Astrophysics and Cosmology Research at the JBCA 2020-2023
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.
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.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time- things which come 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.
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.
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.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time- things which come 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.
Planned Impact
The range of research we undertake and the world-class facilities within and in close association with JBCA (the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, e-MERLIN, the Lovell Telescope, the ALMA ARC and the SKA HQ) will provide key pathways to increasing our already strong impact on UK and global industry, the next generation of scientists and engineers, and the general public. The University's investment in the Jodrell Bank site combined with significant external funding (e.g. from Heritage Lottery Fund) will enable us to expand its use as an iconic venue for public and industrial engagement. The programme described here formed a key part of the School's submission for REF2014, helping it to be ranked highest in the REF for physics impact with 83% at 4* and 17% at 3*. Our outreach \& public engagement programme is extremely strong and continues to grow, particularly through its work with the University's award-winning Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre and the BBC. With the recent decision on SKA HQ location and our strong research work in this area, there is also growing impact in both outreach and industrial engagement in this area.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 215000 Twitter and 18000 Facebook followers
- Stargazing live, Pulsar Hunters, Science Programmes presented by Danielle George
- JB Discovery centre with 190000 visitors per year
- Award winning Bluedot Festivals
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, AEON, Critical Software, MMI, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 215000 Twitter and 18000 Facebook followers
- Stargazing live, Pulsar Hunters, Science Programmes presented by Danielle George
- JB Discovery centre with 190000 visitors per year
- Award winning Bluedot Festivals
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, AEON, Critical Software, MMI, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Organisations
Publications
Cleary K
(2022)
COMAP Early Science. I. Overview
in The Astrophysical Journal
ColÃn-Beltrán E
(2020)
CHARM: a room-temperature 345GHz receiver for the Large Millimeter Telescope
Conselice C
(2022)
A Direct Measurement of Galaxy Major and Minor Merger Rates and Stellar Mass Accretion Histories at Z < 3 Using Galaxy Pairs in the REFINE Survey
in The Astrophysical Journal
Contarini S
(2022)
Euclid : Cosmological forecasts from the void size function
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Corongiu A
(2023)
PSR J1910-5959A: A rare gravitational laboratory for testing white dwarf models
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Costa A
(2022)
The BINGO project VII. Cosmological forecasts from 21 cm intensity mapping
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Coti Zelati F
(2021)
Simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar candidate CXOU J110926.4-650224 The discovery of a variable radio counterpart
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cullen F
(2023)
The ultraviolet continuum slopes ( ß ) of galaxies at z ? 8-16 from JWST and ground-based near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cunnington S
(2023)
H i intensity mapping with MeerKAT: power spectrum detection in cross-correlation with WiggleZ galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Curylo M
(2023)
Wide-band Timing of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array UWL Data
in The Astrophysical Journal
Danilovich T
(2024)
Chemical tracers of a highly eccentric AGB-main sequence star binary
Danilovich T
(2021)
ATOMIUM: halide molecules around the S-type AGB star W Aquilae
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Danilovich T
(2024)
Chemical tracers of a highly eccentric AGB-main-sequence star binary
in Nature Astronomy
Danilovich T
(2023)
Chemical tracers of a highly eccentric binary orbit
Darwish M
(2020)
OH maser towards IRAS 06056+2131: polarization parameters and evolution status
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Blok W
(2020)
MeerKAT HI commissioning observations of MHONGOOSE galaxy ESO 302-G014
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
De Gasperin F
(2020)
Cassiopeia A, Cygnus A, Taurus A, and Virgo A at ultra-low radio frequencies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
De La Bella L
(2021)
The unequal-time matter power spectrum: impact on weak lensing observables
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
De Marco O
(2023)
Author Correction: The messy death of a multiple star system and the resulting planetary nebula as observed by JWST
in Nature Astronomy
De Marco O
(2022)
The messy death of a multiple star system and the resulting planetary nebula as observed by JWST
in Nature Astronomy
Deason A
(2021)
Stellar splashback: the edge of the intracluster light
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Decin L
(2020)
(Sub)stellar companions shape the winds of evolved stars
Decin L
(2020)
(Sub)stellar companions shape the winds of evolved stars.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Delabrouille J
(2021)
Microwave spectro-polarimetry of matter and radiation across space and time
in Experimental Astronomy
Dharmawardena T
(2020)
Betelgeuse Fainter in the Submillimeter Too: An Analysis of JCMT and APEX Monitoring during the Recent Optical Minimum
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Dhillon V
(2022)
Multicolour optical light curves of the companion star to the millisecond pulsar PSR J2051-0827
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Di Valentino E
(2021)
Cosmology intertwined III: f s 8 and S 8
in Astroparticle Physics
Di Valentino E
(2021)
Snowmass2021 - Letter of interest cosmology intertwined IV: The age of the universe and its curvature
in Astroparticle Physics
Di Valentino E
(2021)
Snowmass2021 - Letter of interest cosmology intertwined II: The hubble constant tension
in Astroparticle Physics
Di Valentino E
(2021)
Snowmass2021 - Letter of interest cosmology intertwined I: Perspectives for the next decade
in Astroparticle Physics
Diaz-Rodriguez A
(2022)
The Physical Properties of the SVS 13 Protobinary System: Two Circumstellar Disks and a Spiraling Circumbinary Disk in the Making
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ding H
(2020)
Very Long Baseline Astrometry of PSR J1012+5307 and its Implications on Alternative Theories of Gravity
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ding H
(2020)
Erratum: "Very Long Baseline Astrometry of PSR J1012+5307 and its Implications on Alternative Theories of Gravity" (2020, ApJ, 896, 85)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ding H
(2021)
The Orbital-decay Test of General Relativity to the 2% Level with 6 yr VLBA Astrometry of the Double Neutron Star PSR J1537+1155
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Ding H
(2023)
The MSPSRp catalogue: VLBA astrometry of 18 millisecond pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Doi Y
(2021)
Erratum: "The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333" (2020, ApJ, 899, 28)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Doi Y
(2020)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333
in The Astrophysical Journal
Donnan C
(2023)
The evolution of the galaxy UV luminosity function at redshifts z ? 8 - 15 from deep JWST and ground-based near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Douglas A
(2022)
Two New Black Widow Millisecond Pulsars in M28
in The Astrophysical Journal
Driessen L
(2022)
The detection of radio emission from known X-ray flaring star EXO 040830-7134.7
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Driessen L
(2022)
21 new long-term variables in the GX 339-4 field: two years of MeerKAT monitoring
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Driver S
(2022)
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Data Release 4 and the z < 0.1 total and z < 0.08 morphological galaxy stellar mass functions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Drlica-Wagner A
(2022)
The DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey Data Release 2
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Dyer M
(2022)
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO)
Dyks J
(2021)
Circular polarization in radio pulsar PSR B1451-68: coherent mode transitions and intrabeam interference
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Eden D
(2020)
CHIMPS2: survey description and 12CO emission in the Galactic Centre
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Endsley R
(2022)
The REBELS ALMA Survey: efficient Ly a transmission of UV-bright z ? 7 galaxies from large velocity offsets and broad line widths
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Eswaraiah C
(2021)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Revealing the Diverse Magnetic Field Morphologies in Taurus Dense Cores with Sensitive Submillimeter Polarimetry
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Everett S
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Measuring the Survey Transfer Function with Balrog
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
| Title | Comparing recent PTA results on the nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background - full noise and GWB parameter comparison plots |
| Description | A full collection of plots comparing the noise properties of individual pulsars and gravitational wave background parameters discussed in the companion paper Comparing recent PTA results on the nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background (IPTA 2024). Section4_GWB_comparison.zip supplements and expands section 4.1, "Comparing the published GWB measurements," of IPTA (2024). It contains parameter difference distributions for GWB model parameters. There are four different models included. The HD correlated powerlaw (PL) model make up the basis for Figure 2. Additionally, there are three comparisons not included in IPTA (2024). First, comparisons the common uncorrelated red noise (CURN) PL model are included. Finally, comparisons of two free spectral (FS) models (HD and CURN) are included. These comparisons fit the HD and CURN FS posteriors using the ceffyl software package, and then compare the parameters of the resulting powerlaw fits. Section5_Noise_comparison.zip supplements section 5, "Comparing Pulsar Noice Properties," of IPTA (2024). It contains plots for 27 pulsars timed by more than one PTA collaboration, including the plots for PSR J1012+5307, which are presented in Figure 7. The plots include noise parameter posteriors, time domain GP realizations, TOA residuals, and TOA radio frequency. |
| Type Of Art | Image |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10809659 |
| Title | Comparing recent PTA results on the nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background - full noise and GWB parameter comparison plots |
| Description | A full collection of plots comparing the noise properties of individual pulsars and gravitational wave background parameters discussed in the companion paper Comparing recent PTA results on the nanohertz stochastic gravitational wave background (IPTA 2024). Section4_GWB_comparison.zip supplements and expands section 4.1, "Comparing the published GWB measurements," of IPTA (2024). It contains parameter difference distributions for GWB model parameters. There are four different models included. The HD correlated powerlaw (PL) model make up the basis for Figure 2. Additionally, there are three comparisons not included in IPTA (2024). First, comparisons the common uncorrelated red noise (CURN) PL model are included. Finally, comparisons of two free spectral (FS) models (HD and CURN) are included. These comparisons fit the HD and CURN FS posteriors using the ceffyl software package, and then compare the parameters of the resulting powerlaw fits. Section5_Noise_comparison.zip supplements section 5, "Comparing Pulsar Noice Properties," of IPTA (2024). It contains plots for 27 pulsars timed by more than one PTA collaboration, including the plots for PSR J1012+5307, which are presented in Figure 7. The plots include noise parameter posteriors, time domain GP realizations, TOA residuals, and TOA radio frequency. |
| Type Of Art | Image |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.10809660 |
| Title | IPTA DR2 - GWB analysis MCMC output |
| Description | IPTA DR2 common red noise, MCMC output These files are the primary output from a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling process. They are samples from the posterior probability distribution for a particular model described in the companion paper. Each zipped tarball contains four files. The "chain" file has several tab-separated columns, each of which corresponds to a model parameter, except the last four which are metadata. The parameter names (including metadata) are listed in the companion "params" file. The frequencies used in the common red noise models are listed in the "crn_frequencies" file. Additional information is provided in a README file. Each row of the chain file is one sample from the model posterior. The first samples at the beginning of the MCMC are the "burn-in" phase, before the chain has converged to the posterior. We recommend discarding the first ~25% of samples before using them to make inferences. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/5787556 |
| Title | IPTA DR2 - GWB analysis MCMC output |
| Description | IPTA DR2 common red noise, MCMC output These files are the primary output from a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling process. They are samples from the posterior probability distribution for a particular model described in the companion paper. Each zipped tarball contains four files. The "chain" file has several tab-separated columns, each of which corresponds to a model parameter, except the last four which are metadata. The parameter names (including metadata) are listed in the companion "params" file. The frequencies used in the common red noise models are listed in the "crn_frequencies" file. Additional information is provided in a README file. Each row of the chain file is one sample from the model posterior. The first samples at the beginning of the MCMC are the "burn-in" phase, before the chain has converged to the posterior. We recommend discarding the first ~25% of samples before using them to make inferences. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/5787557 |
| Title | PN chemical abundances in Galactic Bulge |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' A catalogue of planetary nebulae chemical abundances in the Galactic bulge.' (bibcode: 2024MNRAS.527.6363T) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/527/6363 |