Astronomy and Astrophysics at Edinburgh
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
An astonishing feature of modern astrophysical research is that we have in principle a chain of explanation that stretches from processes on cosmological scales of billions of light years, down to the creation of stars, planets around the stars and life on the planets. In a sense, this process is almost a closed loop: the early Universe was once of sub-nuclear scale, so that quantum mechanical uncertainty is bound to seed fluctuations in density, which eventually collapse under gravity to make astronomical structures. This is the same physics of the very small that governs the formation of the atoms out of which we are all made.
But unanswered questions abound at all stages of this process. Our theories of the early Universe and explanations of its current expansion rest on the concept that empty space can have weight: the so-called "dark energy". We need to study its properties and understand its origin. In so doing, we often assume that Einstein's relativity describes gravity correctly on all scales, but can we test this? If the standard theory is correct, dark matter is required, and we are driven to follow the processes by which it clumps, and by which the gas within these clumps evolves and eventually collapses to form stars and massive black holes. New large telescopes on the ground, together with observing platforms in space such as the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes (and soon the James Webb Space Telescope), allow us to see this process in action and compare the observations with detailed computer simulations. Nearer to home, we can dissect galaxies such as our own Milky Way into individual stars, for the most detailed view of how they were assembled. And finally we can study how planets arise around these stars, both from new instruments that can detect the presence of "exo-planets" and by computer simulations of how they may be created within the discs of gas and dust left over from star formation. Ultimately, one can refine the search to planets potentially capable of supporting life, and ask how life might arise within these early planetary systems.
Research in astronomy at Edinburgh attacks all of these connected questions. Progress is rapid, driven by technological breakthroughs in observational facilities and computing power, and our understanding is evolving rapidly. Major progress, even if not final answers, can be expected within a few years. This is an exciting time for our understanding of the full history and structure of our Universe and our place within it.
But unanswered questions abound at all stages of this process. Our theories of the early Universe and explanations of its current expansion rest on the concept that empty space can have weight: the so-called "dark energy". We need to study its properties and understand its origin. In so doing, we often assume that Einstein's relativity describes gravity correctly on all scales, but can we test this? If the standard theory is correct, dark matter is required, and we are driven to follow the processes by which it clumps, and by which the gas within these clumps evolves and eventually collapses to form stars and massive black holes. New large telescopes on the ground, together with observing platforms in space such as the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes (and soon the James Webb Space Telescope), allow us to see this process in action and compare the observations with detailed computer simulations. Nearer to home, we can dissect galaxies such as our own Milky Way into individual stars, for the most detailed view of how they were assembled. And finally we can study how planets arise around these stars, both from new instruments that can detect the presence of "exo-planets" and by computer simulations of how they may be created within the discs of gas and dust left over from star formation. Ultimately, one can refine the search to planets potentially capable of supporting life, and ask how life might arise within these early planetary systems.
Research in astronomy at Edinburgh attacks all of these connected questions. Progress is rapid, driven by technological breakthroughs in observational facilities and computing power, and our understanding is evolving rapidly. Major progress, even if not final answers, can be expected within a few years. This is an exciting time for our understanding of the full history and structure of our Universe and our place within it.
Planned Impact
Details of our Pathways to Impact are provided in the separate 2-page attachment.
Organisations
Publications
Gillman S
(2019)
The dynamics and distribution of angular momentum in HiZELS star-forming galaxies at z = 0.8-3.3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gilmore G
(2022)
The Gaia -ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey: Motivation, implementation, GIRAFFE data processing, analysis, and final data products
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gloudemans A
(2022)
Discovery of 24 radio-bright quasars at 4.9 = z = 6.6 using low-frequency radio observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gloudemans A
(2020)
LOFAR properties of SILVERRUSH Ly$a$ emitter candidates in the ELAIS-N1 field
Gloudemans A
(2021)
LOFAR properties of SILVERRUSH Ly a emitter candidates in the ELAIS-N1 field
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gloudemans A
(2021)
Low frequency radio properties of the z > 5 quasar population
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Glowacki M
(2021)
The redshift evolution of the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation in SIMBA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Glowacki M
(2020)
The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation in the simba simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gow A
(2020)
Primordial black hole merger rates: distributions for multiple LIGO observables
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Gratton R
(2021)
Investigating three Sirius-like systems with SPHERE
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gruen D
(2018)
Density split statistics: Cosmological constraints from counts and lensing in cells in DES Y1 and SDSS data
in Physical Review D
Gullberg B
(2018)
The Dust and [C ii] Morphologies of Redshift ~4.5 Sub-millimeter Galaxies at ~200 pc Resolution: The Absence of Large Clumps in the Interstellar Medium at High-redshift
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gürkan G
(2018)
LOFAR/H-ATLAS: the low-frequency radio luminosity-star formation rate relation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gürkan G
(2019)
LoTSS/HETDEX: Optical quasars I. Low-frequency radio properties of optically selected quasars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gürkan G
(2019)
LoTSS/HETDEX: Optical quasars I. Low-frequency radio properties of optically selected quasars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Habouzit M
(2021)
Supermassive black holes in cosmological simulations I: M BH - M ? relation and black hole mass function
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Habouzit M
(2021)
Supermassive black holes in cosmological simulations I: M BH - M ? relation and black hole mass function
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Habouzit M
(2022)
Co-evolution of massive black holes and their host galaxies at high redshift: discrepancies from six cosmological simulations and the key role of JWST
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Habouzit M
(2022)
Supermassive black holes in cosmological simulations - II: the AGN population and predictions for upcoming X-ray missions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hahn C
(2019)
IQ-Collaboratory 1.1: The Star-forming Sequence of Simulated Central Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hahn C
(2022)
IQ Collaboratory. III. The Empirical Dust Attenuation Framework-Taking Hydrodynamical Simulations with a Grain of Dust
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hahn C
(2022)
IQ Collaboratory. III. The Empirical Dust Attenuation Framework-Taking Hydrodynamical Simulations with a Grain of Dust
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hale C
(2023)
MIGHTEE: deep 1.4 GHz source counts and the sky temperature contribution of star-forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hale C
(2019)
LOFAR observations of the XMM-LSS field
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hall A
(2020)
Towards determining the neutrino mass hierarchy: weak lensing and galaxy clustering forecasts with baryons and intrinsic alignments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2019)
A Bayesian method for combining theoretical and simulated covariance matrices for large-scale structure surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2019)
A Bayesian method for combining theoretical and simulated covariance matrices for large-scale structure surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2019)
Cosmology with extragalactic proper motions: harmonic formalism, estimators, and forecasts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2020)
Impact of our local environment on cosmological statistics
in Physical Review D
Hall A
(2020)
Towards determining the neutrino mass hierarchy: weak lensing and galaxy clustering forecasts with baryons and intrinsic alignments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall C
(2018)
Is the spiral morphology of the Elias 2-27 circumstellar disc due to gravitational instability?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall C
(2019)
The Temporal Requirements of Directly Observing Self-gravitating Spiral Waves in Protoplanetary Disks with ALMA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hall C
(2018)
Is the spiral morphology of the Elias 2-27 circumstellar disc due to gravitational instability?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hamadouche M
(2022)
A combined VANDELS and LEGA-C study: the evolution of quiescent galaxy size, stellar mass, and age from z = 0.6 to z = 1.3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hamaus N
(2022)
Euclid : Forecasts from redshift-space distortions and the Alcock-Paczynski test with cosmic voids
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hang Q
(2021)
Stacked CMB lensing and ISW signals around superstructures in the DESI Legacy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hang Q
(2021)
Galaxy clustering in the DESI Legacy Survey and its imprint on the CMB
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hang Q
(2022)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): probing galaxy-group correlations in redshift space with the halo streaming model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hardcastle M
(2021)
The contribution of discrete sources to the sky temperature at 144 MHz
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hardcastle M
(2019)
Radio-loud AGN in the first LoTSS data release The lifetimes and environmental impact of jet-driven sources
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hartley W
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Deep Field optical + near-infrared images and catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hartley W
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Deep Field optical + near-infrared images and catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hassan S
(2018)
Constraining the contribution of active galactic nuclei to reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hassan S
(2022)
Reionization with Simba: How Much Does Astrophysics Matter in Modeling Cosmic Reionization?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hassan S
(2020)
Testing galaxy formation simulations with damped Lyman-a abundance and metallicity evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hatsukade B
(2018)
ALMA twenty-six arcmin2 survey of GOODS-S at one millimeter (ASAGAO): Source catalog and number counts
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
Hatsukade B
(2018)
ALMA twenty-six arcmin2 survey of GOODS-S at one millimeter (ASAGAO): Source catalog and number counts
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
Hattab M
(2019)
A case study of hurdle and generalized additive models in astronomy: the escape of ionizing radiation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Haywood R
(2018)
An Accurate Mass Determination for Kepler-1655b, a Moderately Irradiated World with a Significant Volatile Envelope
in The Astronomical Journal
| Title | HiZELS star-forming galaxies at z=0.8-3.3 |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' The dynamics and distribution of angular momentum in HiZELS star-forming galaxies at z=0.8-3.3.' (bibcode: 2019MNRAS.486..175G) |
| 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/486/175 |
| Title | LOFAR LBA Sky Survey. I. |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The LOFAR LBA Sky Survey. I. Survey description and preliminary data release.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...648A.104D) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/648/A104 |
| Title | LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) DR2 |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). V. Second data release.' (bibcode: 2022A&A...659A...1S) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/659/A1 |
| Title | LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields DR1 |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The LOFAR Two Metre Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1. II. The ELAIS-N1 LOFAR deep field.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...648A...2S) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/648/A2 |
| Title | LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields DR1 |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The LOFAR Two Metre Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1. III. Host-galaxy identifications and value added catalogues.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...648A...3K) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/648/A3 |
| Title | LoLSS-Deep Bootes 54MHz catalog |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The LOFAR LBA Sky Survey: Deep Fields I. The Bootes Field.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...655A..40W) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/655/A40 |
| Title | LoTSS Deep Fields DR1 photometric redshifts |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1. IV. Photometric redshifts and stellar masses.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...648A...4D) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/648/A4 |
| Title | The nature of hyper luminous infrared galaxies |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The nature of hyper luminous infrared galaxies.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...654A.117G) |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/654/A117 |