High-energy astrophysics data provision at Leicester Julian Osborne
Leicester context Leicester space research group founded in 1960 JO arrived 1990 from EXOSAT/ESA Rosat data analysis s/w & data archive LEDAS Ginga & ASCA XMM Survey Science Centre SAS WG chair SAS architecture and tools Pipeline and bulk data processing X-ray source catalogues UK Swift post-launch support
XMM Survey Science Centre Eight source catalogues have been released over 2003 2016 Rosen et al. (2016): ~400,000 unique sources Spectra and light-curves for 133,000 sources The largest X-ray catalogue every produced
Swift post-launch support The UK Space Agency funds work at Leicester and MSSL to support the scientific value of Swift Scientific investigations are funded by STFC At Leicester we provide X-ray Telescope camera calibration and the UK Swift Science Data Centre Its continued funding depends on the on-going scientific productivity of Swift Swift s continued high ranking in the NASA senior reviews the support of its oversight committee provided by UKSA Support at Leicester has declined from ~7 full time staff per year to ~3 over the 13 years life of Swift Swift data is public immediately it is taken
Swift post-launch support XRT calibration uses the Tycho SNR and XRT corner sources
Swift post-launch support The UKSSDC provides promptly: Locally re-processed quick-look and bulk archive of event data Science data products for GRBs User-controlled science data products Mosaic analysis for gravitational wave and neutrino follow-up XRT point source catalogue (currently static, in future: live) XRT data analysis advice & training Full publication and PR listings; outreach
Swift post-launch support
GRB analysis Swift post-launch support Auto-analysis of GRB lightcurve with flare exclusion Automated intelligent position analysis Automatic spectrumcorrected multiinstrument analysis First fraction of a second position
Swift post-launch support Recent advances: UV-Optical telescope flux evolution improved photometric correction in WT mode
Swift post-launch support 1SXPS catalogue (Evans et al. 2014): ~70,000 new sources ~2.5x XMM sky coverage full false positive and completeness analysis
Swift post-launch support ALIGO GW alert follow-up observations & analysis fully automated
Open data provision: challenges The primary challenge to on-going provision of data from past missions is one of desire Eventually it comes down to the perceived balance of value Is it better to keep archive X going or build a new observing facility? The pull of novelty is very powerful: science progresses via the application of new technology Archive provision will only survive if it is: protected useful appropriately staffed inexpensive There are very clear tensions in this list
Open data provision: challenges The record of the UK in this area is mixed Optical surveys have had some sort of provision for many years LEDAS was supported for 2-3 funding cycles UK has dropped support for: La Palma Gemini JCMT XMM (after >10 years) EU There is no standing army in UK science: all activities are competitively funded for 2-3 years only the very largest projects have good expectations of future funding: LHC experiments have the longest horizons observatories come and go on decade-like timescales
A National Space Park at Leicester Announced March 2017 Eventual investment 75M 1 st phase funding in place Government/University/Industry satellite manufacture, provision of low-cost access to space space-enabled data skills for UK industry New site near National Space Centre in Leicester