Astrophysics Research at the University of Leicester
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
We will deliver world-class research programmes in astrophysics through the exploitation of data from space missions and ground based telescopes, as well as the development of new theories and the numerical simulation of processes in these areas. We will also develop new instrumental techniques and detectors for future missions and telescopes. The research programme is based mainly around two research groups, with some participation by three others. These groups conduct their own research projects but also have a strong ethos of collaboration on topics of mutual interest.
Our research seeks to understand basic processes in our own and other galaxies, addressing questions of great interest to the wider public. We will search for new planets orbiting nearby stars which may mimic the planets that are present in our own solar system or possibly be very different, such as hot Neptunes, or Super Earths.
We will investigate some of the most extreme environments in our Universe by high energy astrophysics research focusing on extreme phenomena ranging from Galactic black hole binaries, through to active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. These studies will include the feedback processes that link black holes to the evolution of their host galaxies.
We will maintain and enhance a programme in stellar astronomy with emphasis on the astrophysics of white dwarf stars. We will be using high performance computers to simulate these systems theoretically. This in turn will help our observations and vice versa. Through these simulations we will build theories and models of how these extreme systems behave. We will use these simulations to try to understand the `dark' matter which constitutes much of the material
content of the Universe. We will use laboratory experimentation to develop new ways to observe these phenomena, building new instruments for the next generation of space missions.
This work also offers spin-off activities which often drive progress in areas far removed from astrophysics. Our department has an active programme of engagement with the wider community, particularly school age children, who are thrilled to hear about research in the Department. We will maintain a strong commitment to knowledge transfer for academic beneficiaries.
Our research seeks to understand basic processes in our own and other galaxies, addressing questions of great interest to the wider public. We will search for new planets orbiting nearby stars which may mimic the planets that are present in our own solar system or possibly be very different, such as hot Neptunes, or Super Earths.
We will investigate some of the most extreme environments in our Universe by high energy astrophysics research focusing on extreme phenomena ranging from Galactic black hole binaries, through to active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. These studies will include the feedback processes that link black holes to the evolution of their host galaxies.
We will maintain and enhance a programme in stellar astronomy with emphasis on the astrophysics of white dwarf stars. We will be using high performance computers to simulate these systems theoretically. This in turn will help our observations and vice versa. Through these simulations we will build theories and models of how these extreme systems behave. We will use these simulations to try to understand the `dark' matter which constitutes much of the material
content of the Universe. We will use laboratory experimentation to develop new ways to observe these phenomena, building new instruments for the next generation of space missions.
This work also offers spin-off activities which often drive progress in areas far removed from astrophysics. Our department has an active programme of engagement with the wider community, particularly school age children, who are thrilled to hear about research in the Department. We will maintain a strong commitment to knowledge transfer for academic beneficiaries.
Planned Impact
The applicants offer a diverse skill set that constitute a valuable resource to the private and public sectors. We have extensive experience and expertise in e.g. data analysis and handling, spacecraft and mission management, algorithm design, software engineering and high performance computing. Exploitation of this expertise is supported at all levels within the University. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is committed to
promoting and maximising the impact of our research. The College of Science and Engineering plays a leading role in the Enterprise Agenda for the University and offers dedicated enterprise officers and impact enhancing resources. Further support is provided by the University's Enterprise and Business Development Office, which works with academics and external stakeholders to create maximum impact in the local, provide national, and international community. This structure (i) delivers enterprising impact through the alignment of our research with major global and industrial challenges, (ii) identifies and addresses the opportunities to play a positive role in the economic development of our region and the UK, (iii) utilises research and related activities to develop skills and capability within a broad spectrum of the public and private sectors, (iv) provides expert advice and
guidance to industry and policy makers, (v) ensures that its intellectual property is effectively transferred and disseminated, and (vi) contributes to the wider cultural benefit of society through an enterprising and engaging outreach programme.
The long term impact strategy has four elements:
(1) to support and develop the skills and experience of the applicants;
(2) to ensure that links with public and private sector industries are developed, cultivated and maximised;
(3) to disseminate knowledge, skills and expterise to the benefit of the local, national and international business and civic communities;
(4) to sustain and develop our successful outreach programme with particular emphasis on enhancing our efforts to develop valid outcome measures.
promoting and maximising the impact of our research. The College of Science and Engineering plays a leading role in the Enterprise Agenda for the University and offers dedicated enterprise officers and impact enhancing resources. Further support is provided by the University's Enterprise and Business Development Office, which works with academics and external stakeholders to create maximum impact in the local, provide national, and international community. This structure (i) delivers enterprising impact through the alignment of our research with major global and industrial challenges, (ii) identifies and addresses the opportunities to play a positive role in the economic development of our region and the UK, (iii) utilises research and related activities to develop skills and capability within a broad spectrum of the public and private sectors, (iv) provides expert advice and
guidance to industry and policy makers, (v) ensures that its intellectual property is effectively transferred and disseminated, and (vi) contributes to the wider cultural benefit of society through an enterprising and engaging outreach programme.
The long term impact strategy has four elements:
(1) to support and develop the skills and experience of the applicants;
(2) to ensure that links with public and private sector industries are developed, cultivated and maximised;
(3) to disseminate knowledge, skills and expterise to the benefit of the local, national and international business and civic communities;
(4) to sustain and develop our successful outreach programme with particular emphasis on enhancing our efforts to develop valid outcome measures.
Organisations
Publications
Bond H
(2017)
The Sirius System and Its Astrophysical Puzzles: Hubble Space Telescope and Ground-based Astrometry *
in The Astrophysical Journal
Covino S
(2017)
The unpolarized macronova associated with the gravitational wave event GW 170817
in Nature Astronomy
Starkey D
(2017)
SPACE TELESCOPE AND OPTICAL REVERBERATION MAPPING PROJECT.VI. REVERBERATING DISK MODELS FOR NGC 5548
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lyman J. D.
(2017)
The host galaxies and explosion sites of long-duration gamma ray bursts: Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hönig S
(2017)
Cosmology with AGN dust time lags-simulating the new VEILS survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gillon M
(2017)
Seven temperate terrestrial planets around the nearby ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.
in Nature
Pei L
(2017)
Space Telescope and Optical Reverberation Mapping Project. V. Optical Spectroscopic Campaign and Emission-line Analysis for NGC 5548
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stratta G.
(2017)
THESEUS: a key space mission for Multi-Messenger Astrophysics
in ArXiv e-prints
Bainbridge M. B.
(2017)
Fundamental Physics from Observations of White Dwarf Stars
in 20th European White Dwarf Workshop
Preval S
(2017)
Hot DA white dwarf model atmosphere calculations: including improved Ni PI cross-sections
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mink S
(2017)
Electromagnetic Signals Following Stellar-mass Black Hole Mergers
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Cashmore C
(2017)
Too small to succeed: the difficulty of sustaining star formation in low-mass haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hjorth J
(2017)
The Distance to NGC 4993: The Host Galaxy of the Gravitational-wave Event GW170817
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott B
(2017)
Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger *
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Amati L.
(2017)
The THESEUS space mission concept: science case, design and expected performances
in ArXiv e-prints
Perley D
(2017)
Late-time VLA reobservations rule out ULIRG-like host galaxies for most pre- Swift long-duration gamma-ray bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott B
(2017)
Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger *
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Brown G
(2017)
Late-time observations of the relativistic tidal disruption flare candidate Swift J1112.2-8238
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stelzer B
(2017)
X-ray orbital modulation of a white dwarf accreting from an L dwarf The system SDSS J121209.31+013627.7
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Scowen P
(2017)
Finding the UV-Visible Path Forward: Proceedings of the Community Workshop to Plan the Future of UV/Visible Space Astrophysics
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Eckersall A
(2017)
Modelling the effect of absorption from the interstellar medium on transient black hole X-ray binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gilbertson Christian
(2017)
A Study of the Gamma-Ray Burst Fundamental Plane
in American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #229
Lyman J
(2017)
The host galaxies and explosion sites of long-duration gamma ray bursts: Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Christensen L
(2017)
Solving the conundrum of intervening strong Mg II absorbers towards gamma-ray bursts and quasars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lyman J
(2017)
The host galaxies and explosion sites of long-duration gamma ray bursts: Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Edelson R
(2017)
Swift Monitoring of NGC 4151: Evidence for a Second X-Ray/UV Reprocessing
in The Astrophysical Journal
Amaral-Rogers A
(2017)
The pulse luminosity function of Swift gamma-ray bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Alexander K
(2017)
A Reverse Shock and Unusual Radio Properties in GRB 160625B
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gall C
(2017)
Lanthanides or Dust in Kilonovae: Lessons Learned from GW170817
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Kim S
(2017)
ALMA and GMRT Constraints on the Off-axis Gamma-Ray Burst 170817A from the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Gualandris A
(2017)
Collisionless loss-cone refilling: there is no final parsec problem
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Higgins A
(2017)
Investigating the nature of the INTEGRAL gamma-ray bursts and sub-threshold triggers with Swift follow-up
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Heintz K
(2017)
Steep extinction towards GRB 140506A reconciled from host galaxy observations: Evidence that steep reddening laws are local
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Barstow M. A.
(2017)
Sirius B: Confronting the Limits of our Understanding of White Dwarfs
in 20th European White Dwarf Workshop
Van Leeuwen F
(2017)
Gaia Data Release 1 The photometric data
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hönig S
(2017)
Cosmology with AGN dust time lags-simulating the new VEILS survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Amaral-Rogers A
(2017)
The pulse luminosity function of Swift gamma-ray bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bainbridge Matthew B.
(2017)
Probing the Gravitational Dependence of the Fine-Structure Constant from Observations of White Dwarf Stars
in ArXiv e-prints
Dehnen W
(2017)
Towards time symmetric N-body integration
Dehnen W
(2017)
Symplectic fourth-order maps for the collisional N -body problem
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
King A
(2017)
Pulsing ULXs: tip of the iceberg?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Raynard L
(2018)
NGTS-2b: An inflated hot-Jupiter transiting a bright F-dwarf
Joyce S
(2018)
Testing the white dwarf mass-radius relation and comparing optical and far-UV spectroscopic results with Gaia DR2, HST and FUSE
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casewell S
(2018)
A low-mass eclipsing binary within the fully convective zone from the Next Generation Transit Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Arabsalmani M
(2018)
Mass and metallicity scaling relations of high-redshift star-forming galaxies selected by GRBs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Ugarte Postigo A
(2018)
The luminous host galaxy, faint supernova and rapid afterglow rebrightening of GRB 100418A
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wiersema K.
(2018)
Calibration of EFOSC2 broadband linear imaging polarimetry
in ArXiv e-prints
Lobban A
(2018)
X-ray time lags in PG 1211+143
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bond Howard E.
(2018)
Final Hubble Space Telescope Astrometry of the Procyon Binary System
in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society
Schönrich R
(2018)
Warp, waves, and wrinkles in the Milky Way
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | Further progress in a variety of fields of astrophysics. |
| Exploitation Route | Further research in various areas of astrophysics. |
| Sectors | Education |
| Description | Royal Society Research Grant |
| Amount | £13,055 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RG170230 |
| Organisation | The Royal Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2017 |
| End | 10/2018 |
| Title | NGTS-4b A sub-Neptune transiting in the desert |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' NGTS-4b: A sub-Neptune transiting in the desert.' (bibcode: 2019MNRAS.486.5094W) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/486/5094 |
| Title | NGTS-8b and NGTS-9b non-inflated hot Jupiters |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' NGTS-8b and NGTS-9b: two non-inflated hot Jupiters.' (bibcode: 2020MNRAS.491.2834C) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/491/2834 |
| Title | Runaway gas accretion and ALMA observations |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' ALMA observations require slower Core Accretion runaway growth.' (bibcode: 2019MNRAS.488L..12N) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/488/L12 |
| Title | TESS and NGTS LCs and RVs of NGTS-11 |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomical Journal (AAS) with title 'NGTS-11 b (TOI-1847 b): a transiting warm Saturn recovered from a TESS single-transit event.' (bibcode: 2020ApJ...898L..11G) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/ApJ/898/L11 |
| Title | TGAS distances |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' Warp, waves, and wrinkles in the Milky Way.' (bibcode: 2018MNRAS.478.3809S) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/478/3809 |
| Title | TIC-231005575 photometric and RV curves |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' A long period (P = 61.8 d) M5V dwarf eclipsing a Sun-like star from TESS and NGTS.' (bibcode: 2020MNRAS.495.2713G) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/495/2713 |
| Title | iz photometry of S190814bv ctp candidates |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'Observational constraints on the optical and near-infrared emission from the neutron star-black hole binary merger candidate S190814bv.' (bibcode: 2020A&A...643A.113A) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/643/A113 |
| Description | Creativity and Curiosity - Art meets astronomy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The project started as a discussion between artists and astronomers to stimulate new art and engage with new audiences. Events have included exhibitions of the artworks and associated discussion events across the county and abroad. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.creativityandcuriosity.com |
| Description | US NSF announcement of discovery of first gravitational wave source with electromagnetic counterpart - Oct 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | US National Science Foundation press release. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/press-release-gw170817 |
| Description | Various school visits, astronomical society lectures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Many presentations, 100s of students, excellent questions and discussion. Audience figures are totals for activities during each year. Improvements in interest in applying for science degrees |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021 |