Birmingham Astrophysics - Rolling Grant 2007-2012
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The work of the Birmingham Astrophysics & Space Research group aims to improve our understanding of the Universe, and the force of gravity which governs its structure and growth. Our extragalactic studies aim to discover the way in which galaxies, such as our own Milky Way galaxy, have developed from the small fluctuations present in the primordial gas which filled the Universe after the Big Bang, as well as probing the mysterious 'dark matter' which appears to account for over 90% of the matter in the Universe at large. Our knowledge of the cosmos to date is gleaned almost entirely from study of the electromagnetic radiation (from radio waves to gamma rays) which reaches the Earth from space. However, a whole new astronomical 'window' is about to open, based on the propagating ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves. Detection of these signals is hugely demanding, but large laser-interferometers are now very close to detecting them for the first time, and the Birmingham group is fully involved in these experiments, and in the plans to move these techniques into space within the next decade. This will ultimately allow us to study the gravitational signals from giant black holes, and from the Big Bang itself. We are working towards the first detection of gravitational waves, but also exploring the new techniques which will be required to turn the study of gravitational waves into a true branch of astronomy.
Organisations
Publications
Rasmussen J
(2010)
WITNESSING THE FORMATION OF A BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXY IN A NEARBY X-RAY CLUSTER
in The Astrophysical Journal
Smith G
(2009)
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF A SPECTACULAR NEW STRONG-LENSING GALAXY CLUSTER: MACS J1149.5+2223 AT z = 0.544
in The Astrophysical Journal
David L
(2009)
ISOTROPIC ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS HEATING WITH SMALL RADIO-QUIET BUBBLES IN THE NGC 5044 GROUP
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott B
(2009)
ERRATUM: "BEATING THE SPIN-DOWN LIMIT ON GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EMISSION FROM THE CRAB PULSAR" (2008, ApJ, 683, L45)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gitti M
(2010)
CAVITIES AND SHOCKS IN THE GALAXY GROUP HCG 62 AS REVEALED BY CHANDRA , XMM-NEWTON , AND GIANT METREWAVE RADIO TELESCOPE DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sesana A
(2009)
OBSERVING GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM THE FIRST GENERATION OF BLACK HOLES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Johnson R
(2009)
COMPARING X-RAY AND DYNAMICAL MASS PROFILES IN THE EARLY-TYPE GALAXY NGC 4636
in The Astrophysical Journal
Voss R
(2009)
LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS OF LMXBs IN CENTAURUS A: GLOBULAR CLUSTERS VERSUS THE FIELD
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bedding T
(2010)
SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN LOW-LUMINOSITY RED GIANTS: FIRST RESULTS FROM KEPLER
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott B
(2009)
STACKED SEARCH FOR GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM THE 2006 SGR 1900+14 STORM
in The Astrophysical Journal
Okabe N
(2010)
LoCuSS: CALIBRATING MASS-OBSERVABLE SCALING RELATIONS FOR CLUSTER COSMOLOGY WITH SUBARU WEAK-LENSING OBSERVATIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Zhang Y
(2010)
LoCuSS: A COMPARISON OF CLUSTER MASS MEASUREMENTS FROM XMM-NEWTON AND SUBARU-TESTING DEVIATION FROM HYDROSTATIC EQUILIBRIUM AND NON-THERMAL PRESSURE SUPPORT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Haines C
(2009)
LOCUSS: THE MID-INFRARED BUTCHER-OEMLER EFFECT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Marrone D
(2009)
LoCuSS: A COMPARISON OF SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT AND GRAVITATIONAL-LENSING MEASUREMENTS OF GALAXY CLUSTERS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stello D
(2010)
DETECTION OF SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS FROM KEPLER PHOTOMETRY OF THE OPEN CLUSTER NGC 6819
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott B
(2010)
SEARCH FOR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE BURSTS ASSOCIATED WITH GAMMA-RAY BURSTS USING DATA FROM LIGO SCIENCE RUN 5 AND VIRGO SCIENCE RUN 1
in The Astrophysical Journal
O'Sullivan E
(2009)
A CHANDRA X-RAY VIEW OF STEPHAN'S QUINTET: SHOCKS AND STAR FORMATION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abadie J
(2010)
SEARCH FOR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE INSPIRAL SIGNALS ASSOCIATED WITH SHORT GAMMA-RAY BURSTS DURING LIGO'S FIFTH AND VIRGO'S FIRST SCIENCE RUN
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hekker S
(2010)
DISCOVERY OF A RED GIANT WITH SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN AN ECLIPSING BINARY SYSTEM FROM KEPLER SPACE-BASED PHOTOMETRY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mapelli M
(2010)
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM INTERMEDIATE-MASS BLACK HOLES IN YOUNG CLUSTERS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott B
(2010)
SEARCHES FOR GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM KNOWN PULSARS WITH SCIENCE RUN 5 LIGO DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Goodger J
(2010)
LONG-TERM MONITORING OF THE DYNAMICS AND PARTICLE ACCELERATION OF KNOTS IN THE JET OF CENTAURUS A
in The Astrophysical Journal
Posson-Brown J
(2009)
CHANDRA OBSERVATIONS OF THE X-RAY POINT SOURCE POPULATION IN NGC 4636
in The Astrophysical Journal
Blomme J
(2010)
AUTOMATED CLASSIFICATION OF VARIABLE STARS IN THE ASTEROSEISMOLOGY PROGRAM OF THE KEPLER SPACE MISSION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chaplin W
(2010)
THE ASTEROSEISMIC POTENTIAL OF KEPLER : FIRST RESULTS FOR SOLAR-TYPE STARS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bai L
(2010)
THE FIRST MID-INFRARED VIEW OF THE STAR-FORMING PROPERTIES OF NEARBY GALAXY GROUPS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hammond GD
(2008)
Development of a second generation torsion balance based on a spherical superconducting suspension.
in The Review of scientific instruments