Galactic Edge Clouds III:
Chemical Modelling of 2 Distinct Star Forming Regions in Edge Cloud 2
P. M. E. Ruffle, N. Kobayashi, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, M. Saito and C. Yasui. In preparation, 2012.

Galactic Edge Clouds II:
Molecular Line Observations and Chemical Modelling of Edge Cloud 1
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, C. Henkel and D. A. Lubowich. In preparation, 2012.

Galactic Edge Clouds I:
Molecular Line Observations and Chemical Modelling of Edge Cloud 2
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, D. A. Lubowich, C. Henkel, J. Pasachoff and G. Brammer. ApJ, 671, 1766, December 2007. ADS | Astro-ph

Edge Cloud 2 (EC2) is a molecular cloud, about 35 pc in size, with one of the largest galactocentric distances known to exist in the Milky Way. We present observations of a peak CO emission region in the cloud and use these to determine its physical characteristics. We calculate a gas temperature of 20 K and a density of n(H₂) ~ 10⁴ cm^-3. Based on our CO maps, we estimate the mass of EC2 at around 10⁴ M_sun and continuum observations suggest a dust-to-gas mass ratio as low as 0.001. Chemical models have been developed to reproduce the abundances in EC2, and they indicate that heavy element abundances may be reduced by a factor of 5 relative to the solar neighbourhood (similar to dwarf irregular galaxies and damped Lyα systems), very low extinction (A_V < 4 mag) due to a very low dust-to-gas mass ratio, an enhanced cosmic-ray ionisation rate, and a higher UV field compared to local interstellar values. The reduced abundances may be attributed to the low level of star formation in this region and are probably also related to the continuing infall of primordial (or low-metallicity) halo gas since the Milky Way formed. Finally, we note that shocks from the old supernova remnant GSH 138-01-94 may have determined the morphology and dynamics of EC2.

Angular diameters, fluxes and extinction of compact planetary nebulae: further evidence for steeper extinction towards the bulge
P. M. E. Ruffle, A. A. Zijlstra, J. R. Walsh, M. D. Gray, K. Gesicki, D. Minniti and F. Comeron. MNRAS, 353, 796, September 2004. ADS | Astro-ph

We present values for angular diameter, flux and extinction for 70 Galactic planetary nebulae observed using narrow-band filters. Angular diameters are derived using constant emissivity shell and photoionisation line emission models. The mean of the results from these two models are presented as our best estimate. Contour plots of 36 fully resolved objects are included and the low-intensity contours often reveal an elliptical structure that is not always apparent from full width at half maximum measurements. Flux densities are determined, and for both Hα and [OIII] there is little evidence of any systematic differences between observed and catalogued values. Observed Hα extinction values are determined using observed Hα and catalogued radio fluxes. Hα extinction values are also derived from catalogued Hα and Hβ flux values by means of an R_V dependent extinction law. R_V is then calculated in terms of observed extinction values and catalogued Hα and Hβ flux values. Comparing observed and catalogue extinction values for a subset of bulge objects, observed values tend to be lower than catalogue values calculated with R_V = 3.1. For the same subset we calculate <R_V> = 2.0, confirming that toward the bulge interstellar extinction is steeper than R_V = 3.1. For the inner Galaxy, a relation with the higher supernova rate is suggested, and that the low-density warm ionised medium is the site of the anomalous extinction. Low values of extinction are also derived using dust models with a turnover radius of 0.08μm.

The SAGE-LMC, SAGE-SMC and HERITAGE surveys have mapped the Magellanic Clouds in the infrared using the Spitzer and Herschel Space Telescopes. Over 8.5 million point sources were detected and catalogued in the LMC alone. Staring mode observations using the InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) on board Spitzer have been obtained for 1,000 positions in the LMC and ~250 in the SMC. From the infrared spectroscopy we have identified the nature of the sources for which spectroscopy is available. These IRS staring mode targets represent an important contribution to the SED of these dwarf galaxies. Here we report on our latest results.

The Xgear Project - A New Era for Astrochemical Modelling?
P. M. E. Ruffle, A. J. Markwick, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts and P. M. Woods. RAS National Astronomy Meeting, University of Glasgow, 12-16 April 2010. Abstract

Xgear started life as a wrapper programme written in C that collected parameters for running astrochemical models using the HMC (hot molecular core) Fortran code by Steve Rodgers (1998), as substantially developed and updated by Helen Roberts (1999 onwards), which utilises DLSODE: the Livermore Solver for Ordinary Differential Equations (Hindmarsh 1983; Radhakrishnan and Hindmarsh 1993). The goal of the Xgear Project is to enable astrochemical models to be run easily and consistently, with full user control over the many parameters that must be specified to run a model. These parameters can be defined on the command line and/or in a plain text configuration file. However, in the longer term we intend to build a PHP-MySQL front-end to Xgear, so that models can also be setup and run using a client web interface to a (remote) Xgear application server or cluster. The results from running sets of models covering various parts of parameter space could then be stored in a database for subsequent querying. Other enhancements could include alternative model engines to HMC and the inclusion of additional processes such as gas-grain interactions. Initially, chemical reaction rates will be taken from UDFA 2006: the new UMIST database for astrochemistry (Woodall, Agundez, Markwick and Millar 2006), which replaced Rate99: The UMIST database for astrochemistry (Le Teuff, Millar and Markwick 2000). The code for Xgear will be made publicly available under the terms of the GNU General Public License. We expect the code to compile successfully under Linux, Unix and OS X, for both 32- and 64-bit platforms.

Molecular Line Observations and Chemical Modelling of Galactic Edge Clouds
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, D. A. Lubowich and C. Henkel. RAS National Astronomy Meeting, Queen's University Belfast, 31 March - 4 April 2008. Abstract

Edge Clouds 1 and 2 (EC1 and EC2) are large molecular clouds with the largest galactocentric distances known to exist in the Milky Way. We present observations of these clouds and use them to determine physical characteristics. For EC2 we calculate a gas temperature of 20 K and a density of n(H₂) ~ 10⁴ cm^-3. Based on our CO maps, we estimate the mass of EC2 at around 10⁴ M_sun, and continuum observations suggest a dust-to-gas mass ratio as low as 0.001. Chemical models have been developed to reproduce the abundances in EC2 and they indicate that: heavy element abundances may be reduced by a factor of five relative to the solar neighbourhood (similar to dwarf irregular galaxies and damped Lyman alpha systems); very low extinction (A_V < 4 mag) due to a very low dust-to-gas ratio; an enhanced cosmic ray ionisation rate (10-20 x 1.3 x 10^-17 s^-1); and a higher UV field (10-20 x local interstellar values). The reduced abundances may be attributed to the low level of star formation in this region and are probably also related to the continuing infall of low metallicity halo gas since the Milky Way formed. We find that shocks from an old supernova remnant may have determined the morphology and dynamics of EC2, including the recently discovered star clusters embedded in the northern and southern cores. However, compared to EC2, EC1 appears to be a chemically less varied environment. The apparent molecule-poor nature of EC1 demonstrates the characteristics of clouds that have not had the benefit of SN shocks to stimulate an active cloud chemistry and star formation.

Molecular Line Observations and Chemical Modelling of Galactic Edge Clouds
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, D. A. Lubowich and C. Henkel. Organic Matter in Space, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium, 18-22 February 2008, Hong Kong, Volume 251, p. 145-146. ADS | Abstract

Edge Clouds 1 and 2 (EC1 and EC2) are large molecular clouds with the largest galactocentric distances known to exist in the Milky Way. We present observations of these clouds and use them to determine physical characteristics. For EC2 we calculate a gas temperature of 20 K and a density of n(H₂) ~ 10⁴ cm^-3. Based on our CO maps, we estimate the mass of EC2 at around 10⁴ M_sun, and continuum observations suggest a dust-to-gas mass ratio as low as 0.001. Chemical models have been developed to reproduce the abundances in EC2 and they indicate that: heavy element abundances may be reduced by a factor of five relative to the solar neighbourhood (similar to dwarf irregular galaxies and damped Lyman alpha systems); very low extinction (A_V < 4 mag) due to a very low dust-to-gas ratio; an enhanced cosmic ray ionisation rate; and a higher UV field compared to local interstellar values. The reduced abundances may be attributed to the low level of star formation in this region and are probably also related to the continuing infall of low metallicity halo gas since the Milky Way formed. We find that shocks from an old supernova remnant may have determined the morphology and dynamics of EC2, including the recently discovered star clusters embedded in the northern and southern cores. However, compared to EC2, EC1 appears to be a chemically less varied environment. The apparent molecule-poor nature of EC1 demonstrates the characteristics of clouds that have not had the benefit of SN shocks to stimulate an active cloud chemistry and star formation.

Molecular Line Observations and Chemical Modelling of Edge Cloud 2
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, D. A. Lubowich and C. Henkel. The Evolving ISM in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies, Proceedings of the Fourth Spitzer Science Center Conference, 2-5 December 2007, Pasadena, California. ADS | Abstract

Edge Cloud 2 (EC2) is a large molecular cloud with one of the largest galactocentric distances known to exist in the Milky Way. We present observations of the cloud and use these to determine its physical characteristics. We calculate a gas temperature of 20 K and a density of n(H₂) ~ 10⁴ cm^-3. Based on our CO maps, we estimate the mass of EC2 at around 10⁴ M_sun and continuum observations suggest a dust-to-gas mass ratio as low as 0.001. Chemical models have been developed to reproduce the abundances in EC2 and they indicate that: heavy element abundances may be reduced by a factor of five relative to the solar neighbourhood (similar to dwarf irregular galaxies and damped Lyman alpha systems); very low extinction (A_V < 4 mag) due to a very low dust-to-gas ratio; an enhanced cosmic ray ionisation rate; and a higher UV field compared to local interstellar values. The reduced abundances may be attributed to the low level of star formation in this region and are probably also related to the continuing infall of low metallicity halo gas since the Milky Way formed. Finally, we note that shocks from the old supernova remnant GSH 138-01-94 may have determined the morphology and dynamics of EC2.

Observations and Chemical Modelling of Edge Cloud 2
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, D. A. Lubowich, C. Henkel, J. M. Pasachoff and G. Brammer. Frontiers of Astrophysics: A Celebration of NRAO's 50th Anniversary, Proceedings of the Conference, 18-21 June 2007, at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, Virginia, ASP Conference Series, Vol. 395, p.377. ADS | Abstract

Edge Cloud 2 (EC2) is a large molecular cloud with one of the largest galactocentric distances known to exist in the Milky Way. We present observations of the cloud and use these to determine its physical characteristics. We calculate a gas temperature of 20 K and a density of n(H₂) ~ 10⁴ cm^-3. Based on our CO maps, we estimate the mass of EC2 at around 10⁴ M_sun and continuum observations suggest a dust-to-gas mass ratio as low as 0.001. Chemical models have been developed to reproduce the abundances in EC2 and they indicate that: heavy element abundances may be reduced by a factor of five relative to the solar neighbourhood (similar to dwarf irregular galaxies and damped Lyman alpha systems); very low extinction (AV < 4 mag) due to a very low dust-to-gas ratio; an enhanced cosmic ray ionisation rate; and a higher UV field compared to local interstellar values. The reduced abundances may be attributed to the low level of star formation in this region and are probably also related to the continuing infall of primordial (or low metallicity) halo gas since the Milky Way formed. Finally, we note that shocks from the old supernova remnant GSH 138-01-94 may have determined the morphology and dynamics of EC2.

Metal-poor molecular gas beyond the optical disk of the Galaxy
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, C. Henkel and D. A. Lubowich. Astrochemistry: Recent Successes and Current Challenges, Proceedings of the 231st Symposium of the International Astronomical Union, Asilomar, California, 29 Aug - 2 Sept 2005, p. 28. ADS | Abstract

The molecular Edge Clouds 1 and 2 (EC1 and EC2) lie at the largest Galactocentric distances known to exist in the Milky Way. With elemental abundances that may be similar to irregular dwarf galaxies, they potentially represent an environment similar to when the disk of the Milky Way was forming. We have searched for many species of molecular emission in EC2, and are doing the same in EC1. Our detections in these sources reinforce the suspected uniqueness of Galactic edge clouds: a temperature of 20K; n(H₂) = 5000 cm^-3; and very low metallicity. We have extended our observations to higher frequency to better trace the dense gas associated with star formation, and to constrain molecular and elemental abundances, density, temperature, and column densities. EC2 is also the most distant star forming molecular cloud in the Milky Way. It has an associated HII region excited by a metal depleted early B star, that appears to have triggered star formation in EC2. Our observations in EC2 indicate an under abundance of nitrogen-bearing molecules, which may be related to the lack of stellar processing at such large Galactocentric distances. We are also mapping EC2 for dust and in CO, ¹³CO and C¹⁸O, in order to establish the CO/dust ratio. We are developing chemical kinetic models of EC1 and EC2, including low metallicity and deuterium chemistry, to determine age, chemical evolution and constrain elemental abundances, comparing our results with those in other dwarf galaxies. Observations of low-metallicity molecular clouds have the potential to aid our interpretation of molecular clouds at high redshift, particularly in determining how the CO/H₂ ratio varies with metallicity and environment.

Metal-poor Molecular Gas in Edge Cloud 2
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, D. A. Lubowich, C. Henkel, G. Brammer. RAS National Astronomy Meeting, Open University, Milton Keynes, 30 March - 2 April 2004. Abstract

Edge Cloud 2 (EC2) is a molecular cloud at a kinematic galactocentric distance of 28 kpc, some 6 kpc further away than the next most distant molecular cloud, and much further than the extent of the optical disk of the Milky Way, ~19 kpc, and almost as far as the most distant HI detected, at ~30 kpc. EC2 was found to have an associated HII region excited by an early B star MR1, and it has been argued that it is the most distant star-forming cloud in the Milky Way, with evidence for massive star formation. Metal depletion has been calculated for C, N, O ~ 5, and EC2 is the only edge cloud detected in the high-density tracer CS. We are carrying out an observational study of EC2 to determine physical parameters, chemical abundances and isotopic ratios by developing a chemical kinetic model of metal-poor gas. This will afford us a window to the early Galaxy and to molecular evolution in low metallicity Galactic clouds and extragalactic sources.

Metal-poor Molecular Gas in Edge Cloud 2 (EC2)
P. M. E. Ruffle, T. J. Millar, H. Roberts, D. A. Lubowich, C. Henkel and G. Brammer. The dense interstellar medium in galaxies, Proceedings of the 4th Cologne-Bonn-Zermatt Symposium, Zermatt, Switzerland, 22-26 September 2003. Springer proceedings in physics, Vol. 91, CD-ROM edition. Abstract

Edge Cloud 2 (EC2) is the most distant star forming molecular cloud in the Milky Way. It has an associated HII region excited by a metal depleted early B star, that appears to have triggered star formation in EC2. With the properties of irregular dwarf galaxies, EC2 is unique in representing an environment similar to the primordial gas from which the Milky Way formed. Our own observations in EC2 have searched for many species, and found an under abundance of nitrogen-bearing molecules, which may be related to the lack of stellar processing at such large Galactocentric distances. We are extending our observations to higher frequency to better trace the dense gas associated with star formation, and to constrain density, temperature, column densities and elemental abundances. We also develop a chemical kinetic model to determine chemical evolution and constrain elemental abundances, comparing our results with those in other dwarf galaxies.

Planetary Nebulae in the Galactic Bulge
A. A. Zijlstra, P. M. E. Ruffle and K. Gesicki, Asymmetrical Planetary Nebulae III: Winds, Structure and the Thunderbird, Proceedings of the conference 28 July - 1 August 2003, Mt. Rainer, Washington, ASP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 313, p. 40. ADS | Abstract

An on-going survey of Bulge planetary nebulae (PN) is described. Evidence is found for a non-standard extinction law towards the Galactic Bulge.

The Composition at the Outer Edge of the Galaxy
D. A. Lubowich, G. Brammer, H. Roberts, T. J. Millar, C. Henkel, J. Pasachoff and P. M. E. Ruffle. Elemental Abundances in Old Stars and Damped Lyman-α Systems, 25th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion 15, 22 July 2003, Sydney, Australia. ADS | Abstract

We present observations of a 10-Gyr-old molecular cloud at the outer edge of the Galactic disk (28 kpc). We detected CO ¹³CO ¹⁸CO CS CN SO HCN HNC HCO⁺ CH₃OH HCS⁺ H₂CO C₂H C₃H₂ and NH₃ but we did not detect CO⁺ N₂H⁺ DCN HC₃N ³⁴CS SiO SiS ¹⁷CO or SO₂. The NH₃ H₂CO and CS abundances indicate that T = 20 K and n = 5 x 10³ cm^-3. The N-containing molecules were weak and we did not detect the usually strong N₂H⁺ or HC₃N lines. Using our 5300 chemical reaction model we calculate that the N is depleted in this cloud by about 3x and this cloud has a lower metallicity (similar to dwarf irregular galaxies or damped Lyman alpha systems) and a lower cosmic-ray ionisation rate possibly resulting from the infall of halo gas enriched in O C and S from a burst of massive star formation in the Galactic halo shortly after the Milky Way was formed. This activity would have produced both O and S which are produced by massive stars; C which is produced by massive and intermediate mass stars; but less N abundance because the secondary element N is produced primarily from low mass stars.

In the first year of my PhD I worked with Albert Zijlstra and subsequently we published the paper "Angular diameters, fluxes and extinction of compact planetary nebulae: further evidence for steeper extinction towards the Bulge" (Ruffle et al. 2004). We suggested that for the inner Galaxy the low-density warm ionised medium is the site of the anomalous extinction, and that low values of extinction can also be derived using dust models with a turnover radius of 0.08 microns.

After that I worked with Tom Millar on the chemistry of Edge Cloud 2 (EC2), which lies at the largest Galactocentric distance known to exist (~28 kpc). Our detections in this source indicated that heavy elements are depleted by about a factor of five relative to local molecular clouds and similar to those in dwarf irregular galaxies and damped Lyman alpha systems. These reduced abundances may be related to the low level of star formation in this region and are probably the result of infall of halo gas enriched in O, C and S from a burst of massive star formation in the Galactic halo shortly after the Milky Way was formed. Observed high abundances of the radicals C2H and CN are typical of PDRs, but at large Galactocentric radii, metal abundances relative to hydrogen are expected to be much reduced. In addition, although EC2 does contain young stars, there is no evidence of the late-type stars which produce dust grains, thereby justifying the assumption of a high ratio of UV flux to grain surface area (see Ruffle et al. 2007).

Observations and Chemical Modelling of Galactic Edge Clouds
Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC), Hilo, Hawaii, 16 October 2009.

Molecules Between the Stars: The Astrochemistry of the ISM
Chautauqua Short Course on Astronomy, NRAO, Green Bank, 4 June 2007.

But it's Fun: Radio Astronomy at Green Bank and the Green Bank Telescope
The University of Manchester Astrophysics Group Seminar, 10 May 2007.

Out at the Edge: Metal-poor Molecular Gas in Edge Cloud 2
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan, 20 May 2008.
Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO), Minamimaki, Minamisaku, Nagano, Japan, 19 May 2008.
NRAO Molecular Astrophysics Group Meeting, Charlottesville, Virginia, 28 September 2007.
Astrophysical Chemistry Group Meeting, Queen's University Belfast, 5 January 2007.
Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO) Seminar, Macclesfield, 15 November 2006.
The University of Manchester Astrophysics Group Seminar, 2 Nov 2006.
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Green Bank, West Virginia, 21 September 2006.
Young European Radio Astronomer's Conference, Dalfsen, Netherlands, 13 September 2006.
The University of Manchester Astrophysics Group Seminar, 9 March 2006.
Open University Physics Society, Fusion AGM, Milton Keynes, 28 January 2006.
Jodrell Bank Observatory (JBO) Seminar, Macclesfield, 12 October 2005.
Young Researchers Astrochemistry Meeting, UCL, London, 19 Sept 2005.
Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC), Hilo, Hawaii, 8 June 2004.
UMIST Astrophysics Group Seminar, Manchester, 10 February 2004.
Astrophysical Chemistry Group Meeting, Nottingham, 17 December 2003.
Young Physicists' Conference (YPC), Bristol, 23 November 2003.

Angular diameters, fluxes and extinction of compact planetary nebulae: further evidence for steeper extinction towards the Bulge.
The University of Manchester Astrophysics Group Seminar, 19 Nov 2004.
Evolved Stars Workshop, Queen's University Belfast, 7 September 2004.

How I Wonder What You Are: The Birth, Life and Death of Stars
Future
Macclesfield Astronomical Society, Goostrey Village Hall, Main Road, 8:00pm, 18 September 2012.
Doncaster Astronomical Society, St George's House, Church Street, 7:30pm, 9 August 2012.
Cleethorpes Astronomical Society, Cleethorpes, 7:45pm, 4 July 2012.
Moulton School and Science College, Pound Lane, Moulton, Northants, 7:30pm, 19 April 2012.
Sherborne Girls School, Bradford Road, Sherborne, Dorset, 7:30pm, 9 February 2012.
Past
Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Castlefield, Manchester, 7:00pm, 27 January 2012.
Halifax Scientific Society, Halifax Central Library, Northgate, Halifax, 7:30pm, 10 January 2012.
West Didsbury Astronomical Society, William Hulme's Grammar School, 7:00pm, 12 Dec 2011.
Sheffield Astronomical Society, Mayfield Centre, David Lane, Fulwood, 7:45pm, 7 November 2011.
Unity College, Towneley Holmes, Burnley, Lancashire, 21 September 2011.
Leeds Café Sci, Leeds City Museum, Millennium Square, Leeds, 11:30am, 14 August 2011.
Wrexham Science Festival, Glyndŵr University, Mold Road, Wrexham, Wales, 6:00pm, 19 July 2011.
York Café Sci, The Basement, City Screen Picture House, 13-17 Coney Street, 7:30pm, 6 July 2011.
Staff Science Day, AstraZeneca, Physical Sciences Group, Macclesfield, 6 July 2011.
Leeds Astronomical Society, Friends House, 188 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, 7:30pm, 11 May 2011.
Knowledge Lives Everywhere Exhibition, FACT, 88 Wood Street, Liverpool, 7:00pm, 4 May 2011.
Schools in London, Leeds and Preston for National Science and Engineering Week, March 2011.
Brighton Café Sci, The Latest Music Bar, Manchester Street, Brighton, 8:00pm, 17 March 2011.
Bradford Astronomical Society, Eccleshill Library, Bolton Road, Bradford, 7:30pm, 7 February 2011.
Manchester Astronomical Society, John Dalton Building E0.05, MMU, 7:30pm, 13 January 2011.
Hebden Bridge Astronomy Society, Hope Baptist Church Rooms, 7:30pm, 15 December 2010.
Liverpool Café Sci, The Book Room, Hope Street Hotel, Liverpool, 7:30pm, 9 November 2010.
Headingley Café Sci, New Headingley Club, 56 St Michael's Road, Leeds, 7:45pm, 4 October 2010.
Sheffield Café Sci, The Showroom, Paternoster Row, Sheffield, 7:00pm, 6 September 2010.
Chapel Allerton Café Sci, Queens Arms, 201 Harrogate Road, Leeds, 8:00pm, 17 May 2010.
Halifax Café Sci, Viaduct Cafe, Dean Clough, Halifax, 7:30pm, 24 February 2010.
South East Essex College, Southend, Essex, 23 June 2009.
NRAO Summer School, Green Bank, West Virginia, USA, 19 June 2007.

Radio Appearances
BCB Radio, Afternoon Stretch with Alan Keeling and Tina Watkin, 3pm, 3 February 2011.
BBC Radio Lancashire, Sally Naden's Chat Show, 11-1pm, 13 January 2011.
Phoenix Radio, Sara Hinchliffe's Coffee Culture Show, 10-12pm, 15 December 2010.

Podcasts
The Birth, Life and Death of Stars on iTunes or my RSS feed.

Videos
The Birth, Life and Death of Stars via YouTube.

The goal of the Xgear Project is to enable astrochemical models to be run easily and consistently, with full user control over the many parameters that must be specified to run a model. These parameters can be defined on the command line and/or in a plain text configuration file. More details.

Validating the data reduction pipeline for the JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey.

Data reduction with CASA, GBTIDL, KAPPA/SMURF, MIDAS, CLASS/GREG and MOPSIC. I have written a comprehensive CLASS pipeline script for automating the reduction of mm spectral line data (including maps) and the generation of tables and figures in LaTeX format.

I have made successful applications for telescope time at the GBT 100m, NRO 45m, JCMT 15m, Effelsberg 100m, Onsala 20m and IRAM 30m telescopes.

Radio mm line and continuum observations (including bolometer mapping) at the GBT 100m (West Virginia), NRO 45m (Nobeyama), JCMT 15m (Hawaii), IRAM 30m (Spain), Onsala 20m (Sweden), ARO 12m (Arizona) and Haystack 37m (Massachusetts) telescopes.

As a result of attending the Single Dish IRAM Summer School I was invited to undertake pool observations at the IRAM 30m telescope in December 2003 and October 2005.

Optical observations using narrow-band filters with the ESO Multi-Mode Instrument (EMMI) camera at the 3.5m New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla, Chile.

Fourth IRAM Millimetre Interferometry School 2004
IRAM, Grenoble, France, 22-27 November 2004.

UK Grad School
Otterburn Hall, Northumberland, 22-26 July 2004.

Single Dish Millimetre Observing Techniques and Applications
IRAM Summer School, Pradollano, Sierra Nevada, Spain, 4-9 October 2003.

PPARC Astrophysics Summer School
Leeds University, 2-6 September 2002.