Staff profile

About my research

I am the technical manager for the COSMA High Performance Computing system at Durham. This is a tier 1 national supercomputing facility, used by people from all over the world. For information please see www.dur.ac.uk/icc/cosma. For emergency contact, please use 07771 three three five five nine three.

I am also a researcher in most things to do with astronomical adaptive optics (AO) including real-time control systems and simulation, as well as design and bench work.

I have developed the Durham AO real-time controller which has been used successfully by multiple institutes worldwide.

I perform extensive end-to-end simulations of AO systems for the next generation Extremely Large Telescopes

I am a member of the CANARY team, developing technologies for next generation AO systems with on-sky testing

I am involved with the DRAGON AO bench in Durham studying wide-field AO.

I have extensive knowledge of camera electronics and calibration techniques.

• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Centre for Advanced Instrumentation

• 0000: Real-time control systems workshop: Head of SOC, Organiser
• 0000: Real-time control systems workshop: SOC member

Conference Paper

• Morris, Timothy, Basden, Alastair, Calcines-Rosario, Ariadna, Dohlen, Kjetil, Dubbeldam, Cornelis, El Hadi, Kacem, Fitzsimons, Ewan, Fusco, Thierry, Gendron, Éric, Hammer, François, Jagourel, Pascal, Jenkins, David, Morel, Carine, Morris, Simon, Rousset, Gérard, Townson, Matthew, Vola, Pascal & Younger, Edward (2018), Phase A AO system design and performance for MOSAIC at the ELT, in Close, Laird M., Schreiber, Laura & Schmidt, Dirk eds, 10703: Adaptive Optics Systems VI: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2018. Austin, Texas, SPIE.
• Lombardi, G., Calia, Bonaccini, Centrone, M., Talavera, M. Reyes Garcia, Morris, T.J., Pfrommer, T., Basden, A.G., Vidal, F., Gendron, E., Rousset, G., Mayers, R.M., Osborn, J., Reeves, A.P., Talbot, R.G., Townson, M., Lavers, A. Cabrera & Postigoh, A. de Ugarte (2017), Photometry and Spectrum measurements of the Laser Guide Star beam emission at Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos with the Gran Telescope Canarias, Adaptive Optics for Extremely Large Telescopes 5 (AO4ELT5). Tenerife, Canary Islands, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, 1-7.
• Bardou, Lisa, Gendron, Eric, Rousset, Gérard, Gratadour, Damien, Basden, Alastair G., Bonaccini, Domenico, Buey, Tristan, Centrone, Mauro, Chemla, Fanny, Lombardi, Gianluca, Marchetti, Enrico, Morris, Timothy J, Myers, Richard M., Osborn, J., Townson, Matthew J., Vidal, Fabrice & Reyes Garcia-Talavera, Marcos (2017), Preliminary on-sky results of the CANARY experiment with an ELT-elongated sodium LGS, Adaptive Optics for Extremely Large Telescopes 5 (AO4ELT5). Tenerife, Canary Islands, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.
• Mackay, Craig, Basden, Alistair & Bridgeland, Mick (2004), Astronomical imaging with L3CCDs: detector performance and high-speed controller design, 5499: 203-209.
• Basden, A., Mackay, C. & Haniff, C. (2004), L3CCDs: Fast Photon Counting for Optical Interferometry, 593-597.
• Basden, A., Tubbs, B. & Mackay, C. (2004), L3CCD's: Low Readout Noise CCDS in Astronomy, 599-602.
• Basden, Alastair G., Haniff, Christopher A., Mackay, Craig D., Bridgeland, Mick T., Wilson, Donald M., Young, John S.uscher & David F. (2004), A new photon-counting spectrometer for the COAST, 5491: 677-.
• Haniff, Christopher A., Baldwin, John E., Basden, Alastair G., Bharmal, Nazim A., Boysen, Roger C., Buscher, David F., Keen, James W., Mackay, Craig D., O'Donovan, Bridget, Seneta, Eugene B., Thorsteinsson, Hrobjartur, Thureau, Nathalie D., Tubbs, Robert N., Warner, Peter J., Wilson, Donald M.oung & John S. (2004), COAST: recent technology and developments, 5491: 511-.
• Young, John S., Baldwin, John E., Basden, Alastair G., Bharmal, Nazim A., Buscher, David F., George, Amanda V., Haniff, Christopher A., Keen, James W., O'Donovan, Bridget, Pearson, Debbie, Thorsteinsson, Hrobjarthur, Thureau, Nathalie D., Tubbs, Robert N.arner & Peter J. (2003), Astrophysical results from COAST, 4838: 369-378.
• Haniff, Christopher A., Baldwin, John E., Basden, Alastair G., Bharmal, Nazim A., Boysen, Roger C., Buscher, David F., George, Amanda V., Keen, James, Mackay, Craig D., O'Donovan, Bridget, Pearson, Debbie, Rogers, John, Seneta, Bodie, Thorsteinsson, Hrobjarthur, Thureau, Nathalie D., Tubbs, Robert N., Warner, Peter J., Wilson, Donald M.A.oung & John S. (2003), Progress at COAST 2000-2002, 4838: 19-27.
• Basden, Alastair G., Buscher, David F., Haniff, Christopher A.ackay & Craig D. (2003), Low readout noise CCDs in optical interferometry, 4838: 786-793.

Journal Article

• Hottinger, Philipp, Harris, Robert J., Crass, Jonathan, Dietrich, Philipp-Immanuel, Blaicher, Matthias, Bechter, Andrew, Sands, Brian, Morris, Timothy, Basden, Alastair G., Bharmal, Nazim Ali, Heidt, Jochen, Anagnos, Theodoros, Neureuther, Philip L., Glück, Martin, Power, Jennifer, Pott, Jörg-Uwe, Koos, Christian, Sawodny, Oliver & Quirrenbach, Andreas (2021). On-sky results for the integrated microlens ring tip-tilt sensor. Journal of the Optical Society of America B 38(9): 2517.
• Laidlaw, Douglas J, Osborn, James, Morris, Timothy J, Basden, Alastair G, Gendron, Eric, Rousset, Gérard, Townson, Matthew J & Wilson, Richard W (2020). Automated wind velocity profiling from adaptive optics telemetry. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 491(1): 1287-1294.
• Suárez Gómez, Sergio Luis, González-Gutiérrez, Carlos, Alonso, Enrique Díez, Santos, Jesús Daniel, Rodríguez, María Luisa Sánchez, Morris, Tim, Osborn, James, Basden, Alastair, Bonavera, Laura, González, Joaquín González-Nuevo & de Cos Juez, Francisco Javier (2019). Experience with Artificial Neural Networks Applied in Multi-object Adaptive Optics. Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 131(1004): 108012.
• Basden, A G, Jenkins, D, Morris, T J, Osborn, J & Townson, M J (2019). Efficient implementation of pseudo open loop control for adaptive optics on Extremely Large Telescopes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 486(2): 1774-1780.
• Jenkins, David R, Basden, Alastair G & Myers, Richard M (2019). A many-core CPU prototype of an MCAO and LTAO RTC for ELT-scale instruments. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 485(4): 5142-5152.
• Laidlaw, Douglas J, Osborn, James, Morris, Timothy J, Basden, Alastair G, Beltramo-Martin, Olivier, Butterley, Timothy, Gendron, Eric, Reeves, Andrew P, Rousset, Gerard, Townson, Matthew J & Wilson, Richard W (2019). Optimizing the accuracy and efficiency of optical turbulence profiling using adaptive optics telemetry for extremely large telescopes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 483(4): 4341-4353.
• Jenkins, David R., Basden, Alastair & Myers, Richard M. (2018). ELT-scale adaptive optics real-time control with the Intel Xeon Phi Many Integrated Core Architecture. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 478(3): 3149-3158.
• Basden, A.G., Bharmal, N.A., Jenkins, D., Morris, T.J., Osborn, J., Peng, J. & Staykov, L. (2018). The Durham Adaptive Optics Simulation Platform (DASP): Current status. SoftwareX 7: 63-69.
• González-Gutiérrez, Carlos, Santos, Jesús, Martínez-Zarzuela, Mario, Basden, Alistair, Osborn, James, Díaz-Pernas, Francisco & De Cos Juez, Francisco (2017). Comparative Study of Neural Network Frameworks for the Next Generation of Adaptive Optics Systems. Sensors 17(6): 1263.
• Basden, A. G., Bardou, L., Bonaccini-Calia, D., Buey, T., Centrone, M., Chemla, F., Gach, J. L., Gendron, E., Gratadour, D., Guidolin, I., Jenkins, D. R., Marchetti, E., Morris, T. J., Myers, R. M., Osborn, J., Reeves, A. P., Reyes, M., Rousset, G., Stangalini, M., Townson, M. J. & Vidal, F. (2017). On-sky demonstration of matched filters for wavefront measurements using ELT-scale elongated laser guide stars. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 466(4): 5003-5010.
• MacLachlan, D. G., Harris, R. J., Gris-Sánchez, I., Morris, T. J., Choudhury, D., Gendron, E., Basden, A. G., Spaleniak, I., Arriola, A., Birks, T. A., Allington-Smith, J. R. & Thomson, R. R. (2017). Efficient photonic reformatting of celestial light for diffraction-limited spectroscopy. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 464(4): 4950-4957.
• Basden, A. G. & Morris, T. J. (2016). Monte-Carlo modelling of multi-object adaptive optics performance on the European Extremely Large Telescope. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 463(4): 4184-4193.
• Basden, A. G., Atkinson, D., Bharmal, N. A., Bitenc, U., Brangier, M., Buey, T., Butterley, T., Cano, D., Chemla, F., Clark, P., Cohen, M., Conan, J.-M., de Cos, F. J., Dickson, C., Dipper, N. A., Dunlop, C. N., Feautrier, P., Fusco, T., Gach, J. L., Gendron, E., Geng, D., Goodsell, S. J., Gratadour, D., Greenaway, A. H., Guesalaga, A., Guzman, C. D., Henry, D., Holck, D., Hubert, Z., Huet, J. M., Kellerer, A., Kulcsar, C., Laporte, P., Le Roux, B., Looker, N., Longmore, A. J., Marteaud, M., Martin, O., Meimon, S., Morel, C., Morris, T. J., Myers, R. M., Osborn, J., Perret, D., Petit, C., Raynaud, H., Reeves, A. P., Rousset, G., Sanchez Lasheras, F., Sanchez Rodriguez, M., Santos, J. D., Sevin, A., Sivo, G., Stadler, E., Stobie, B., Talbot, G., Todd, S., Vidal, F. & Younger, E. J. (2016). Experience with wavefront sensor and deformable mirror interfaces for wide-field adaptive optics systems. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 459(2): 1350-1359.
• Basden, Alastair (2015). Monte Carlo modelling of multiconjugate adaptive optics performance on the European Extremely Large Telescope. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 453(3): 3036-3042.
• Basden, A. G. (2015). Analysis of electron multiplying charge coupled device and scientific CMOS readout noise models for Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor accuracy. Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 1(3): 039002.
• Basden, A. G., Morris, T. J., Gratadour, D. & Gendron, E. (2015). Sensitivity improvements for Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors using total variation minimization. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 449(4): 3537-3542.
• Basden, Alastair (2015). Investigation of POWER8 processors for astronomical adaptive optics real-time control. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 452(2): 1694-1701.
• Basden, Alastair, Evans, Chris & Morris, Tim (2014). Wide-field adaptive optics performance in cosmological deep fields for multi-object spectroscopy with the European Extremely Large Telescope. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 445(4): 4008-4014.
• Basden, A. G. (2014). Visible near-diffraction-limited lucky imaging with full-sky laser-assisted adaptive optics. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 442(2): 1142-1150.
• Basden, A. G. (2014). A real-time simulation facility for astronomical adaptive optics. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 439(3): 2854-2862.
• Basden, A. G., Chemla, F., Dipper, N., Gendron, E., Henry, D., Morris, T., Rousset, G. & Vidal, F. (2014). Real-time correlation reference update for astronomical adaptive optics. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 439(1): 968-976.
• Basden, A. G. (2014). Faulty actuator tolerance in deformable mirrors for Extremely Large Telescope multi-object adaptive optics. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 440(1): 577-581.
• Basden, A. G., Bharmal, N. A., Myers, R. M., Morris, S. & Morris, T. J. (2013). Monte-Carlo simulation of ELT scale multi-object adaptive optics deformable mirror requirements and tolerances. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 435(2): 992-998.
• Basden, A. G. & Myers, R.M. (2012). The Durham adaptive optics real-time controller: capability and Extremely Large Telescope suitability. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 424(2): 1483-1494.
• Basden, Alastair, Geng, Deli, Myers, Richard & Younger, Eddy (2010). Durham adaptive optics real-time controller. Applied Optics 49(32): 6354-6363.
• Basden, Alastair, Myers, Richard & Butterley, Timothy (2010). Considerations for EAGLE from Monte Carlo adaptive optics simulation. Applied Optics 49(31): 1-8.
• Basden, Alastair, Geng, Deli, Guzman, Dani, Morris, Tim, Myers, Richard & Saunter, Chris (2007). Shack-Hartmann sensor improvement using optical binning. Applied Optics 46(24): 6136-6141.
• Basden, Alastair. (2007). Adaptive optics simulation performance improvements using reconfigurable logic. Applied Optics 46: 900-906.
• Basden, A. G., Butterley, T., Myers, R. M. & Wilson R. W. (2007). Durham extremely large telescope adaptive optics simulation platform. Applied Optics 46(7): 1089-1098.
• Basden, A.G. & Buscher, D.F. (2005). Improvements for group delay fringe tracking. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 357: 656-668.
• Basden, A.G., Assemat, F., Butterley, T., Geng, D., Saunter, C.D. & Wilson RW (2005). Acceleration of adaptive optics simulations using programmable logic. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 364(4): 1413-1418.
• Basden, A.G. & Haniff, C.A. (2004). Low light level CCDs and visibility parameter estimation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 347: 1187-1197.
• Basden, A.G., Haniff, C.A.ackay & C.D. (2003). Photon counting strategies with low-light-level CCDs. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 345: 985-991.