Peter T. Gallagher

Peter T. Gallagher was born to Peter (died 2003) and Patricia Gallagher, of Clontarf, a northern suburb of Dublin. He has a brother and a sister.{{cite news |title=Gallagher (Clontarf, Dublin) |work=Evening Herald |date=10 March 2003 |page=52 |quote=- March 7, 2003 ... Peter .. husband of Patricia .. father of Peter, David and Anne-Marie ...}} He attended the local Belgrove Primary School, and for secondary school, the Irish Christian Brothers' O'Connell School on North Circular Road, central Dublin.{{cite book |title=Irish Science Teachers' Association / Eol-Oidí na hÉireann 57th Annual Conference |date=April 2019 |publisher=Irish Science Teachers’ Association |location=Dublin, Ireland |page=11 |chapter=Keynote Address: Tuning in to the Radio Universe from Birr Castle}} His father was a fitter and service engineer with Ingersoll Rand, and father and son worked with mechanical and electrical items in the family's back garden. Gallagher pursued chemistry and technical drawing for the Irish Leaving Certificate.{{cite web |last1=Shaw (producer) |first1=Helen |title=The Family of Things – E13 – Peter Gallagher |url=https://soundcloud.com/athena-media/the-family-of-things-e13-peter-gallagher |website=soundcloud.com |publisher=Athena Media via Soundcloud |access-date=24 September 2020}} He played Gaelic football to minor level with Clontarf GAA, and youth and adult rugby with Clontarf Football Club, and in his teens, he played lead guitar in a heavy metal/punk band.

He was the first member of his family to attend college, pursuing a Bachelor of Science at University College Dublin, where he studied a wide range of subjects but moved to focus on physics and specifically astronomy after being given a copy of A Brief History of Time as a present. He qualified with an honours B.Sc. in Physics and Maths in 1995, and secured a place on a funded Masters course in Optoelectronics at Queen's University Belfast, qualifying first in his year, with distinction, in Optoelectronics and Image Processing in 1996. After some work in the Canary Islands, he deepened his academic focus on astronomy and pursued a funded PhD from Queen's. He received an offer to work in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University, the department where Stephen Hawking worked, but declined this.{{cite magazine|title=Out of This World |last=Goodbody |first=Will| issue=Spring 2017 |page=15}} He qualified in Astrophysics in 2000, having defended a thesis entitled Optical and EUV observations of the solar atmosphere.{{cite web |title=Optical and EUV observations of the solar atmosphere |url=http://encore.qub.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1512417__Speter%20gallagher%20solar__O |website=Queen's University Belfast – Library |access-date=2 October 2020}}

Gallagher worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at two astronomical facilities of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Owens Valley Solar Array and the Big Bear Solar Observatory, both in California, and at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington, D.C. Among other works he was able to take measurements with NASA's SOHO spacecraft. Having reached the level of Senior Scientist, he was offered a long-term NASA job, but wanted to return to Ireland, and when his wife was offered a post at University College Dublin (UCD) in 2005, they decided to move back together, even at significant reduction in pay, and he secured an initial job teaching Space Science at UCD before receiving an opportunity to head the Solar Physics & Space Weather Research Group{{cite web |last1=Gallagher |first1=Peter T. |title=Prof. Peter T. Gallagher |url=https://homepages.dias.ie/gallagpt/index.php |website=Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |access-date=9 October 2020}} at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) from the beginning of 2006.{{cite magazine |last=Duke |first=Seán |title= Ireland's sun-worshipper|magazine=Science Spin |location=Dublin, Ireland |date=1 September 2010 |issue=Sept–Oct 2010 }} He worked on observations of the Sun, space weather{{cite web |last1=Gallagher |first1=Peter |title=Lecture 18 – Space Weather |url=https://www.tcd.ie/Physics/people/Peter.Gallagher/lectures/PY4A03/pdfs/PY4A03_lecture18_spaceweather.pptx.pdf |website=Trinity College Dublin |access-date=14 October 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Blake |first1=Seán P. |last2=Gallagher |first2=Peter T. |last3=McCauley |first3=Joe |last4=Jones |first4=Alan G. |last5=Hogg |first5=Colin |last6=Campanyà |first6=Joan |last7=Beggan |first7=Ciarán D. |last8=Thomson |first8=Alan W. P. |last9=Kelly |first9=Gemma S. |last10=Bell |first10=David |title=Geomagnetically induced currents in the Irish power network during geomagnetic storms: GICs IN THE IRISH POWER NETWORK |journal=Space Weather |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016SW001534 | date=December 2016 |volume=14 |issue=12 |pages=1136–1154 |doi=10.1002/2016SW001534 |access-date=14 October 2020|arxiv=1611.08587 |s2cid=119517107 }} including disruptive solar storms, and solar physics, and has been quoted by the media on these{{cite news |last1=O'Connell |first1=Claire |title=Give me a crash course in . . . solar storms |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/give-me-a-crash-course-in-solar-storms-1.479121 |access-date=1 October 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=10 March 2012}} and related topics, such as the International Heliophysical Year,{{cite news |last1=Barron |first1=Danielle |title=Sun comes into play for Year of the Pig |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/sun-comes-into-play-for-year-of-the-pig-1.1041078 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=21 December 2006}} and certain space expeditions.{{cite news |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Kevin |title=Mars landing: Nasa probe arrives on planet after 'terror descent' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/space/mars-landing-nasa-probe-arrives-on-planet-after-terror-descent-1.3711241 |access-date=3 October 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=26 November 2018}}

Shortly after returning to Ireland, he was asked to take a key role in twin NASA solar observation flights back in the US, designed to study the massively higher temperature of the Sun's corona compared to its actual upper layers. This was due to his experience in coordinating solar observations and developing specialised image interpretation software.{{cite news |last1=Dick |first1=Ahlstrom |title=Hot project for Irish scientist |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/hot-project-for-irish-scientist-1.1013166 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=9 February 2006}} In 2009 he and his team participated, with the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in a satellite project, PROBA-2, to study solar storms; they wrote software for two elements.{{cite news |last1=Ahlstrom |first1=Dick |title=Trinity team joins satellite solar study |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/trinity-team-joins-satellite-solar-study-1.762611 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=28 October 2009}} The launch was successful, and was marked by a launch party in Trinity College's Science Gallery, attended by diplomatic representatives of Belgium, and of the Russian Federation, from where the launch was made.{{cite news |last1=Ahlstrom |first1=Dick |title=TCD celebrates input in twin satellites launch |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/tcd-celebrates-input-in-twin-satellites-launch-1.765036 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=3 November 2009}}

In 2012 he was one of the lead signatories of a letter by a group of active scientists to the Irish Times which expressed concern as to the Irish government's lack of commitment to basic research, and the implications this could have for the country and the avoidance or risk of "brain drain".{{cite news |last1=Ahlstrom |first1=Dick |title=Research funding at risk, warn scientists |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/research-funding-at-risk-warn-scientists-1.541089 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=22 August 2012}} In 2015 he and some colleagues attempted a solar atmosphere observation from a fixed-wing Irish Air Corps aircraft with a special camera at the time of the last solar eclipse to be visible from Europe until 2026.{{cite news |last1=McCrea |first1=Jonathan |title=Chasing the eclipse with a €40,000 scientific camera |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/chasing-the-eclipse-with-a-40-000-scientific-camera-1.2147585 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=20 March 2015 |quote=Perhaps Prof Gallagher felt a sense of destiny. Not only did the solar eclipse fall on the 20th, but so too did the spring equinox and also his birthday.}} Also in 2015, he led the building of a magnetometer network by TCD and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, capable of detecting solar storm activity.{{cite news |last1=Gorey |first1=Colm |title=Irish physicists develop advanced solar flare warning system |url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/irish-physicists-develop-advanced-solar-flare-warning-system |access-date=29 September 2020 |work=Silicon Republic |date=6 July 2015}} Professor Gallagher's group also worked with Lockheed-Martin, Eirgrid, and other companies.{{cite web |title=Prof. Peter T. Gallagher, MInstP, FRAS, FTCD |url=https://www.tcd.ie/Physics/people/Peter.Gallagher/ |website=Trinity College Dublin |access-date=3 October 2020 |quote=Professor in Astrophysics and Associate Dean of Research / Prof. Gallagher leads solar physics and space weather research at Trinity College Dublin. His research is primarily concerned with understanding the fundamental physics of solar storms and their impacts on Earth.}}

In 2018 Gallagher was appointed as Senior Professor and Head of Astronomy and Astrophysics by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS); he remains an adjunct professor at Trinity College Dublin.{{cite news |last1=Gorey |first1=Colm |title=DIAS appoints Prof Peter Gallagher as head of astronomy and astrophysics |url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/dias-prof-peter-gallagher-eso-esa-i-lofar |access-date=29 September 2020 |work=Silicon Republic |date=4 October 2018 |location=Dublin, Ireland |quote=A leading figure in the Irish astronomical community, Prof Peter Gallagher will now lead DIAS’s astronomy and astrophysics division...}} As part of the role, he was also appointed as Director of the historic Dunsink Observatory, owned by the State and managed by DIAS, near Dublin.{{cite web |title=Open nights – early 2019 |url=https://www.dunsink.dias.ie/open-nights-early-2019/ |website=Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies |location=Dublin, Ireland |quote=Prof. Peter Gallagher (DIAS) ... the new Senior Professor of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Section and Observatory Director...}} He has stated that he would like to open up the observatory campus, which is near a cycling and walking "greenway" along the Royal Canal of Ireland and the River Tolka, adding a coffee shop and growing visitor numbers from 5,000 to 50,000, making it s significant tourist and cultural attraction for West Dublin.{{cite news |last1=O'Callaghan |first1=Gavin |title=Treasured historical observatory in Dunsink picking up pieces after joyriders smash into entrance |url=https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/treasured-historical-observatory-dunsink-picking-17729759 |access-date=26 October 2020 |work=Dublin Live |date=11 February 2020}}

Visiting Birr Castle and demesne, the site of what was for decades the world's largest telescope, the Leviathan of Parsonstown, in search of a suitable site for radio-telescopy, Gallagher made an agreement with the Earl of Rosse to build a solar observatory. An initial simple vertical antenna site was made, and later elaborated, and Gallagher remains the director of what became the Rosse Solar Terrestrial Observatory. Birr, almost in the centre of the island and as a small town with no radio-intensive industry, was a good "quiet site" for sensitive radio-telescope instruments.{{cite web |title=Clear Skies in Birr for Radio Astronomy |url=https://lofar.ie/clear-skies-in-birr-for-radio-astronomy/ |website=I-LOFAR |date=9 April 2017 |access-date=26 October 2020}}

There followed a proposal by Gallagher for a major project, namely to build and integrate the Irish site of the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) major radio-telescope project, which would then run from Ireland to Laszy in eastern Poland, the addition of Ireland expanded its baseline and observational power by about 30%. He agreed the principle with Lord Rosse, then secured 50 thousand euro from Dermot Desmond, who then put him in touch with Denis O'Brien, who called and after discussion also wired a substantial contribution. Science Foundation Ireland later made a major award, of around 1.4 million euro. Multiple third-level institutions joined the project consortium, contributing around half a million euro collectively, and with other donations, such as from a local school in Birr, the project was able to proceed. The main components were delivered from the Netherlands, where LOFAR is headquartered (in Groningen), in 30 articulated trucks in summer 2016.{{cite news |last1=Ahlstrom |first1=Dick |title=Lofar telescope is a 'major step forward for Irish astronomy' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/lofar-telescope-is-a-major-step-forward-for-irish-astronomy-1.2522511 |access-date=3 October 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=11 February 2016}} The Irish Astronomical Association described Gallagher's role in this project as "almost single-handedly responsible for getting I-LOFAR approved, funded, designed, installed and operational" and the project itself thus: "I-LOFAR now the only astronomical facility producing top-end astronomical research results from the island of Ireland."{{cite web |title=Irish Astronomical Association (Home) |url=https://irishastro.org/ |website=Irish Astronomical Association |access-date=30 September 2020}} The Irish LOFAR site was launched in July 2017, and its aims included monitoring of solar activity, light waves from the early history of the universe, and potential signals from intelligent extraterrestrial sources.{{cite news |last1=McGreevy |first1=Ronan |title=After a century, world-class astronomy returns to Birr Castle |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/after-a-century-world-class-astronomy-returns-to-birr-castle-1.3169179 |access-date=3 October 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=27 July 2017}} The I-LOFAR telescope has 3,000 antennae and 55 km of cabling, and provides opportunities for a range of PhD and post-doctoral students, as well as lecturers and professors, to advance their work.{{cite news |last1=Purcell |first1=Conor |title=A new age of radio astronomy at Birr Castle |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/a-new-age-of-radio-astronomy-at-birr-castle-1.3294360 |access-date=3 October 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=16 November 2017}}

Gallagher has expressed a personal interest in science promotion, and has described a special interest in schools from which fewer pupils progress to the sciences.{{cite news |last1=Kearins |first1=Aoife |title=Dunsink Observatory's Newest Scientific Enigma |url=https://www.universitytimes.ie/2019/01/dunsink-observatorys-newest-scientific-enigma/ |access-date=3 October 2020 |date=4 January 2019 |quote=Science outreach is more than important – I think it’s vital.}} He was involved with the first exhibition of the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, LIGHTWAVE, co-producing with artist Anita Hill an exhibit entitled In the Heliosphere, which allowed visitors to feel an impression of the effect of solar flares.{{cite news |last1=Meany |first1=Helen |title=Bright Spark (section: Trip the Light Fantastic) |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/bright-spark-1.932390 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=26 January 2008}} He remains a member of the advisory and creative panel at the Science Gallery, the Leonardo Group.{{cite web |title=Leonardo Group |url=https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/leonardo-group |website=Science Gallery Dublin |publisher=Trinity College Dublin |access-date=2 October 2020}} His team were involved with, and he commented on, the sunspotter.org public "participative science" initiative.{{cite news |last1=O'Connell |first1=Claire |title=Access Science: Learn how to forecast solar flares in your spare time |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/access-science-learn-how-to-forecast-solar-flares-in-your-spare-time-1.2044186 |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=Irish Times |date=8 January 2015}}

Gallagher featured in episode 8, related to space, of the radio series "Bright Sparks", as broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1; his wife featured in episode 2 of the same series.{{cite web |title=New RTÉ Radio series "Bright Sparks" starts this Sunday |url=https://irishtechnews.ie/new-rte-radio-1-series-bright-sparks-starts-this-sunday/ |website=Irish Tech News |access-date=25 September 2020 |date=19 May 2015}}{{cite web |title=The Series |url=https://www.brightsparksradio.ie/series |website=Bright Sparks Radio |publisher=Athena Media for RTÉ Radio 1 |access-date=30 September 2020}} As Director of I-LOFAR, Gallagher also co-presented a programme, "13 Billion Miles from Birr" on RTE TV, in 2017, to mark its launch and planned work.{{cite web |title=13 BILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM BIRR |url=https://presspack.rte.ie/2017/10/19/13-billion-light-years-from-birr/ |website=RTE.ie |publisher=RTE |access-date=14 October 2020 |date=19 October 2017 |quote=... a cutting-edge technological adventure film set in rural Ireland in the company of presenter Jonathan McCrea and professor Peter Gallagher of Trinity College Dublin.}}

Gallagher is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of the Institute of Physics. He has been chairperson of the Astronomical Sciences Group of Ireland and vice-chairperson of the Royal Irish Academy's Astronomy and Space Research Committee.{{refn|group=note|name=RIA_Ctte|This committee consists of both members of the Academy and non-members such as Prof. Gallagher}}

He was elected as a member of the Solar System Working Group of the European Space Agency (ESA), dealing with mission evaluations for 2015–2025, and of the ESA's 12-member Space Science Advisory Committee from 2017 to 2019.{{cite news |last1=Gorey |first1=Colm |title=Trinity's Peter Gallagher joins ESA science committee for future space missions |url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/peter-gallagher-esa-ssac |access-date=29 September 2020 |work=Silicon Republic |date=10 March 2017}}

In 2017, he was awarded the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques for his scientific work; this award, established by Napoleon and known as "the purple", is the oldest civilian decoration in France. His wife was made a Chevalier at the same ceremony, for her work in phylogenetics and genomics.{{cite web |title=Husband and wife scientists made Chevaliers by French government |url=https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/husband-and-wife-scientists-made-chevaliers-by-french-government/ |website=Trinity College Dublin |date=16 May 2017 |access-date=13 September 2020}}

Gallagher has published a wide range of articles, and is, according to Scopus as of October 2020, highly cited, with a h-index of 37.{{cite web |title=Peter T. Gallagher |url=https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=7202273499 |website=Scopus |publisher=Reed-Elsevier |access-date=14 October 2020}} His most-cited paper is "An observational overview of solar flares" in Space Science Reviews (2011), of which he was a co-author. His most-cited first-author paper is "Rapid acceleration of a coronal mass ejection in the low corona and implications for propagation" in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (2003).{{cite web |title=Peter T Gallagher |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=L6eaTKsAAAAJ |website=Google Scholar |access-date=26 October 2020}}

Gallagher met his future wife, Emma Teeling, in the first year of his science degree at UCD. They kept in touch while pursuing advanced studies in Belfast and elsewhere, living near Washington, D.C., for part of their time in the US, and moving back to Ireland together when Teeling received a job offer. They have two sons.{{cite web |title=Husband-and-wife scientists awarded Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques |url=https://www.ucd.ie/newsandopinion/news/2017/may/19/husbandandwifescientistsawardedchevalierknightoftheordrede/ |website=University College Dublin |access-date=13 September 2020 |date=19 May 2017}} The Teeling-Gallagher boys developed a Minecraft LOFAR environment which was mentioned on the websites of the European and Irish LOFAR consortia.{{cite web |title=LOFAR Minecraft – LOFAR Enters the Virtual Universe |url=https://www.astron.nl/dailyimage/main.php?date=20190111 |website=Astron (The Netherlands Institute for Astronomy) |access-date=4 October 2020}} He coaches youth rugby teams at Clontarf FC.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://homepages.dias.ie/gallagpt/index.php Prof. Peter T. Gallagher, DIAS]
• [https://lofar.ie/team/ LOFAR in Ireland – Team]
• [https://twitter.com/petertgallagher?lang=ga Official Twitter account, with news from Dunsink too]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Peter T.}}

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:20th-century Irish physicists

Category:21st-century Irish physicists

Category:Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

Category:Academics of Trinity College Dublin

Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast

Category:Alumni of University College Dublin

Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques

Category:Directors of Dunsink Observatory

Category:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society

Category:Fellows of Trinity College Dublin

Category:Living people

Category:People from Clontarf, Dublin

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Scientists from County Dublin

Category:Irish astrophysicists

Category:21st-century Irish astronomers