The UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll) is a collaboration of meteor camera networks, citizen scientists, planetary scientists, and curatorial facilities that aims to record meteors and fireballs and recover freshly fallen meteorites in the UK.
The Camera Networks
- SCAMP, the UK component of the French FRIPON network.
- UK Fireball Network (UKFN), part of the Global Fireball Observatory.
- The UK Meteor Network.
- The Global Meteor Network.
- The NEMETODE Network.
- The AllSky7 Network.
To find out how to get your own meteor observation camera please visit here.
History
UKFAll was founded in 2018 under the leadership and encouragement of Jim Rowe, during the annual UK Meteor Network conference at the Natural History Museum London. This meeting brought the various meteor camera networks operating in the UK together for the first time to better our understanding of meteoroids falling to Earth.
The People
- Lead: Dr Ashley King, Research Fellow, Natural History Museum, London.
- Treasurer: Dr Luke Daly, Lecturer in Planetary Geocience, University of Glasgow.
- Secretary: Charlotte Bays, PhD candidate, Royal Holloway / NHM.
UK-based members of the UKFAll team are:
- Dr Natasha Vasiliki Almeida, Curator of Meteorites, Natural History Museum, London.
- Peter Campbell-Burns, President, the UK Meteor Observation Network.
- Dr Apostolos Christou, Research Astronomer, Armagh Observatory & Planetarium.
- Prof. Gareth Collins, Professor of Planetary Science, Imperial College London.
- Will Gater, Astronomer, science journalist, author & presenter.
- Dr Jana Horák, Head of Mineralogy & Petrology, National Museum Wales.
- Prof. Katherine Joy, Professor of Lunar & Planetary Science, The University of Manchester.
- Mark McIntyre, UK Meteor Network & Global Meteor Network
- Dr Sarah McMullan, (previosuly Imperial College London).
- Dr Áine O’Brien (previosuly University of Glasgow).
- Jim Rowe, FRAS.
- Dr Andrew Smedley, Research Fellow, The University of Manchester.
Overseas members of UKFAll are:
- Dr Maria Gritsevich, Researcher, University of Helsinki, Finland.
- Dr Denis Vida, Postdoctoral Scholar, The University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Our Funding
The UKFAll is supported by UKRI and STFC, who funded the curation and initial analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite, and are now supporting a significant upgrade and expansion of the SCAMP and UKFN camera networks.
Institutional support for UKFAll has come from the Natural History Museum, London, The University of Manchester, The University of Glasgow, Imperial College London, and Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
Work with us
We welcome interest from researchers interested in applying for independent research fellowships (i.e., PhD holders) to work on UKFAll meteor camera datasets. Our various institutions (including the NHM London, University of Glasgow, and University of Manchester) can host such externally funded positions and we encourage you to get in touch to discuss different funding routes and internal/external deadlines.
UK research funding schemes which would be useful for you to investigate are The Leverhulme Trust early career fellowships, The Royal Society University Research Fellowships, STFC Ernest Rutherford fellowship scheme, The Royal Astronomical Society fellowship scheme, and the EU-funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie programme.
Other routes could include topics related to impact risks (for example see the AXA research awards). Note all these funding routes have different deadlines and eligibility criteria.
UKFAll in the News
Latest news and coverage of the project can be found here.
Project videos can be found here.
Contact Us
Please use the Contact Us page to get in touch.
The UK Fireball Alliance 