Will the universe expand forever or will it eventually collapse with a spectacular crunch? The answer is written far out in space and an Irish research team is helping to build a satellite capable of finding it.
The Department of Experimental Physics at NUI Maynooth is a regular participant in projects sponsored by the European Space agency. Two in particular are of interest to graduate student, Ms Emily Gleeson (23), from Thurles, Co Tipperary.
The first is the PLANCK Surveyor, a space telescope carrying sensitive instruments capable of reading the faint microwave radiation left behind by the Big Bang at the formation of the universe. The second is the FIRST space telescope, which studies the weak infra-red radiation coming from deep space. Ms Gleeson is involved in both of these projects, working under Dr Anthony Murphy at NUI Maynooth. Dr Murphy has led the development of analytical techniques for simulating microwave propagation and far infrared optics at Maynooth. Ms Gleeson bucks the current trend which has seen the numbers of women studying the pure sciences plummet.
She graduated with a double first class honours degree from Maynooth in physics and chemistry, taking first place in both the chemistry and experimental physics degree exams.
She is now putting these results to good use towards her doctorate which carries the ponderous title, "Quasioptical design of receiving systems for space applications".
Her work, she says, is basically about modelling. "We design software to model the telescopes that are going up in 2007 to read the microwave background radiation and the fate of the universe," she explained. "Before you send it up you have to be sure the dimensions of the telescope are correct. A single millimetre could make a difference," she added, because the instruments on board PLANCK will be measuring sub-millimetre wavelength signals.
PLANCK will answer fundamental questions about the universe including its age and density. It will also measure thecosmic microwave background which will give us a read on a distant future.
The FIRST space telescope is an infra-red device that will detect radiation from the dust and gas that fill the space between stars. It will give information on how stars and galaxies are formed. Ms Gleeson will also be involved in one of FIRST's instruments, known as SPIRE.
