About
Professor Tony Bird is a member of the astronomy group within the School of Physics and Astronomy. He is currently deputy head of school (education). His research interests are in the area of gamma-ray astronomy, especially instrumentation and the translation of astronomy techniques for terrestrial application such as security and medical imaging.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- My main research interest is in instrumentation and data analysis for high energy astrophysics.
- I am a co-investigator for the IBIS imaging telescope on the European Space Agency's INTEGRAL space telescope mission, operating successfully since its launch in 2001.
- I am responsible for compilation of the all-sky survey from IBIS.
- I am also working on data from a number of currently operating gamma-ray telescopes and helping to design the next-generation of space telescopes.
Current research
Professor Tony Bird’s research focus is on astronomy in the X-ray and soft gamma-ray wavebands.
Professor Bird is a co-investigator for the IBIS imager on the ESA INTEGRAL mission, in which has been operational since 2002. He has led the team producing the main survey catalogs from INTEGRAL, the latest of which was released in 2016. He also works on the development on new instrumental and data analysis techniques. Among the many sources in the survey catalogs, Prof. Bird’s personal research interest is in the Supergiant Fast X-ray Binaries, a new class of highly variable binary star system discovered by INTEGRAL. Prof Bird was involved in the technical development of several of the main components of IBIS, and a member of the calibration team.
Prof Bird is involved in the transfer of astronomical technology to other applications, including homeland security and medical imaging. He recently participated in a successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership with local company Symetrica as part of this programme, and led two Space Research and Innovation Network for Technology (SPRINT) programmes.
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
Teaching
Prof Bird was previously Director of Programmes for Physics and Astronomy, and is now Deputy Head of School for Education. He has taught courses on Medical Physics and Applied Nuclear Physics, and currently leads the mission design element of the Tenerife Field Trip for astronomy and space science students.