Astrophysics and Cosmology Research at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics 2023-2026
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
This grant supports the research of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. Our research is a divided into 3 groups. There are too many specific proposals to describe in detail, do below we have given a brief layman's explanation of the work being carried out by the three groups.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time - signals which go on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are a non-standard star type, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time - signals which go on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are a non-standard star type, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Organisations
Publications
Walmsley M
(2023)
Zoobot: Adaptable Deep Learning Models for Galaxy Morphology
in Journal of Open Source Software
De Martino D
(2024)
X-ray and optical observations of the millisecond pulsar binary PSR J1431-4715
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Main R
(2023)
Variable scintillation arcs of millisecond pulsars observed with the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nedkova K
(2024)
UVCANDELS: The Role of Dust on the Stellar Mass-Size Relation of Disk Galaxies at 0.5 = z = 3.0
in The Astrophysical Journal
Martin A
(2023)
UV-bright Star-forming Clumps and Their Host Galaxies in UVCANDELS at 0.5 = z = 1
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kolesnikov I
(2024)
Unveiling galaxy morphology through an unsupervised-supervised hybrid approach
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kumari S
(2024)
Unveiling Frequency-dependent Eclipsing in Spider Millisecond Pulsars Using Broadband Polarization Observations with the Parkes
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dal Ponte M
(2023)
Ultracool dwarfs candidates based on 6 yr of the Dark Energy Survey data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
O'Brien R
(2024)
TREASUREHUNT: Transients and Variability Discovered with HST in the JWST North Ecliptic Pole Time-domain Field
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Turner J
(2024)
TRAPUM search for pulsars in supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebulae - I. Survey description and initial discoveries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Carli E
(2024)
TRAPUM pulsar and transient search in the Sextans A and B galaxies and discovery of background FRB 20210924D
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wilson R
(2023)
Transiting Exoplanet Yields for the Roman Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey Predicted from Pixel-level Simulations
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Yang F
(2024)
Transit timing variation of K2-237b: hints toward planet disc migration
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Montargès M
(2023)
The VLT/SPHERE view of the ATOMIUM cool evolved star sample I. Overview: Sample characterization through polarization analysis
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Njeri A
(2024)
The VLBA CANDELS GOODS-North Survey. II - Wide-field source catalogue comparison between the VLBA, EVN, e -MERLIN, and VLA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Deane R
(2024)
The VLBA CANDELS GOODS-North Survey - I. survey design, processing, data products, and source counts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Saito R
(2024)
The VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea extended (VVVX) ESO public survey: Completion of the observations and legacy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cullen F
(2024)
The ultraviolet continuum slopes of high-redshift galaxies: evidence for the emergence of dust-free stellar populations at z > 10
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Carli E
(2024)
The TRAPUM Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT - II. Nine new radio timing solutions and glitches from young pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Carli E
(2024)
The TRAPUM Small Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT - I. Discovery of seven new pulsars and two Pulsar Wind Nebula associations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Prayag V
(2024)
The TRAPUM Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar survey with MeerKAT - I. Survey set-up and first seven pulsar discoveries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Adams N
(2023)
The total rest-frame UV luminosity function from 3 < z < 5: a simultaneous study of AGN and galaxies from -28 < M UV < -16
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hsu J
(2025)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT XVII: Discovery of beating radio emission variability in PSR J1514-4834
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Karastergiou A
(2024)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - XV. A comparison of the radio emission properties of slow and millisecond pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Johnston S
(2024)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - XIV. On the high linearly polarized pulsar signals
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Keith M
(2024)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - XIII. Timing, flux density, rotation measure, and dispersion measure time series of 597 pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Basu A
(2024)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - XII. Discovery of long-term pulse profile evolution in seven young pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Song X
(2023)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - VIII. The subpulse modulation of 1198 pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Posselt B
(2023)
The Thousand Pulsar Array program on MeerKAT - IX. The time-averaged properties of the observed pulsar population
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith D
(2023)
The Third Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-Ray Pulsars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lee E
(2024)
The SZ effect with anisotropic distributions and high energy electrons
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Kastner J
(2025)
The Structure of the Molecular Envelope of the Ring Nebula (NGC 6720)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Varadaraj R
(2024)
The sizes of bright Lyman-break galaxies at z ? 3-5 with JWST PRIMER
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wolz K
(2024)
The Simons Observatory: Pipeline comparison and validation for large-scale B -modes
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Singal J
(2023)
The Second Radio Synchrotron Background Workshop: Conference Summary and Report
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Drory N
(2024)
The SDSS-V Local Volume Mapper (LVM): Scientific Motivation and Project Overview
in The Astronomical Journal
Goedhart S
(2024)
The SARAO MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Galactic Plane Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Acharya S
(2023)
The role of soft photon injection and heating in 21 cm cosmology
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smirnov O
(2024)
The RATT PARROT: serendipitous discovery of a peculiarly scintillating pulsar in MeerKAT imaging observations of the Great Saturn - Jupiter Conjunction of 2020. I. Dynamic imaging and data analysis
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Njeri A
(2025)
The Quasar Feedback Survey: zooming into the origin of radio emission with e -MERLIN
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cabayol L
(2023)
The PAU Survey and Euclid: Improving broadband photometric redshifts with multi-task learning
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lucatelli G
(2024)
The PARADIGM project I: a multiscale radio morphological analysis of local U/LIRGS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Williams C
(2025)
The PANORAMIC Survey: Pure Parallel Wide Area Legacy Imaging with JWST/NIRCam
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sen B
(2024)
The Orbit and Companion of PSR J1622-0315: Variable Asymmetry and a Massive Neutron Star
in The Astrophysical Journal
Padmanabh P
(2023)
The MPIfR-MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey - I. System set-up and early results
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cotton W
(2024)
The MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ghigna T
(2024)
The LiteBIRD mission to explore cosmic inflation
Frye B
(2023)
The JWST PEARLS View of the El Gordo Galaxy Cluster and of the Structure It Magnifies
in The Astrophysical Journal