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Overview
Affiliations
AffiliationRoom numberTelephone
Professor in the Department of Physicsocw031 / Netpark43719 / 44819
Member of the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation  
Member of the Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy  

Biography

I am a member of the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation which develops advanced instrumentation for large ground- and space-based telescopes, with spinoffs into imaging for the life sciences, fusion diagnostics and remote sensing. I am also a member of the Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy. My technical interests are in astronomical instrumentationfusion diagnostics and hyperspectral remote sensing. On the observational astronomy side I work on extragalactic globular cluster systems as probes of galaxy formation theories and on the evolution of galaxies in clusters and the field. I am the Principal Investigator for KMOS, a £15M multi-object, near-infrared, integral field spectrometer constructed for the 8.2m ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile, and for SALT-HRS, a high-resolution echelle spectrograph for the 11m diameter South African Large Telescope. 

Responsibilities within department

Teaching activity

Research interests

  • fusion diagnostics
  • remote sensing
  • observational cosmology
  • astronomical instrumentation

Research groups

Related Links

Awarded Grants

  • 2020: Astronomy Consolidated Grant 2020 2023 CfAI(£1197810.10 from Ernest Rutherford Fellowship)
  • 2014: Durham Astronomy Consolidated Grant (CfAI)(£896451.20 from STFC)
  • 2013: A programme of astronomical instrumentation and high energy astrophysics at Durham 2013-2015(£961829.80 from STFC)

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

  • Science: Education, industry & the community: astronomy
  • Science: Education, industry & the community: cosmology
  • Science: Education, industry & the community: instrumentation for astronomy

Publications

Authored book

  • Sharples, Ray, Gray, Peter and Hatzidimitriou, Despina (1991). Autofib Manual. Anglo-Australian Observatory.
  • Gray, Peter & Sharples, Ray (1985). AAO fibre system. Anglo-Australian Observatory.

Chapter in book

  • Gardner, JP, Sharples, RM, Frenk, CS & Carrasco, BE (1998). The K-band luminosity function of galaxies. In New Horizons from Multi-Wavelength Sky Surveys Proceedings of the 179th Symposium of the International Astronomical Union, Held in Baltimore, U.S.A., August 26–30, 1996. Brian J. McLean, Daniel A. Golombek, Jeffrey J. E. Hayes & Harry E. Payne 278-280.

Conference Paper

  • Kuntschner, Harald, Ziegler, Bodo L., Sharples, R. M., & Worthey, Guy and Fricke, Klaus J. (2003), VLT Spectroscopy of NGC 3115 Globular Clusters, Extragalactic Globular Cluster Systems 121-.
  • Beasley, M. A., Baugh, C. M., Forbes, D. A., Sharples, R. & M. and Frenk, C. S. (2003), Forming Globular Cluster Systems Semi-analytically, Revista Mexicana de Astronomia y Astrofisica Conference Series 17: 140-141.
  • Bridges, Terry,, Beasley, Mike,, Faifer, Favio,, Forbes, Duncan,, Forte, Juan,, Gebhardt, Karl,, Hanes, Dave,, Sharples, Ray & Zepf, Steve (2003), Globular Clusters in Early-Type Galaxies with Gemini/gmos, 6: Extragalactic Globular Clusters and their Host Galaxies, 25th meeting of the IAU, Joint Discussion 6. Sydney, Australia, Sydney.
  • Wright, Gillian, Ivison, Rob, Hastings, Peter, Wells, Martyn, Sharples, Ray, Allington-Smith, Jeremy & Content, Robert (2002), Multiple Integral Field Spectroscopy, Scientific Drivers for ESO Future VLT/VLTI Instrumentation Proceedings of the ESO Workshop held in Garching, Germany, 11-15 June, 2001 128-.
  • Beasley, M. A., Sharples, R. M., Bridges, T. J., Hanes, D. A., Zepf, S. E., Ashman, K. M. & Geisler, D. (2002), Ages and Metallicities of Globular Clusters in NGC 4472, in Geisler, D. P., Grebel, E. K. & Minniti, D. eds, Proceedings of the symposium of the IAU, 207 207: Extragalactic Star Clusters, 207th IAU Symposium 207. Pucón, Chile, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 318.
  • Morris, Simon, Content, Robert, Sharples, Ray, Bower, Richard, Davies, Roger & Baugh, Carlton (2002), A Million Element Integral Field Unit (MEIFU), Scientific Drivers for ESO Future VLT/VLTI Instrumentation Proceedings of the ESO Workshop held in Garching, Germany, 11-15 June, 2001 ESO Workshop. Garching, Germany, Springer, 99-107.
  • Sharples, R., Morris, S. & Content, R. (2002), MEIFU - A Million Element Integral Field Unit for Deep Ly-α Searches, Next Generation Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectroscopy. ASP Conf. Ser 280: 125-.
  • Bacon, R., Adam, G., Cabrit, S., Combes, F., Davies, R. L., Emsellem, E., Ferruit, P., Franx, M., Gilmore, G., Guiderdoni, B., Lefèvre, O., Morris, S., Pécontal, E., Prieto, E., Sharples, R., van der & Werf, P. and de Zeeuw, P. T. (2002), IGER Bacon R., et al., 1995, A&AS, 113, 347, Scientific Drivers for ESO Future VLT/VLTI Instrumentation Proceedings of the ESO Workshop held in Garching, Germany, 11-15 June, 2001. p. 108 108-.
  • Beasley, M. A., Baugh, C. M., Forbes, D. A., Sharples, R. & M. and Frenk, C. S. (2002), Forming Globular Cluster Systems Semi-Analytically, Galaxy evolution, theory and observations
  • Bridges, T. J., Ashman, K., Beasley, M., Geisler, D., & Hanes, D., Sharples, R. and Zepf, S. (2000), Globular Clusters as Dynamical Probes of the Virgo Giant Elliptical M49, IAU Symposium 201.
  • Freeman, K. C., Arnaboldi, M., Capaccioli, M., Ciardullo, R., Feldmeier, J., Ford, H., Gerhard, O., Kudritzki, R., Jacoby, G., Méndez, & R. H. and Sharples, R. (2000), Intracluster Planetary Nebulae in the Virgo Cluster, ASP Conf. Ser. 197: Dynamics of Galaxies: from the Early Universe to the Present 197: 389-.
  • Burke, D. J., Collins, C. A., Nichol, R. C., Romer, A. K., & Reichart, D. E., Holden, B. P., Castander, F. J. and Sharples, R. M. (1999), Clusters of Galaxies, X-Rays, and Dark Matter, The Identification of Dark Matter 37-.
  • Zadrozny, A., Chang, M. P. J. L., Buscher, D. F., Myers, & R. M., Doel, A. P., Dunlop, C. N., Sharples, R. M. and Arnold, R. L. (1999), First Atmospheric Compensation with a Linearized High-Order Adaptive Mirror-Electra, Astronomy with adaptive optics present results and future programs 459-.
  • Carrasco, B. E., Vazquez, S., Ren, D., Sharples, R. M., & Langarica, R., Lewis, I. J. and Parry, I. R. (1998), Multi-Fiber Spectroscopy at the Observatorio "Guillermo Haro", ASP Conf. Ser. 152: Fiber Optics in Astronomy III 152: 117-.
  • Gardner, J. P., Sharples, R. M., Baugh, C. M., Frenk, C. S. & Carrasco, B. E. (1997), A Wide-Field K-Band Galaxy Survey, in Mamon, Gary Allan, Trinh, Xuan Thuan & Tran, J. Thanh Van eds, Moriond proceedings, 97 17th Moriond Astrophysics Meeting. Les Arcs, Savoie, France, Editions Frontieres, Paris, 415.
  • Gardner, J. P., Sharples, R. M., Frenk, C. S. and & Carrasco, B. E. (1997), The K-Band Luminosity Function of Galaxies, American Institute of Physics Conference Series 393: 543-.
  • Sharples, R. M., Gardner, J. P., Frenk, C. S. and & Carrasco, B. E. (1997), The K-band Luminosity Function of Early-Type Galaxies, ASP Conf. Ser. 116: The Nature of Elliptical Galaxies; 2nd Stromlo Symposium 116: 559-.
  • Doel, P., Buscher, D., Dunlop, C., Sharples, R. and & Andrews, N. (1996), Recent results from the MARTINI III/WHIRCAM infra-red adaptive optics system, Adaptive Optics 69-.
  • Burke, D. J., Collins, C. A., Nichol, R. C., Romer, A. K., & Holden, B., Sharples, R. M. and Ulmer, M. P. (1996), A Search for distant X-ray galaxy clusters, Roentgenstrahlung from the Universe 569-570.
  • Sharples, R.M. (1996), The Butcher-Oemler Effect in Nearby Clusters, IAU Symp. 171: New Light on Galaxy Evolution 171: 199-.
  • Lewis, I. J., Parry, I. R., Sharples, R. M. and Taylor, & K. (1993), Fibre-to-Object Allocation Algorithms for Autofib Type Fibre Positioners, ASP Conf. Ser. 37: Fiber Optics in Astronomy II 37: 249-.
  • Gray, P. M., Taylor, K., Parry, I. R., Lewis, I. J. and & Sharples, R. M. (1993), The AAT 2dF Project - Current Status, ASP Conf. Ser. 37: Fiber Optics in Astronomy II 37: 145-.
  • Parry, I. R., Sharples, R. M., Lewis, I. J. and Gray, P. & M. (1993), High Precision Fibre Positioning for the Prime Foci of 4-metre class Telescopes, ASP Conf. Ser. 37: Fiber Optics in Astronomy II 37: 36-.
  • Young, P., Sharples, R., Lucey, J. and Staveley-Smith, L. (1993), Improved galaxy cluster distances from an optical Tully-Fisher relation, Cosmic Velocity Fields 601-.
  • Clegg, R. E. S., Devaney, M. N., Doel, A. P., Dunlop, C. & N., Major, J. V., Myers, R. M. and Sharples, R. M. (1993), Morphology & Kinematics of the 'Born-Again' Planetary Abell 78, IAU Symp. 155: Planetary Nebulae 155: 388-.
  • Doel, A. P., Dunlop, C. N., Major, J. V., Myers, R. M., & and Sharples, R. M. (1992), MARTINI - Sensing and control system design, Active and adaptive optical components; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 24-26, 1991 (A93-39559 15-74), p. 472-478 1543: 472-478.
  • Sharples, R. M., Smail, I. R., Ellis, R. S., Couch, W. J., & Fitchett, M. J. and Jørgensen, H. E. (1992), Deep WFC Imaging of the z=0.3 Cluster AC114, Science with the Hubble Space Telescope 119-.
  • Feast, M.W., Whitelock, P.A. & Sharples, R. (1992), The Galactic Bulge and the Thick Disc, IAU Symp. 149: The Stellar Populations of Galaxies 149: 77-.
  • Doel, A. P., Dunlop, C. N., Major, J. V., Myers, R. M., & and Sharples, R. M. (1992), MARTINI - A Partial Adaptive System in the Visible; Status and Development, Progress in Telescope and Instrumentation Technologies 523-.
  • Doel, A. P., Dunlop, C. N., Major, J. V., Myers, R. M., & and Sharples, R. M. (1991), MARTINI - System operation and astronomical performance, Active and adaptive optical systems; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 22-24, 1991 (A93-39451 15-74), p. 319-326 1542: 319-326.
  • Walker, Alistair, Sharples, Ray and Cropper, Mark (1990), Kinematics of the Baade Window late M giants, Workshop on Bulges of Galaxies 99-102.
  • Rose, J., Sharples, R. M., Ellis, R. S. and Bower, R. G. (1989), The stellar content of early-type galaxies in dense environments, NATO ASIC Proc. 264: The Epoch of Galaxy Formation 371-.
  • Sharples, R. (1988), A complete sample of globular clusters in NGC 5128, IAU Symp. 126: The Harlow-Shapley Symposium on Globular Cluster Systems in Galaxies 126: 545-546.
  • Parry, I. & Sharples, R.M. (1988), AUTO FIB Current Status, ASP Conf. Ser. 3: Fiber Optics in Astronomy 3: 93-.
  • Ellis, R. S., Mobasher, B. and Sharples, R. M. (1986), Infrared colour-luminosity relations for field galaxies, NATO ASIC Proc. 180: Galaxy Distances and Deviations from Universal Expansion 81-85.

Conference Proceeding

  • Buscher, D.F. Doel, A.P. Andrews, N. Dunlop, C. Morris, P.W., Myers, R.M., Sharples, R.M., Vick, A.J.A. Zadrozny, A., Haniff, C.A. & Wilson, R.W. (1996). Novel adaptive optics with the Durham University ELECTRA system.

Journal Article

Supervision students