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Asked by 883spcm39 to Eimear, James, Jonathan, Lána, Willi on 5 Mar 2018.
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Lána Salmon answered on 5 Mar 2018:
Great question. I think we all have different areas of space that we like to study the most. But I think all of space is pretty interesting. Specifically, I study gamma-ray bursts. These are energetic flashes that occur in space when a star dies or when two stars collide. We can detect the light from these on earth using telescopes or using satellites in space. I study these using the Watcher robotic telescope in South Africa, with UCD owns. I also study how gamma-ray bursts are linked to gravitational waves, which are like waves in space-time. They stretch and compress space. My job is to write code for our telescope, Watcher, to observe these gamma-ray bursts quicker.
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William O'Connor answered on 5 Mar 2018:
Space needs many different kinds of experts: in rockets, materials, medicine, astronomy, chemistry, physics. You can’t be an expert in everything. So engineers usually specialise in one area. My area is mainly controlling the motion of spacecraft. But I am interested in most aspects of space.
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