Astrophysics Research at Liverpool John Moores University
Lead Research Organisation:
Liverpool John Moores University
Department Name: Astrophysics Research Institute
Abstract
We propose to carry out a programme of research tackling cutting-edge astrophysical problems on a wide range of scales. Our work, which addresses several of PPARC's key scientific priorities, will be conducted under two main and interlinked themes: (i) Tme Domain Astrophysics (ii) Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei. In particular we wish to explore: the origin and wider importance of Gamma Ray Bursts, the most powerful explosions in the Universe; the fundamental properties of novae from observations of their explosions in our own and other galaxies; the structure of the Milky Way through microlensing studies; the environmental factors that influence galaxy evolution, and the part played in the development of galaxies by supermassive black holes. Our research uses the most advanced ground-based telescopes, space-borne satellites and data analysis tecniques to carry out observations from gamma rays to radio wavelengths and ARI staff are leading players in many of the new generation surveys. A significant fraction of our work involves time-domain studies, now made possible through our own robotic Liverpool Telescope project and our lead in developing global robotic telescope networks such as RoboNet. These projects are technically demanding and are supported at ARI by the latest developments in scheduling and robotic control software through e-Science programmes. The structure and organisation of the ARI is designed to deliver internationally excellent research, with efficient teaching programmes. Staff benefit from a continual programme of investment in research infrastructure and the ARI is a major international player in developing and exploiting outreach opportunities. The Institute in turn enjoys excellent support from the University which has enabled, for example, the recent appointment of several new staff to strenghten further our research work.
Publications
Cucchiara A
(2011)
CONSTRAINING GAMMA-RAY BURST EMISSION PHYSICS WITH EXTENSIVE EARLY-TIME, MULTIBAND FOLLOW-UP
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wang J
(2011)
A DEEP CHANDRA ACIS STUDY OF NGC 4151. I. THE X-RAY MORPHOLOGY OF THE 3 kpc DIAMETER CIRCUM-NUCLEAR REGION AND RELATION TO THE COLD INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gould A
(2010)
FREQUENCY OF SOLAR-LIKE SYSTEMS AND OF ICE AND GAS GIANTS BEYOND THE SNOW LINE FROM HIGH-MAGNIFICATION MICROLENSING EVENTS IN 2005-2008
in The Astrophysical Journal
Davies R
(2009)
STELLAR AND MOLECULAR GAS KINEMATICS OF NGC 1097: INFLOW DRIVEN BY A NUCLEAR SPIRAL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sari R
(2010)
HYPERVELOCITY STARS AND THE RESTRICTED PARABOLIC THREE-BODY PROBLEM
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hilton M
(2009)
THE XMM CLUSTER SURVEY: GALAXY MORPHOLOGIES AND THE COLOR-MAGNITUDE RELATION IN XMMXCS J2215.9 - 1738 AT z = 1.46
in The Astrophysical Journal
Haan S
(2009)
DYNAMICAL EVOLUTION OF AGN HOST GALAXIES-GAS IN/OUT-FLOW RATES IN SEVEN NUGA GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Venemans B
(2012)
DETECTION OF ATOMIC CARBON [C II] 158 µm AND DUST EMISSION FROM A z = 7.1 QUASAR HOST GALAXY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shin I
(2012)
MICROLENSING BINARIES WITH CANDIDATE BROWN DWARF COMPANIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bedin L
(2009)
THE END OF THE WHITE DWARF COOLING SEQUENCE IN M4: AN EFFICIENT APPROACH
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dib S
(2012)
THE LESSER ROLE OF SHEAR IN GALACTIC STAR FORMATION: INSIGHT FROM THE GALACTIC RING SURVEY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ness J
(2011)
XMM-NEWTON X-RAY AND ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS OF THE FAST NOVA V2491 Cyg DURING THE SUPERSOFT SOURCE PHASE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Han C
(2009)
INTERPRETATION OF STRONG SHORT-TERM CENTRAL PERTURBATIONS IN THE LIGHT CURVES OF MODERATE-MAGNIFICATION MICROLENSING EVENTS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Khosroshahi H
(2017)
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): A "No Smoking" Zone for Giant Elliptical Galaxies?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ryu Y
(2010)
OGLE-2009-BLG-092/MOA-2009-BLG-137: A DRAMATIC REPEATING EVENT WITH THE SECOND PERTURBATION PREDICTED BY REAL-TIME ANALYSIS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shin I
(2011)
OGLE-2005-BLG-018: CHARACTERIZATION OF FULL PHYSICAL AND ORBITAL PARAMETERS OF A GRAVITATIONAL BINARY LENS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Muraki Y
(2011)
DISCOVERY AND MASS MEASUREMENTS OF A COLD, 10 EARTH MASS PLANET AND ITS HOST STAR
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wesson R
(2008)
A Planetary Nebula around Nova V458 Vulpeculae Undergoing Flash Ionization
in The Astrophysical Journal
Musella I
(2012)
STELLAR ARCHEOLOGY IN THE GALACTIC HALO WITH ULTRA-FAINT DWARFS. VII. HERCULES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Schaefer B
(2011)
ECLIPSES DURING THE 2010 ERUPTION OF THE RECURRENT NOVA U SCORPII
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stott J
(2010)
THE XMM CLUSTER SURVEY: THE BUILD-UP OF STELLAR MASS IN BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mottram J
(2011)
THE RMS SURVEY: THE LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS AND TIMESCALES OF MASSIVE YOUNG STELLAR OBJECTS AND COMPACT H II REGIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bennett D
(2010)
MASSES AND ORBITAL CONSTRAINTS FOR THE OGLE-2006-BLG-109Lb,c JUPITER/SATURN ANALOG PLANETARY SYSTEM
in The Astrophysical Journal
Afonso J
(2011)
ULTRA STEEP SPECTRUM RADIO SOURCES IN THE LOCKMAN HOLE: SERVS IDENTIFICATIONS AND REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTION AT THE FAINTEST RADIO FLUXES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Miyake N
(2012)
A POSSIBLE BINARY SYSTEM OF A STELLAR REMNANT IN THE HIGH-MAGNIFICATION GRAVITATIONAL MICROLENSING EVENT OGLE-2007-BLG-514
in The Astrophysical Journal
Darnley M
(2017)
No Neon, but Jets in the Remarkable Recurrent Nova M31N 2008-12a?-Hubble Space Telescope Spectroscopy of the 2015 Eruption
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wang J
(2009)
THE HIGHEST RESOLUTION CHANDRA VIEW OF PHOTOIONIZATION AND JET-CLOUD INTERACTION IN THE NUCLEAR REGION OF NGC 4151
in The Astrophysical Journal
Coppin K
(2010)
MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF CANDIDATE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI-DOMINATED SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dumas G
(2010)
COLD MOLECULAR GAS IN THE INNER TWO KILOPARSECS OF NGC 4151
in The Astrophysical Journal
Choi J
(2012)
CHARACTERIZING LENSES AND LENSED STARS OF HIGH-MAGNIFICATION SINGLE-LENS GRAVITATIONAL MICROLENSING EVENTS WITH LENSES PASSING OVER SOURCE STARS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Graham J
(2009)
GRB 070714B-DISCOVERY OF THE HIGHEST SPECTROSCOPICALLY CONFIRMED SHORT BURST REDSHIFT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Percival S
(2009)
A LARGE STELLAR EVOLUTION DATABASE FOR POPULATION SYNTHESIS STUDIES. IV. INTEGRATED PROPERTIES AND SPECTRA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Melandri A
(2010)
GRB 090313 AND THE ORIGIN OF OPTICAL PEAKS IN GAMMA-RAY BURST LIGHT CURVES: IMPLICATIONS FOR LORENTZ FACTORS AND RADIO FLARES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hounsell R
(2010)
EXQUISITE NOVA LIGHT CURVES FROM THE SOLAR MASS EJECTION IMAGER (SMEI)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shafter A
(2012)
ON THE SPECTROSCOPIC CLASSES OF NOVAE IN M33
in The Astrophysical Journal
Camero-Arranz A
(2012)
X-RAY AND OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF A 0535+26
in The Astrophysical Journal
Tanvir N
(2012)
STAR FORMATION IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE: BEYOND THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shin I
(2012)
MICROLENSING BINARIES DISCOVERED THROUGH HIGH-MAGNIFICATION CHANNEL
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sumi T
(2010)
A COLD NEPTUNE-MASS PLANET OGLE-2007-BLG-368Lb: Cold neptunes are common
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lu X
(2017)
The Molecular Gas Environment in the 20 km s -1 Cloud in the Central Molecular Zone
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ribeiro V
(2009)
THE EXPANDING NEBULAR REMNANT OF THE RECURRENT NOVA RS OPHIUCHI (2006). II. MODELING OF COMBINED HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGING AND GROUND-BASED SPECTROSCOPY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Boyajian T
(2018)
The First Post-Kepler Brightness Dips of KIC 8462852
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Kuncarayakti H
(2018)
SN 2017dio: A Type-Ic Supernova Exploding in a Hydrogen-rich Circumstellar Medium *
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Windhorst R
(2011)
THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3 EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE DATA: PANCHROMATIC FAINT OBJECT COUNTS FOR 0.2-2 µm WAVELENGTH
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Schwarz G
(2011)
SWIFT X-RAY OBSERVATIONS OF CLASSICAL NOVAE. II. THE SUPER SOFT SOURCE SAMPLE
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Hammer D
(2010)
THE HST /ACS COMA CLUSTER SURVEY. II. DATA DESCRIPTION AND SOURCE CATALOGS
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Purcell C
(2013)
THE COORDINATED RADIO AND INFRARED SURVEY FOR HIGH-MASS STAR FORMATION. II. SOURCE CATALOG
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Westoby P
(2012)
A MAGELLAN-IMACS-IFU SEARCH FOR DYNAMICAL DRIVERS OF NUCLEAR ACTIVITY. I. REDUCTION PIPELINE AND GALAXY CATALOG
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Steele I. A.
(2018)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Polarimetry & photometry of GRB with RINGO2 (Steele+, 2017)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
MAGIC Collaboration MAGIC
(2018)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: S5 0716+714 multi-wavelength curves (MAGIC Collaboration+, 2018)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
| Title | Robotic Control Software |
| Description | software developed to run the liverpool telescope in an autonomous fashion was licensed under GPL and released to Las Cumbres Observatory in return for 1200 hours guarenteed time on their telesopes. |
| IP Reference | |
| Protection | Copyrighted (e.g. software) |
| Year Protection Granted | 2007 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | The robotic software is of course key to the whole operation of the telescope- without it the majority of the scientific papers produced would not have been possible. |
| Description | Input to Parliamentary Inquiry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Provision of evidence and acting as expert witness for House of Commons S&T Committee Inquiry into astronomy and particle physics. Recommendations in final report supporting the Liverpool Telescope and National Schools' Observatory. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | National Schools Observatory |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Enhanced interest and uptake of STEM subjects Increasing schools registration on NSO - more than 4000 currently |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | Pre-2006,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014 |
| URL | http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/ |
| Description | National Schools' Observatory in FE Colleges |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 500 FE College lecturers and their students engaged with astronomical research using the Liverpool Telescope and resources of the NSO website. Over all NSO activity (Primary, Secondary, FE) over the period: 30,000 observing requests were delivered and just under 3,000,000 educational webpages viewed. This is in addition to the engagement activity entered into eVal for the previous period. www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
| Description | National Schools' Observatory in Primary Schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 1000 Primary school teachers and their pupils engaged with astronomical research using the Liverpool Telescope and resources of the NSO website. Over all NSO activity (Primary, Secondary, FE) over the period: 30,000 observing requests were delivered and just under 3,000,000 educational webpages viewed. This is in addition to the engagement activity entered into eVal for the previous period. www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
| Description | National Schools' Observatory in Secondary Schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 2500 Secondary school teachers and their pupils engaged with astronomical research using the Liverpool Telescope and resources of the NSO website. Over all NSO activity (Primary, Secondary, FE) over the period: 30,000 observing requests were delivered and just under 3,000,000 educational webpages viewed. This is in addition to the engagement activity entered into eVal for the previous period www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
| Description | Press coverage relating to the Liverpool Telescope |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Paper Presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | 12+ significant stories covered by the media through press releases related to the Liverpool Telescope. This is in addition to the outputs reported for the previous period through eVal. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
| Description | School and Public Talks |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 50+ public talks and 200+ schools talks based around science from the Liverpool Telescope. This is in addition to data entered through eVal for the previous period. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |
| Description | TV and radio coverage |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contributions to TV and radio broadcasts featuring LIverpool Telescope science. Total 20+ in this reporting period. This is in addition to the outputs reported for the previous period through eVal. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013 |