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This paper reviews the question of whether the wide separation double quasar Q2138-431 is a gravitational lens. From early work, the two quasar images are known to have almost identical spectra and redshifts, but no lensing galaxy has so far been detected. In this paper, we used recent deep surveys in infrared and optical bands to search for the presence of a galaxy with the expected properties of a gravitational lens. The search revealed a 5σ detection of a faint galaxy between the two quasar images on a deep J -band frame from the VISTA Science Archive, with apparent magnitude J  = 20.68. Non-detection in the I -band implied a redshift z > 0.6, and mass modelling of the quasar system gave a mass of |$1.31 \times 10^{12} \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$| for the lensing galaxy, with mass-to-light ratio M⊙/L⊙ = 9.0. Archival photographic data from the UK 1.2m Schmidt telescope covering 25 yr were used to construct light curves for the two quasar images, which were then cross-correlated to measure any time lag. This showed image B to lead image A by around a year, consistent with 410 d from the mass model. Although the similarity of the spectra and the detection of the lensing galaxy are the most compelling arguments for the classification of Q2138-431 as a gravitational lens, the time delay and mass-to-light ratio provide a consistent picture to support this conclusion. The wide separation of the quasar images and the simplicity of the mass model make Q2138-431 an excellent system for the measurement of the Hubble constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The currently defined 'United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) Faint Standards' have JHK magnitudes between 10 and 15, with K median = 11.2. These stars will be too bright for the next generation of large telescopes. We have used multi-epoch observations taken as part of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) surveys to identify non-variable stars with JHK magnitudes in the range 16–19. The stars were selected from the UKIDSS Deep Extragalactic Survey and Ultra Deep Survey, the WFCAM calibration data (WFCAMCAL08B), the VISTA Deep Extragalactic Observations (VIDEO), and UltraVISTA. Sources selected from the near-infrared databases were paired with the Pan-STARRS Data Release 2 of optical to near-infrared photometry and the Gaia astrometric Data Release 2. Colour indices and other measurements were used to exclude sources that did not appear to be simple single stars. From an initial selection of 169 sources, we present a final sample of 81 standard stars with ZYJHK magnitudes, or a subset, each with 20 to 600 observations in each filter. The new standards have Ks median = 17.5. The relative photometric uncertainty for the sample is <0.006 mag and the absolute uncertainty is estimated to be ≲ 0.02 mag. The sources are distributed equatorially and are accessible from both hemispheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT) is a viable option for patients afflicted with decreased vision in both eyes (20/160 to 20/800) from the advanced form of dry age‐related macular degeneration. It has a 21‐year history of being both safe and effective. The IMT uses a Galilean telescope design that utilizes wide‐angle quartz micro‐optics when used in conjunction with the cornea to create a telephoto system that magnifies objects in view by 2.7X. This axial magnification allows central images to be projected onto healthy paramacular areas of the retina instead of the fovea alone, thereby reducing the central blind spot and allowing the patient to discern images that may have been previously unrecognizable or difficult to see. The IMT is both FDA approved and carries a CE mark. The FDA lowered the minimum age from 75 to 65 years of age, based on the 5‐year FDA data that showed slightly more visual improvement in younger patients than patients aged 75 years and older. Based on the UK experience, the FDA initiated an independent study on pseudophakic patients to monocularly exchange a posterior chamber intraocular lens for the 2.7X IMT, but unfortunately recruitment was inadequate to derive useful data. An injectable form of the IMT (SING) is currently being investigated in the US and UK which shortens the surgical time, incision length and capsulorhexis requirements. As the incidence of advanced age‐related macular degeneration increases due to the development of geographic atrophy, the IMT should be strongly considered in patients who are visually symptomatic in order to gain an increase of daily living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the work of the Bradford Robotic Telescope (BRT) project for science and education in Great Britain as of April 2015. Topics discussed include the BRT's establishment in the southern Pennines, its control by a personal computer network, with the World Wide Weba as the means of access, and its thrust to help educate young children interested in the heavenly bodies. Also mentioned is the 30% rise in science and technology interest from schools that used the BRT.

The article offers information on the use of bioptic telescopes for people with vision disorders in Great Britain. It says that bioptic telescope is a low-vision optical device which helps visually impaired person to magnify images. It also mentions several experts in ophthalmology that may give prescription for bioptic telescope trial which includes optometrists, peripatetic teacher, and low-vision clinician.

The article focuses on the seventeenth-century letters written between English physician and natural philosopher Martin Lister with English polymath Sir Isaac Newton through an intermediary by the name of Nathaniel Johnston, focusing particularly on their studies of alchemy or chemistry to create technological improvements to the designs and workings of telescopes. Other subjects considered include the Republic of Letters, or the 17th century relations between the European scientific community; the scientific revolution; and glass of antimony used in telescopes.

We investigate the relationship between low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and globular clusters (GCs) using United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) observations of M31 and existing Chandra, XMM–Newton and ROSAT catalogues. By fitting King models to these data, we have estimated the structural parameters and stellar collision rates of 239 of its GCs. We show a highly significant trend between the presence of a LMXB and the stellar collision rate of a cluster. The stellar collision rate is found to be a stronger predictor of which clusters will host LMXBs than the host cluster mass. We argue that our results show that the stellar collision rate of the clusters is the fundamental parameter related to the production LMXBs. This is consistent with the formation of LMXBs through dynamical interactions with little direct dependence on the neutron star retention fraction or cluster mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present results from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope observations of the impact of Deep Impact with Comet 9P/Tempel 1, on July 4, 2005 UT. These observations were carried out in conjunction with the worldwide observing campaign co-ordinated by K.J. Meech [Meech, K.J., and 208 colleagues, 2005. Science 310, 265–269]. The UKIRT team was the first to observe and announce the successful impact. At 05:50:52 (±2.5 s) UT the visible camera that is used to guide the telescope on the comet showed the start of a rapid rise in intensity, such that the visible brightness of Tempel 1 approximately doubled in 70 s. After that time there was a steady increase in the visible flux from the comet until it reached a maximum around 35 min post-impact, at which point it was more than ten times its original intensity. From an average of the time to maximum brightness and the time to noticeable intensity decline, we deduce that the material ejected by the impact expanded with a range of velocities between ∼125 and ∼390 m/s. We also observed water emission lines in the spectral region from 2.8945 to 2.8985 μm. We noted several water lines, which are known to be pumped by sunlight. But there was a lower intensity spectral component, which we propose may result from solar heating of icy grains freshly exposed by the impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper defines the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Early Data Release (EDR). UKIDSS is a set of five large near-infrared surveys being undertaken with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Wide Field Camera (WFCAM). The programme began in 2005 May and has an expected duration of 7 yr. Each survey uses some or all of the broad-band filter complement ZY JHK. The EDR is the first public release of data to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) community. All worldwide releases occur after a delay of 18 months from the ESO release. The EDR provides a small sample data set, ∼50 deg2 (about 1 per cent of the whole of UKIDSS), that is a lower limit to the expected quality of future survey data releases. In addition, an EDR+ data set contains all EDR data plus extra data of similar quality, but for areas not observed in all of the required filters (amounting to ∼220 deg2). The first large data release, DR1, will occur in mid-2006. We provide details of the observational implementation, the data reduction, the astrometric and photometric calibration and the quality control procedures. We summarize the data coverage and quality (seeing, ellipticity, photometricity, depth) for each survey and give a brief guide to accessing the images and catalogues from the WFCAM Science Archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a particular moment in imaging technology developments where apprehension of an object shifts from the optic model of the telescope to the radiant model of interferometry. A background of the British research toward the development of a national acoustic defense system is presented. An alternation in the grasp of presence when a viewer becomes a listener and through it suggest the emergence of a skewed conception of space. Examples are also presented aimed at highlighting certain prevalent modalities lining social and visual communication.

Abstract: Barnes Neville Wallis (1887–1979) was probably Great Britain’s most distinguished 20th century aeronautical engineer, despite being largely self taught. He filed 140GB patents alone between 1917 and 1959 which not only illustrate his own career but also throw light on the rise, glory years and later decline of the British aerospace industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Explores the collaboration between professional and amateur astronomers in a wide variety of fields in Great Britain. Availability of powerful telescopes to amateur astronomers; Expansion of astronomical research; Study of variable stars, comets, asteroids and planets.

Amateurs have been neglected in accounts of the rise of new specialties in science. This paper examines seven key amateurs and their relationship to the growth of astrophysics over a sixty-year period. These amateurs, five Britons and two Americans, are seen as the risk-takers of the new specialty. They pioneered in the application of photography and the use reflecting telescopes, and amassed an important body of observational material in such areas as spectroscopy. While they shared most aspects of the discipline with professionals, including access to publications, honours and awards, and the governance of scientific societies, they differed from professionals in significant ways. Because amateurs were free to take risks they sometimes came into conflict with professionals. When this happened differences between the two were magnified. By about 1900 astrophysics reached a stage where it was no longer possible for amateurs to compete. Neither wealth nor leisure could take the place of specialized training the provide access to increasingly sophisticated technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Compact High Energy Camera (CHEC) is a full-waveform capture camera, designed and proposed for the dual mirror, Schwarzschild–Couder, Small Sized Telescope of the Cherenkov Telescope Array. CHEC-S, the second prototype, is based upon silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) photodetectors optimised for single photon counting and nanosecond timing. The camera liquid-cooled focal plane plate comprises a total of 2048 SiPM pixels organised as 32 independent sensor and front-end electronics (FEE) modules providing event detection and signal digitisation of Cherenkov light flashes. Each module comprises an 8 × 8 tile of SiPM pixels, coupled to a 64-channel preamplifier-buffer followed by a FEE module based around the TARGET chipset, which combines triggering (T5TEA) and waveform capture (TARGET C) functionality. We describe a selection of end-to-end performance tests and results conducted at the University of Leicester in the UK. Testing was performed at single module level focusing on characterising the SiPM photodetectors, optimised preamplifier-buffer and updated CHEC-S FEE readout module. Presented results include single photoelectron response, gain-matching, signal range, electronic channel crosstalk, SiPM angular dependency and optical crosstalk. • Full signal waveform readout for imaging air Cherenkov telescope cameras with SiPMs. • Single photoelectron response performance and 0.9 mV noise measured. • Detectable signal range 600 photoelectrons operating at 2.4 V recommended overvoltage. • Angular response of photosensors unchanging below 55 degrees incidence. • Gain-matching generates uniform response from each pixel with flat-field illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news briefs related to astronomy in Great Britain. The V630 Cas, a dwarf nova, which had been observed since 1952, is becoming brighter, compared to its previous appearance. Several observers are expected to focus their telescopes at the globular cluster M13 June 2009, a wonderful object in any instrument and with a visual magnitude of 5.8 and a diameter of 21 arc-minutes, which can be seen as a slightly fuzzy star by the naked eye from a dark location.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses reports on the Cherenkov Telescope Array and on party support for science in Great Britain.

Reports on the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council's (PPARC) report suggesting that their overseas telescopes should be run by independent bodies instead of Great Britain's Royal Observatories. Report's contention that two observatories are unnecessary; Panel's duty to chart a future for optical, infrared and millimeter-wavelength astronomy in Great Britain.

The RAS sponsors the annual Grubb Parsons Lecture, which this year took place on 6 June at the University of Durham. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decision of the European Southern Observatory to go ahead with the construction of the largest optical telescope in the world - the European Extremely Large Telescope - has been welcomed by the RAS although, at the time of writing, the decision had not been ratified by the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on plans to shut down several British astronomical telescopes in Hawaii and the Canary Islands due to government budget cuts, noting that the closures were delayed for 1 to 3 years in order to complete research projects.

After more than 10 years of work by more than 200 engineers, the Mid InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) is the first of four instruments to be completed for the James Webb Space Telescope, whose design and construction has been led by Britain in partnership with European institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many individuals, institutions and societies have submitted documents to the House of Commons Select Committee inquiry into astronomy and particle physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helen Walker reports on the success of the IYA2009 initiative to get telescopes into schools – and to provide a DVD to help teachers put them to good use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a British government decision to cancel completion of the "CLOVER" microwave telescopes that were planned for cosmologic investigation of gravitational waves that emanated after the big bang. Cosmologist Radek Stomper expressed disappointment, but admitted the project was vulnerable due to delays and cost overruns.

For International Year of Astronomy 2009 there are several initiatives worldwide to get telescopes into the hands of more organizations, institutes, schools and individuals. In the UK, the Society for Popular Astronomy is organizing the distribution of 1000 telescopes to schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the astronomical observations made by the Caithness Astronomy Group in Great Britain. The organization conducted a series of public observing evenings, wherein participants have the chance to observe moon rocks and meteorites or touch real rocks from space. It also consists of a talk and a chance to use telescopes.

The Society for Popular Astronomy, Royal Astronomical Society and Science and Technology Facilities Council have teamed up to give free telescopes to 1000 secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is in its detailed design phase. With an unprecedentedly large primary aperture and correction for ground-layer atmospheric turbulence, the telescope will offer a tremendous leap forward in our ground-based capabilities. An RAS Discussion Meeting provided updates on the telescope design, its science case and UK involvement in instrument studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a British contract which allows the country's astronomers to have continued access to the Gemini Observatory's telescopes. It notes that the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) announced its decision to continue its partnership in the Gemini on February 27, 2008. Prior to this, the STFC announced its intention to withdraw its access to the Gemini because of a budget shortfall. It notes that the intention would hinder the astronomers to access a large telescope in the Northern Hemisphere.

The article reports on the plan of Great Britain to withdraw from the Gemini Observatory, cutting the country's access from two of the world's most advanced telescopes. The twin 26-foot telescopes of the observatory in Hawaii and Chile allow astronomers from a seven-nation consortium an unobstructed view of the entire night sky. The country has invested about £35 million in building the conservatory. The Science and Technology Facilities Council states that the move will help it focus financial resources on the highest priority programs.

The article focuses on the two near Earth asteroid discoveries by the British participant. Ken Pavitt became the first UK participant in the Spacewatch Fast Moving Object programme to discover a near Earth asteroid on June 14, 2004. Pavitt made the second discovery from Great Britain, noticing a faint streak on an image downloaded at around 9:00 a.m. on 2005 October 27. He notified the resident Spacewatch observer. The object was subsequently added to the Minor Planet Center's NEO Confirmation Page to encourage other observers to image it. The following night the object was detected by the Spacewatch II and Mt Lemmon survey telescopes.

The article reports on the atmospheric position of comets during the months of June and July 2005. On July 4, 2005 the NASA Deep Impact spacecraft is scheduled to deliver its penetrator into the nucleus of Comet 9P/Tuttle. At this time, the comet is expected to be a 9th to 10th-magnitude object in southeastern Virgo, low in the western evening sky. Some projections suggest that the impact may release sufficient volatile material from the comet's nucleus to cause brightening to easy naked eye range. The comet will be closely monitored by ground-based telescopes around the world, and with the Hubble Space Telescope.

Presents insights about astronomy in Great Britain. Discovery of supernova; Quality of images of JMU Liverpool Telescope; Observation of stars.

This article presents several telescopic images of the transit of Venus and Mercury on June 8, 2004, taken from several places in Great Britain.

Professional astronomers have long fled the British Isles in search of darker and clearer skies. But light pollution is now ruining things for stargazers who stayed at home, concludes a report issued this week by Great Britain House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. It warns that the growing glow will soon blind a thriving corps of amateur astronomers and urges the government to take action to control nighttime lighting. Great Britain's professional optical telescopes are all sited abroad. But the island's amateurs still play an important role in monitoring comets, supernovae and other celestial events. And they foster the next generation of researchers through school visits and outings.