parent cloud from which the stars were born.
The angular size of the above field is only about 100 arcsec across. Credit: M.S. Nanda
Kumar, Chris Davis.
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