Staff profile
Dr Aglaé Kellerer
Contact Dr Aglaé Kellerer (email at a.n.c.kellerer@durham.ac.uk)
Research Interests
The aim of my research is to combine mathematics, physics and engineering in order to sharpen the performance of astronomical instrumentation. In this context, I am currently mainly working on adaptive optical systems for solar telescopes.
Understanding solar activity is critically important both scientifically in terms of understanding flares and coronal mass ejections and also technologically in understanding a predicting solar storms and their potential huge impact on mass communications and power distribution. Our capability to understand its driving force – the solar magnetic field – relies on high angular-resolution observations within large fields-of-view and therefore requires multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO).
Even if my research primarily addresses astronomy, it is my general ambition to improve instrumentation as it is required in other domains such as ophthalmology. While astronomers correct wavefront distortions caused by atmospheric turbulence, ophthalmologists need to account for the imperfections of the eye, i.e. for the wavefront disturbances due to the cornea, lens and vitreous humor. Wavefront sensors are also used in microscopes to measure index fluctuations in biological tissues. On a quite different scale the turbulence generated by an airplane during take-off can likewise be measured with a wavefront sensor, and this is an issue of special relevance today as increasing air traffic density and the use of ever larger planes make the time-span between take-offs a critical issue.
Employment History
Since Sept 2012: Research Fellow in the Physics Department of Durham University
2010-2012: Assistant Research Professor, Big Bear Solar Observatory, USA
2009-2010: Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute for Astronomy, Hawaii, USA
2007-2009: Postdoctoral Researcher, Meudon observatory, France
2004-2007: PhD in Astronomy, Paris University and European Southern Observatory (ESO), “Assessing time scales of atmospheric turbulence at observatory sites”.
Research Groups
- Centre for Advanced Instrumentation
Publications
Journal papers: academic
- Kellerer, A. (2012). Layer-oriented adaptive optics for solar telescopes. Applied Optics 51(23): 5743-5751.
- Kellerer, A., Gorceix, N. Marino, J. Cao, W. & Goode, P. (2012). Profiles of the daytime atmospheric turbulence above Big Bear solar observatory. Astronomy & Astrophysics 542: A2.
- Kellerer, A. (2011). Phase sensor for solar adaptive-optics. Astronomy & Astrophysics 530: A79.
- Tokovinin, A., Kellerer, A. & Coude du Foresto, V. (2008). FADE, an instrument to measure the atmospheric coherence time. Astronomy and Astrophysics 477(2): 671-680.