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
McCallum N
(2022)
Fast map-based simulations of systematics in CMB surveys including effects of the scanning strategy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCulloch M
(2024)
A tunable resonator enabled by a soft impedance surface
in Microwave and Optical Technology Letters
McDonald I
(2024)
PySSED : an automated method of collating and fitting stellar spectral energy distributions
in RAS Techniques and Instruments
McEwen A
(2020)
The Green Bank North Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey. V. Pulsar Census and Survey Sensitivity
in The Astrophysical Journal
McKee J
(2020)
A precise mass measurement of PSR J2045 + 3633
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meena A
(2023)
Two Lensed Star Candidates at z ? 4.8 behind the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0647.7+7015
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Meidt S
(2023)
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Interstellar Medium Structure on the Turbulent Jeans Scale in Four Disk Galaxies Observed by JWST and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Mele L
(2020)
The QUBIC instrument for CMB polarization measurements
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Miles M
(2022)
Mode changing in J1909 - 3744: the most precisely timed pulsar
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Miles M
(2023)
The MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array: first data release
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mohan D
(2022)
Quantifying uncertainty in deep learning approaches to radio galaxy classification
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mong Y
(2021)
Searching for Fermi GRB optical counterparts with the prototype Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mong Y
(2023)
Self-supervised clustering on image-subtracted data with deep-embedded self-organizing map
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morello V
(2020)
Optimal periodicity searching: revisiting the fast folding algorithm for large-scale pulsar surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morello V
(2022)
IQRM: real-time adaptive RFI masking for radio transient and pulsar searches
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morgan R
(2023)
DeepZipper. II. Searching for Lensed Supernovae in Dark Energy Survey Data with Deep Learning
in The Astrophysical Journal
Moriya T
(2022)
Euclid : Searching for pair-instability supernovae with the Deep Survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mucesh S
(2021)
A machine learning approach to galaxy properties: joint redshift-stellar mass probability distributions with Random Forest
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Muir J
(2021)
DES Y1 results: Splitting growth and geometry to test ? CDM
in Physical Review D
Munari U
(2022)
Radio interferometric imaging of RS Oph bipolar ejecta for the 2021 nova outburst
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Myles J
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: redshift calibration of the weak lensing source galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Möller A
(2022)
The dark energy survey 5-yr photometrically identified type Ia supernovae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Naidoo K
(2023)
Euclid : Calibrating photometric redshifts with spectroscopic cross-correlations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Nazari P
(2022)
N-bearing complex organics toward high-mass protostars Constant ratios pointing to formation in similar pre-stellar conditions across a large mass range
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ngoc N
(2021)
Observations of Magnetic Fields Surrounding LkHa 101 Taken by the BISTRO Survey with JCMT-POL-2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nieder L
(2020)
Discovery of a Gamma-Ray Black Widow Pulsar by GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Nitu I
(2022)
A search for planetary companions around 800 pulsars from the Jodrell Bank pulsar timing programme
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nitu I
(2024)
A Gaussian-processes approach to fitting for time-variable spherical solar wind in pulsar timing data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Njeri A
(2023)
SPARCS-North Wide-field VLBI Survey: exploring the resolved µJy extragalactic radio source population with EVN + e-MERLIN
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Noutsos A
(2020)
Understanding and improving the timing of PSR J0737-3039B
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
O'Neill S
(2022)
The Unanticipated Phenomenology of the Blazar PKS 2131-021: A Unique Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidate
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
O'Sullivan S
(2023)
The Faraday Rotation Measure Grid of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: Data Release 2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oswald L
(2021)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - V. Scattering analysis of single-component pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oswald L
(2023)
Pulsar polarization: a broad-band population view with the Parkes Ultra-Wideband receiver
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ouyang X
(2023)
FAST Search for Circumstellar Atomic Hydrogen. II. Is BD+30°3639 an Interacting Planetary Nebula?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ouyang X
(2022)
FAST Search for Circumstellar Atomic Hydrogen. I. The Young Planetary Nebula IC 4997
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pagano M
(2023)
Characterization of inpaint residuals in interferometric measurements of the epoch of reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Page K
(2022)
The 2021 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi observed in X-rays by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory : a comparative study
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Palmese A
(2021)
GW190521 from the Merger of Ultradwarf Galaxies
in Physical Review Letters
Pan Z
(2020)
The FAST Discovery of an Eclipsing Binary Millisecond Pulsar in the Globular Cluster M92 (NGC 6341)
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Panopoulou G
(2021)
Revisiting the Distance to Radio Loops I and IV Using Gaia and Radio/Optical Polarization Data
in The Astrophysical Journal
Panopoulou G
(2022)
The width of Herschel filaments varies with distance (Corrigendum)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Paoletti D
(2022)
Constraints on primordial magnetic fields from their impact on the ionization history with Planck 2018
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| 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 |