W. S. Holland

The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, SCT, United Kingdom

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Publications (84)160.39 Total impact

  • Source
    Article: SCUBA-2: The 10000 pixel bolometer camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
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    ABSTRACT: SCUBA-2 is an innovative 10000 pixel bolometer camera operating at submillimetre wavelengths on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The camera has the capability to carry out wide-field surveys to unprecedented depths, addressing key questions relating to the origins of galaxies, stars and planets. With two imaging arrays working simultaneously in the atmospheric windows at 450 and 850 microns, the vast increase in pixel count means that SCUBA-2 maps the sky 100-150 times faster than the previous SCUBA instrument. In this paper we present an overview of the instrument, discuss the physical characteristics of the superconducting detector arrays, outline the observing modes and data acquisition, and present the early performance figures on the telescope. We also showcase the capabilities of the instrument via some early examples of the science SCUBA-2 has already undertaken. In February 2012, SCUBA-2 began a series of unique legacy surveys for the JCMT community. These surveys will take 2.5 years and the results are already providing complementary data to the shorter wavelength, shallower, larger-area surveys from Herschel. The SCUBA-2 surveys will also provide a wealth of information for further study with new facilities such as ALMA, and future telescopes such as CCAT and SPICA.
    01/2013;
  • Article: Comet-like mineralogy of olivine crystals in an extrasolar proto-Kuiper belt.
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    ABSTRACT: Some planetary systems harbour debris disks containing planetesimals such as asteroids and comets. Collisions between such bodies produce small dust particles, the spectral features of which reveal their composition and, hence, that of their parent bodies. A measurement of the composition of olivine crystals (Mg(2-2x)Fe(2x)SiO(4)) has been done for the protoplanetary disk HD 100546 (refs 3, 4) and for olivine crystals in the warm inner parts of planetary systems. The latter compares well with the iron-rich olivine in asteroids (x ≈ 0.29). In the cold outskirts of the β Pictoris system, an analogue to the young Solar System, olivine crystals were detected but their composition remained undetermined, leaving unknown how the composition of the bulk of Solar System cometary olivine grains compares with that of extrasolar comets. Here we report the detection of the 69-micrometre-wavelength band of olivine crystals in the spectrum of β Pictoris. Because the disk is optically thin, we can associate the crystals with an extrasolar proto-Kuiper belt a distance of 15-45 astronomical units from the star (one astronomical unit is the Sun-Earth distance), determine their magnesium-rich composition (x = 0.01 ± 0.001) and show that they make up 3.6 ± 1.0 per cent of the total dust mass. These values are strikingly similar to those for the dust emitted by the most primitive comets in the Solar System, even though β Pictoris is more massive and more luminous and has a different planetary system architecture.
    Nature 10/2012; 490(7418):74-6. · 36.28 Impact Factor
  • Article: Herschel images of Fomalhaut. An extrasolar Kuiper Belt at the height of its dynamical activity
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    ABSTRACT: Fomalhaut is a young, nearby star that is suspected to harbor an infant planetary system, interspersed with one or more belts of dusty debris. We present far-infrared images obtained with the Herschel Space Observatory with an angular resolution between 5.7 and 36.7 arcsec at wavelengths between 70 and 500 micrometer. The images show the main debris belt in great detail. Even at high spatial resolution, the belt appears smooth. The region in between the belt and the central star is not devoid of material; thermal emission is observed here as well. Also at the location of the star, excess emission is detected. We use a dynamical model together with radiative-transfer tools to derive the parameters of the debris disk. We include detailed models of the interaction of the dust grains with radiation, for both the radiation pressure and the temperature determination. Comparing these models to the spatially resolved temperature information contained in the images allows us to place strong constraints on the presence of grains that will be blown out of the system by radiation pressure. We use this to derive the dynamical parameters of the system. The appearance of the belt points towards a remarkably active system in which dust grains are produced at a very high rate by a collisional cascade in a narrow region filled with dynamically excited planetesimals. Dust particles with sizes below the blow-out size are abundantly present. The equivalent of 2000 one-km-sized comets are destroyed every day, out of a cometary reservoir amounting to 110 Earth masses. From comparison of their scattering and thermal properties, we find evidence that the dust grains are fluffy aggregates, which indicates a cometary origin. The excess emission at the location of the star may be produced by hot dust with a range of temperatures, but may also be due to gaseous free-free emission from a stellar wind.
    04/2012;
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    Article: The {\beta} Pictoris disk imaged by Herschel PACS and SPIRE
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    ABSTRACT: We obtained Herschel PACS and SPIRE images of the thermal emission of the debris disk around the A5V star {\beta} Pic. The disk is well resolved in the PACS filters at 70, 100, and 160 {\mu}m. The surface brightness profiles between 70 and 160 {\mu}m show no significant asymmetries along the disk, and are compatible with 90% of the emission between 70 and 160 {\mu}m originating in a region closer than 200 AU to the star. Although only marginally resolving the debris disk, the maps obtained in the SPIRE 250 - 500 {\mu}m filters provide full-disk photometry, completing the SED over a few octaves in wavelength that had been previously inaccessible. The small far-infrared spectral index ({\beta} = 0.34) indicates that the grain size distribution in the inner disk (<200AU) is inconsistent with a local collisional equilibrium. The size distribution is either modified by non-equilibrium effects, or exhibits a wavy pattern, caused by an under-abundance of impactors which have been removed by radiation pressure. Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy&Astrophysics, Herschel First Results special issue
    05/2010;
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    Article: Target selection for the SUNS and DEBRIS surveys for debris discs in the solar neighbourhood
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    ABSTRACT: Debris discs - analogous to the Asteroid and Kuiper-Edgeworth belts in the Solar system - have so far mostly been identified and studied in thermal emission shortward of 100 um. The Herschel space observatory and the SCUBA-2 camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope will allow efficient photometric surveying at 70 to 850 um, which allow for the detection of cooler discs not yet discovered, and the measurement of disc masses and temperatures when combined with shorter wavelength photometry. The SCUBA-2 Unbiased Nearby Stars (SUNS) survey and the DEBRIS Herschel Open Time Key Project are complimentary legacy surveys observing samples of ~500 nearby stellar systems. To maximise the legacy value of these surveys, great care has gone into the target selection process. This paper describes the target selection process and presents the target lists of these two surveys. Comment: 67 pages with full tables, 7 figures, accepted to MNRAS
    11/2009;
  • Article: First Detection of Submillimeter Polarization from T Tauri Stars
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    ABSTRACT: We report a first detection of polarization of the 850 μm continuum emission from two T Tauri stars (TTSs), GM Aur and DG Tau. These are both single and classical TTSs. The emission mostly comes from the compact (r < 100 AU) accretion disks. The polarization (at ~3% level at 3 σ) is interpreted in terms of thermal emission by magnetically aligned dust grains in the disk. Thus these submillimeter polarizations probe the magnetic field structure in the disk, while the previously reported millimeter/submillimeter polarizations of protostars and the transitional objects from the protostars to TTSs trace the magnetic fields in the larger envelope region. In both TTSs, the direction of the magnetic field inferred from our submillimeter polarizations is parallel to the plane of the compact dust disk measured by interferometric observations, suggesting the dominance of a toroidal magnetic field component in the disk. The magnetic evolution of the circumstellar environments is discussed, as well as the constraints on the MHD models of the jets and outflows from young stellar objects.
    The Astrophysical Journal 01/2009; 525(2):832. · 6.02 Impact Factor
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    Article: A Deep Submillimeter Survey of the Galactic Center
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    ABSTRACT: We present first results from a submillimeter continuum survey of the Galactic center "central molecular zone" (CMZ), made with the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. SCUBA's scan-map mode has allowed us to make extremely wide field maps of thermal dust emission with unprecedented speed and sensitivity. We also discuss some issues related to the elimination of artifacts in scan-map data. Our simultaneous 850/450 μm maps have a total size of approximately 28 × 05 (400 × 75 pc) elongated along the Galactic plane. They cover the Sagittarius A region, including Sgr A*, the circumnuclear disk, and the 20 and 50 km s-1 clouds; the area around the Pistol; Sgr B2, the brightest feature on the maps; and at their Galactic western and eastern edges the Sgr C and Sgr D regions. There are many striking features such as filaments and shell-like structures as well as point sources such as Sgr A* itself. The total mass in the CMZ is greater than that revealed in previous optically thin molecular line maps by a factor of ~3, and new details are revealed on scales down to 0.33 pc across this 400 pc-wide region.
    The Astrophysical Journal 12/2008; 545(2):L121. · 6.02 Impact Factor
  • Article: New Debris Disks around Nearby Main-Sequence Stars: Impact on the Direct Detection of Planets
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    ABSTRACT: Using the MIPS instrument on Spitzer, we have searched for infrared excesses around a sample of 82 stars, mostly F, G, and K main-sequence field stars, along with a small number of nearby M stars. These stars were selected for their suitability for future observations by a variety of planet-finding techniques. These observations provide information on the asteroidal and cometary material orbiting these stars, data that can be correlated with any planets that may eventually be found. We have found significant excess 70 μm emission toward 12 stars. Combined with an earlier study, we find an overall 70 μm excess detection rate of 13% ± 3% for mature cool stars. Unlike the trend for planets to be found preferentially toward stars with high metallicity, the incidence of debris disks is uncorrelated with metallicity. By newly identifying four of these stars as having weak 24 μm excesses (fluxes ~10% above the stellar photosphere), we confirm a trend found in earlier studies wherein a weak 24 μm excess is associated with a strong 70 μm excess. Interestingly, we find no evidence for debris disks around 23 stars cooler than K1, a result that is bolstered by a lack of excess around any of the 38 K1-M6 stars in two companion surveys. One motivation for this study is the fact that strong zodiacal emission can make it hard or impossible to detect planets directly with future observatories such as the Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF). The observations reported here exclude a few stars with very high levels of emission, >1000 times the emission of our zodiacal cloud, from direct planet searches. For the remainder of the sample, we set relatively high limits on dust emission from asteroid belt counterparts.
    The Astrophysical Journal 12/2008; 652(2):1674. · 6.02 Impact Factor
  • Article: Magnetic Fields in Gas Flows near the Galactic Center
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    ABSTRACT: Polarization of molecular lines at 1.3 mm wavelength has been used to trace magnetic field directions between 1 and 3 pc north of Sgr A*. This region connects the Galactic center and the circumnuclear disk (CND) and contains the northern arm of the ionized minispiral. Previous observations using polarized thermal dust emission have shown a rather uniform north-south magnetic field but with uncertainty about the relative contributions (and confusion) of the rotating disk and infalling streamers. By separating these components by velocity in carbon monoxide (CO) spectra, we find that the -20 km s-1 streamer has a different magnetic field from that of the CND, and there is no clear correlation with gas flow directions. However, the dust data do trace the CND magnetic field direction within a few degrees. The CO polarization levels demonstrate the theoretically expected variations with line optical depth.
    The Astrophysical Journal 12/2008; 578(1):224. · 6.02 Impact Factor
  • Article: Structure in the Eridani Debris Disk
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    ABSTRACT: New submillimeter images have been obtained of the dust disk around the nearby K2 V star Eridani, with the total data set now spanning 5 yr. These images show the distribution of dusty debris generated by comet collisions, reflecting clearing and perturbations by planets, and may give insights to early conditions in the solar system. The structure seen around Eri at 850 μm and published in 1998 is confirmed in the new observations, and the same structure is also seen in an image obtained for the first time at 450 μm. The disk is inclined by ≈25° to the sky plane, with emission peaking at 65 AU, a 105 AU radius outer edge, and an inner cavity fainter by a factor of ≈2. The structure within the dust ring suggests perturbations by a planet orbiting at tens of AU, and long-term tracking of these features will constrain its mass and location. A preliminary analysis shows that two clumps and one arc appear to follow the stellar motion (i.e., are not background objects) and have tentative evidence of counterclockwise rotation of ~1° yr-1. Within the ring, the mass of colliding comets is estimated at 5-9 M⊕, similar to the primordial Kuiper Belt, and so any inner terrestrial planets may be undergoing an epoch of heavy bombardment.
    The Astrophysical Journal 12/2008; 619(2):L187. · 6.02 Impact Factor
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    Article: The Vega Debris Disk: A Surprise from Spitzer
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    ABSTRACT: We present high spatial resolution mid- and far-infrared images of the Vega debris disk obtained with the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). The disk is well resolved, and its angular size is much larger than found previously. The radius of the disk is at least 43'' (330 AU), 70'' (543 AU), and 105'' (815 AU) in extent at 24, 70, and 160 μm, respectively. The disk images are circular, smooth, and without clumpiness at all three wavelengths. The radial surface brightness profiles follow radial power laws of r-3 or r-4 and imply an inner boundary at a radius of 11'' ± 2'' (86 AU). Assuming an amalgam of amorphous silicate and carbonaceous grains, the disk can be modeled as an axially symmetric and geometrically thin disk, viewed face-on, with the surface particle number density following an inverse radial power law. The disk radiometric properties are consistent with a range of models using grains of sizes ~1 to ~50 μm. The exact minimum and maximum grain size limits depend on the adopted grain composition. However, all of these models require an r-1 surface number density profile and a total mass of × 10-3 M⊕ in grains. We find that a ring, containing grains larger than 180 μm and at radii of 86-200 AU from the star, can reproduce the observed 850 μm flux, while its emission does not violate the observed MIPS profiles. This ring could be associated with a population of larger asteroidal bodies analogous to our own Kuiper Belt. Cascades of collisions starting with encounters among these large bodies in the ring produce the small debris that is blown outward by radiation pressure to much larger distances, where we detect its thermal emission. The relatively short lifetime (<1000 yr) of these small grains and the observed total mass, ~3 × 10-3 M⊕, set a lower limit on the dust production rate, ~1015 g s-1. This rate would require a very massive asteroidal reservoir for the dust to be produced in a steady state throughout Vega's life. Instead, we suggest that the disk we imaged is ephemeral and that we are witnessing the aftermath of a large and relatively recent collisional event, and a subsequent collisional cascade.
    The Astrophysical Journal 12/2008; 628(1):487. · 6.02 Impact Factor
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    Article: An Unbiased Survey of 500 Nearby Stars for Debris Disks: A JCMT Legacy Program
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    ABSTRACT: We present the scientific motivation and observing plan for an upcoming detection survey for debris disks using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The SCUBA-2 Unbiased Nearby Stars (SUNS) Survey will observe 500 nearby main sequence and sub-giant stars (100 of each of the A, F, G, K and M spectral classes) to the 850 micron extragalactic confusion limit to search for evidence of submillimeter excess, an indication of circumstellar material. The survey distance boundaries are 8.6, 16.5, 22, 25 and 45 pc for M, K, G, F and A stars, respectively, and all targets lie between the declinations of -40 deg to 80 deg. In this survey, no star will be rejected based on its inherent properties: binarity, presence of planetary companions, spectral type or age. This will be the first unbiased survey for debris disks since IRAS. We expect to detect ~125 debris disks, including ~50 cold disks not detectable in current shorter wavelength surveys. A substantial amount of complementary data will be required to constrain the temperatures and masses of discovered disks. High resolution studies will likely be required to resolve many of the disks. Therefore, these systems will be the focus of future observational studies using a variety of observatories to characterize their physical properties. For non-detected systems, this survey will set constraints (upper limits) on the amount of circumstellar dust, of typically 200 times the Kuiper Belt mass, but as low as 10 times the Kuiper Belt mass for the nearest stars in the sample (approximately 2 pc). Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures (3 color), accepted by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
    07/2007;
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    Article: The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope legacy survey of nearby star?forming regions in the Gould Belt
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    ABSTRACT: This paper describes a James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) legacy survey that has been awarded roughly 500 hr of observing time to be carried out from 2007 to 2009. In this survey, we will map with SCUBA-2 (Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2) almost all of the well-known low-mass and intermediate-mass star-forming regions within 0.5 kpc that are accessible from the JCMT. Most of these locations are associated with the Gould Belt. From these observations, we will produce a flux-limited snapshot of star formation near the Sun, providing a legacy of images, as well as point-source and extended-source catalogs, over almost 700 deg(2) of sky. The resulting images will yield the first catalog of prestellar and protostellar sources selected by submillimeter continuum emission, and should increase the number of known sources by more than an order of magnitude. We will also obtain with the array receiver HARP (Heterodyne Array Receiver Program) CO maps, in three CO isotopologues, of a large typical sample of prestellar and protostellar sources. We will then map the brightest hundred sources with the SCUBA-2 polarimeter (POL-2), producing the first statistically significant set of polarization maps in the submillimeter. The images and source catalogs will be a powerful reference set for astronomers, providing a detailed legacy archive for future telescopes, including ALMA, Herschel, and JWST.
    Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 07/2007; 119(858):855-870.
  • Conference Proceeding: Integration of IC technology with MEMS: Silicon+ technology for the future
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    ABSTRACT: First Page of the Article
    Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems, 2007. MEMS Technology. 2007 IET Seminar on; 05/2007
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    Article: The SCUBA-2 "All-Sky" Survey
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    ABSTRACT: The sub-millimetre wavelength regime is perhaps the most poorly explored over large areas of the sky, despite the considerable effort that has been expended in making deep maps over small regions. As a consequence the properties of the sub-millimetre sky as a whole, and of rare bright objects in particular, remains largely unknown. Here we describe a forthcoming survey (the SCUBA-2 ``All-Sky'' Survey, or SASSy) designed to address this issue by making a large-area map of approximately one-fifth of the sky visible from the JCMT (4800 square degrees) down to a 1 sigma noise level of 30 mJy/beam. This map forms the pilot for a much larger survey, which will potentially map the remaining sky visible from the JCMT, with the region also visible to ALMA as a priority. SASSy has been awarded 500 hours for the 4800 square degree pilot phase and will commence after the commissioning of SCUBA-2, expected in early 2008.
    05/2007;
  • Conference Proceeding: Integration of IC technology with MEMS: Silicon+ technology for the future
    Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems, 2007. MEMS Technology. 2007 IET Seminar on; 01/2007
  • Conference Proceeding: Large antennas for ground-based astronomy above 1 THz
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    ABSTRACT: In its history astronomy has continuously expanded access to new wavelength regions both from space and on the ground. Today, one of the few unexplored regimes is the terahertz (THz) frequency range, more specifically above 1 THz (< lambda 300 mum). Astronomical observations above 1 THz are technically very challenging for a number of reasons including antenna technology, receivers, transparency of the atmosphere and calibration. Only recently, the very first observations at THz frequencies have been made with large antennas, and new observational facilities are planned. This contribution gives a brief overview of large THz antennas, one in operation (APEX), and two 25 m class antenna projects planned in Europe and the US
    Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium 2006, IEEE; 08/2006
  • Article: Design of the SCUBA-2 Quick Look Display and Data Reduction Pipeline
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    ABSTRACT: SCUBA-2 is planned to be the largest submillimeter bolometer array in the world and is scheduled for delivery to the 15-m JCMT in May 2006. With over 10,000 pixels at two wavelengths and a maximum sampling rate of 200 Hz, the data rate is expected to be up to 0.5 TB per observing night. Furthermore the data will be reduced concurrently with observing to permit rapid performance and scientific assessments. This paper presents an overview of the instrument and the design of the pipeline, and discusses some of the hurdles which must be overcome in order to cope with the data flow.
    11/2005; 347:585.
  • Conference Proceeding: Design and fabrication of the SCUBA-2 detector for the JCM telescope
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    ABSTRACT: First Page of the Article
    MEMS Sensor Technologies, 2005. The IEE Seminar and Exhibition on; 05/2005
  • Article: Prototype detector technology for the SCUBA-2 submillimetre bolometer array
    Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part N: Journal of Nanoengineering and Nanosystems. 01/2005; 219(1):11-21.

Institutions

  • 2004–2013
    • The University of Edinburgh
      Edinburgh, SCT, United Kingdom
    • University of St Andrews
      • School of Physics and Astronomy
      Saint Andrews, SCT, United Kingdom
  • 2000
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
      Gaithersburg, MD, USA
  • 1998–2000
    • Park University
      Parkville, MO, USA
  • 1998–1999
    • University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
      Hilo, HI, USA
  • 1988–1994
    • Queen Mary, University of London
      London, ENG, United Kingdom