The LLNL Astrophysics Research Center, led by Kem Cook, serves the aims of the IGPP-LLNL in the area of astrophysics. This includes managing the astrophysics part of the IGPP Minigrants program and facilitating contacts between UC scientists and their LLNL counterparts. The Astrophysics Research Center also serves as the focus of astrophysics activities at LLNL by organizing the weekly astrophysics colloquium, by hosting visitors and collaborators, and by providing various other service functions. The staff and postdoctoral researchers of the Astrophysics Research Center carry out a significant program of astrophysics research within the Center.

LLNL invented the field of modern, wide-field, time-resolved astronomy as part of the MACHO project. We have continued pushing the envelope in this field with our leadership or participation in current surveys (SuperMACHO, PLANET, LONEOS, TAOS, etc) producing tens of terabytes of image data. These data, now assembled in Livermore, constitute an invaluable resource for generating astronomical knowledge. We are using these data for extracting science and prioritizing follow-up observations in several research avenues derived from wide-field, time-domain surveys including, 1) extrasolar planet discovery 2) probing the dark energy, 3) characterizing historic supernovae through light echo spectroscopy, 4) Galactic structure and formation history, 5) constraining stellar physics, and more. LLNL is also deeply involved in the design and development of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope project providing expertise in optical design, wavefront sensing, software and data mining.

Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimeters (FIRST) is a project designed to produce the radio equivalent of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey over 10,000 square degrees of the North Galactic Cap. The images can be accessed through http://sundog.stsci.edu. The survey has the same footprint on the sky as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Using the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) and an automated mapping pipeline, we produce images with 1.8 arcsec pixels, a typical rms of 0.15 mJy, and a resolution of 5 arcsec. At the 1 mJy source detection threshold, there are ~90 sources per square degree, ~35% of which have resolved structure. To date, our catalogue contains
approximately 900,000 radio sources, and will be used to study quasars, star formation in galaxies, and cosmology. We are also producing a mutifrequency, multi-epoch radio survey of the Galactic plane using the VLA (third.ucllnl.org/gps). Images are available at 6, 20, and 90 cm wavelengths. The survey is primarily sensitive to diffuse emission from SNR and HII regions. For comparison purposes the website also serves up near and mid-IR images.

IGPP and LLNL have long been a leader in the field of adaptive optics, dating from the first high-order sodium laser guide star AO system at Lick Observatory. LLNL is a major participant in the NSF Center for Adaptive Optics. Current research areas include AO studies of the outer solar system, polarimetry of circumstellar dust disks, and adaptive optics searches for extrasolar planets. The cornerstone effort is the Gemini Planet Imager, a LLNL-led project to build a next-generation AO coronagraph for the Gemini Observatory. http://gpi.berkeley.edu

IGPP and LLNL are also known for large scale astrophysical modeling. We currently are working on modeling stellar evolution and stellar structure in 3D using the Djehuty code on LLNL's supercomputers. This activity has produced a number of important breakthroughs in the past few years including solving the helium-3 abundance problems and CNO isotope ratios.

2008-05-20 | LLNL-MI-404000-REV-1