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Data Downloaded via Parachute from a NASA Super-Pressure Balloon (2023)
Journal Article
Sirks, E. L., Massey, R., Gill, A. S., Anderson, J., Benton, S. J., Brown, A. M., …Vassilakis, G. N. (2023). Data Downloaded via Parachute from a NASA Super-Pressure Balloon. Aerospace, 10(11), Article 960. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10110960

In April 2023, the superBIT telescope was lifted to the Earth’s stratosphere by a helium-filled super-pressure balloon to acquire astronomical imaging from above (99.5% of) the Earth’s atmosphere. It was launched from New Zealand and then, for 40 day... Read More about Data Downloaded via Parachute from a NASA Super-Pressure Balloon.

Lensing in the Blue. II. Estimating the Sensitivity of Stratospheric Balloons to Weak Gravitational Lensing (2023)
Journal Article
McCleary, J. E., Everett, S. W., Shaaban, M. M., Gill, A. S., Vassilakis, G. N., Huff, E. M., …Tam, S. I. (2023). Lensing in the Blue. II. Estimating the Sensitivity of Stratospheric Balloons to Weak Gravitational Lensing. Astronomical Journal, 166(3), https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ace7ca

The Superpressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) is a diffraction-limited, wide-field, 0.5 m, near-infrared to near-ultraviolet observatory designed to exploit the stratosphere's space-like conditions. SuperBIT's 2023 science flight will... Read More about Lensing in the Blue. II. Estimating the Sensitivity of Stratospheric Balloons to Weak Gravitational Lensing.

Robust diffraction-limited near-infrared-to-near-ultraviolet wide-field imaging from stratospheric balloon-borne platforms—Super-pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope performance (2020)
Journal Article
Romualdez, L. J., Benton, S. J., Brown, A. M., Clark, P., Damaren, C. J., Eifler, T., …Tam, S. (2020). Robust diffraction-limited near-infrared-to-near-ultraviolet wide-field imaging from stratospheric balloon-borne platforms—Super-pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope performance. Review of Scientific Instruments, 91(3), Article 034501. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5139711

At a fraction of the total cost of an equivalent orbital mission, scientific balloon-borne platforms, operating above 99.7% of the Earth’s atmosphere, offer attractive, competitive, and effective observational capabilities—namely, space-like seeing,... Read More about Robust diffraction-limited near-infrared-to-near-ultraviolet wide-field imaging from stratospheric balloon-borne platforms—Super-pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope performance.

Simulating the optical performance of a small-sized telescope with secondary optics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (2016)
Journal Article
Rulten, C., Zech, A., Okumurad, A., Laporte, P., & Schmoll, J. (2016). Simulating the optical performance of a small-sized telescope with secondary optics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array. Astroparticle Physics, 82, 36-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2016.05.002

The Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT) is a small-sized telescope (SST) that represents one of three novel designs that are based on Schwarzschild–Couder optics and are proposed for use within the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The GAmma-ray Teles... Read More about Simulating the optical performance of a small-sized telescope with secondary optics for the Cherenkov Telescope Array.

Why do animal eyes have pupils of different shapes? (2015)
Journal Article
Banks, M. S., Sprague, W. W., Schmoll, J., Parnell, J. A., & Love, G. D. (2015). Why do animal eyes have pupils of different shapes?. Science Advances, 1(7), Article e1500391. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500391

There is a striking correlation between terrestrial species’ pupil shape and ecological niche (that is, foraging mode and time of day they are active). Species with vertically elongated pupils are very likely to be ambush predators and active day and... Read More about Why do animal eyes have pupils of different shapes?.

Introducing the CTA concept (2013)
Journal Article
Acharya, B., Actis, M., Aghajani, T., Agnetta, G., Aguilar, J., Aharonian, F., …Zychowski, P. (2013). Introducing the CTA concept. Astroparticle Physics, 43(SI), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2013.01.007

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a new observatory for very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays. CTA has ambitions science goals, for which it is necessary to achieve full-sky coverage, to improve the sensitivity by about an order of magnitude, to spa... Read More about Introducing the CTA concept.

Design concepts for the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA: an advanced facility for ground-based high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. (2011)
Journal Article
Actis, M., Agnetta, G., Aharonian, F., Akhperjanian, A., Aleksić, J., Aliu, E., …et al. (2011). Design concepts for the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA: an advanced facility for ground-based high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. Experimental Astronomy, 32(3), 193-316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-011-9247-0

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has had a major breakthrough with the impressive results obtained using systems of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has a huge potential in astrophysics, particle physics and... Read More about Design concepts for the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA: an advanced facility for ground-based high-energy gamma-ray astronomy..