Consolidated Grant Astronomy Observation and Theory 2019-2022
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Institute of Astronomy
Abstract
This proposal is for a single Consolidated Grant to support the majority of research in Theoretical and Observational Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy (IoA) in Cambridge.
On the largest scales, the proposal includes work to understand the origin and evolution of the Universe itself through precision observations of the cosmic microwave background with new ground-based telescopes, measurements of the 3D positions of galaxies measured with the DES and DESI galaxy surveys, and the development of new techniques to obtain robust constraints on the history of the expansion of the Universe from observations of distant supernovae.
The Universe today is filled with galaxies, of which our own Milky Way is a not atypical example. A full understanding of galaxy formation and evolution requires multiple lines of attack. Observations of the resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and its Local Group companions provide a detailed fossil record of the dynamical assemblies of the galaxies, the formation of stars, and the buildup of heavy elements over a wide range of mass scales and initial conditions. Researchers at the IoA lead key parts of the data processing for the ESA Gaia space mission, which is performing a survey of the Milky Way with unprecedented precision and volume. Several projects in this proposal will exploit the forthcoming second data release from Gaia (a thousand-fold increase in data over the first release) to understand the dynamics of the Galaxy and its companions. At the other end of the scale, observations of distant galaxies spanning lookback times of up to 12 billion years provide direct measurements of the evolution of galaxy populations and the buildup of stars and metals with cosmic time. The light from these first galaxies likely led to the reionization of hydrogen in the intergalactic medium, when the age of the Universe was less than one billion years. Modelling this process requires sophisticated hydrodynamical simulations, including radiative transfer effects, and is a further focus of this proposal.
It is now recognised that there is an intimate link between the evolution of galaxies and the origin and properties of super-massive black holes, which reside at the centre of the Milky Way and other galaxies. The regions close to black holes allow the exploration of physics at the extremes. The formation and properties of super-massive black holes and their relation to the galaxies in which they reside is a research theme that involves theoretical high-energy astrophysics and observational programmes in the grant.
On much smaller scales within galaxies, the grant focusses of the formation of planetary systems through theoretical modelling of the evolution of protoplanetary disks (exploiting high-resolution imaging with ALMA) and their associated debris disks, and on the atmospheres and geology of extrasolar planets.
On the largest scales, the proposal includes work to understand the origin and evolution of the Universe itself through precision observations of the cosmic microwave background with new ground-based telescopes, measurements of the 3D positions of galaxies measured with the DES and DESI galaxy surveys, and the development of new techniques to obtain robust constraints on the history of the expansion of the Universe from observations of distant supernovae.
The Universe today is filled with galaxies, of which our own Milky Way is a not atypical example. A full understanding of galaxy formation and evolution requires multiple lines of attack. Observations of the resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and its Local Group companions provide a detailed fossil record of the dynamical assemblies of the galaxies, the formation of stars, and the buildup of heavy elements over a wide range of mass scales and initial conditions. Researchers at the IoA lead key parts of the data processing for the ESA Gaia space mission, which is performing a survey of the Milky Way with unprecedented precision and volume. Several projects in this proposal will exploit the forthcoming second data release from Gaia (a thousand-fold increase in data over the first release) to understand the dynamics of the Galaxy and its companions. At the other end of the scale, observations of distant galaxies spanning lookback times of up to 12 billion years provide direct measurements of the evolution of galaxy populations and the buildup of stars and metals with cosmic time. The light from these first galaxies likely led to the reionization of hydrogen in the intergalactic medium, when the age of the Universe was less than one billion years. Modelling this process requires sophisticated hydrodynamical simulations, including radiative transfer effects, and is a further focus of this proposal.
It is now recognised that there is an intimate link between the evolution of galaxies and the origin and properties of super-massive black holes, which reside at the centre of the Milky Way and other galaxies. The regions close to black holes allow the exploration of physics at the extremes. The formation and properties of super-massive black holes and their relation to the galaxies in which they reside is a research theme that involves theoretical high-energy astrophysics and observational programmes in the grant.
On much smaller scales within galaxies, the grant focusses of the formation of planetary systems through theoretical modelling of the evolution of protoplanetary disks (exploiting high-resolution imaging with ALMA) and their associated debris disks, and on the atmospheres and geology of extrasolar planets.
Planned Impact
The Institute of Astronomy ensures all students, postdoctoral researchers and staff are actively involved both in delivering high-value science, and also engaging and stimulating a variety of additional knowledge-creation activities. These activities focus on public awareness of astrophysical science, and on applications of research developments in medical, space-industry and commercial spheres.
The University of Cambridge has one of the most successful programmes for nurturing knowledge transfer and the resulting economic and societal impact between University departments and industry both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The extraordinarily successful Cambridge Science Park is well known, with expertise and ideas from Cambridge Astrophysics being involved in the establishment of several businesses in the Cambridge area.
The IoA's approach to the search for impact opportunities is embedded in the mechanisms that the University has in place to facilitate this. The University's Research Office provides the primary point of contact for corporate liaison, and is actively involved in pursuing impact and knowledge-exchange activities and opportunities throughout the University. Cambridge Enterprise, the University's technology transfer and entrepreneurship arm, exists to enhance the University of Cambridge's contribution to society through knowledge transfer from the University to the community. Members of the Institute of Astronomy interact with these organisations regularly. Engagement with the wider economic community is supported by a Collaborative Research Facilitator, based in the Cavendish Laboratory, who is able to provide advice on relevant networking and funding opportunities.
In summary, the research carried out at the IoA supported through this will lead to a wide range of impacts across a broad range of areas from direct and specific impact in the application of analysis techniques to problems in the medical field to inspirational outreach programmes engaging with those teaching the next generation of scientists.
The University of Cambridge has one of the most successful programmes for nurturing knowledge transfer and the resulting economic and societal impact between University departments and industry both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The extraordinarily successful Cambridge Science Park is well known, with expertise and ideas from Cambridge Astrophysics being involved in the establishment of several businesses in the Cambridge area.
The IoA's approach to the search for impact opportunities is embedded in the mechanisms that the University has in place to facilitate this. The University's Research Office provides the primary point of contact for corporate liaison, and is actively involved in pursuing impact and knowledge-exchange activities and opportunities throughout the University. Cambridge Enterprise, the University's technology transfer and entrepreneurship arm, exists to enhance the University of Cambridge's contribution to society through knowledge transfer from the University to the community. Members of the Institute of Astronomy interact with these organisations regularly. Engagement with the wider economic community is supported by a Collaborative Research Facilitator, based in the Cavendish Laboratory, who is able to provide advice on relevant networking and funding opportunities.
In summary, the research carried out at the IoA supported through this will lead to a wide range of impacts across a broad range of areas from direct and specific impact in the application of analysis techniques to problems in the medical field to inspirational outreach programmes engaging with those teaching the next generation of scientists.
Organisations
Publications
Scaringi S
(2022)
Localized thermonuclear bursts from accreting magnetic white dwarfs.
in Nature
Everall A
(2022)
The photo-astrometric vertical tracer density of the Milky Way - II. Results from Gaia
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Winter A
(2022)
Forming short-period substellar companions in 47 Tucanae - I. Dynamical model and brown dwarf tidal capture rates
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kawash A
(2022)
The Galactic Nova Rate: Estimates from the ASAS-SN and Gaia Surveys
in The Astrophysical Journal
Guidi G
(2022)
Distribution of solids in the rings of the HD 163296 disk: a multiwavelength study
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Maitra S
(2022)
Measurement of redshift-space two- and three-point correlation of Lya absorbers at 1.7 < z < 3.5: implications on evolution of the physical properties of IGM
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Desira C
(2022)
Discovery of two bright high-redshift gravitationally lensed quasars revealed by Gaia
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Marino S
(2022)
Vertical evolution of exocometary gas - I. How vertical diffusion shortens the CO lifetime
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sinclair C
(2022)
The role of impacts on the atmospheres on the moons of outer giants
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Speedie J
(2022)
Observing Planet-driven Dust Spirals with ALMA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Katz H
(2022)
Mg ii in the JWST era: a probe of Lyman continuum escape?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sellek A
(2022)
The importance of X-ray frequency in driving photoevaporative winds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gandhi P
(2022)
Astrometric excess noise in Gaia EDR3 and the search for X-ray binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kalaja A
(2022)
The reconstructed CMB lensing bispectrum
Keller P
(2022)
Eclipsing white dwarf binaries in Gaia and the Zwicky Transient Faaccility
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Garufi A
(2022)
A SPHERE survey of self-shadowed planet-forming disks
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Zhu Y
(2022)
Long Dark Gaps in the Lyß Forest at z < 6: Evidence of Ultra-late Reionization from XQR-30 Spectra
in The Astrophysical Journal
Zhai C
(2022)
Role of Topocentric Parallax in Near-Earth Object Initial Orbit Determination
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Thomsen L
(2022)
Relativistic X-Ray Reverberation from Super-Eddington Accretion Flow
Rehemtulla N
(2022)
Non-parametric spherical Jeans mass estimation with B-splines
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jankovic M
(2022)
MRI-active inner regions of protoplanetary discs - II. Dependence on dust, disc, and stellar parameters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rosdahl J
(2022)
LyC escape from sphinx galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abazajian K
(2022)
CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kruszynska K
(2022)
Lens parameters for Gaia 18cbf - a long gravitational microlensing event in the Galactic plane
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pala A
(2022)
Constraining the evolution of cataclysmic variables via the masses and accretion rates of their underlying white dwarfs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rota A
(2022)
Observational constraints on gas disc sizes in the protoplanetary discs of multiple systems in the Taurus region
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Han Y
(2022)
rave : a non-parametric method for recovering the surface brightness and height profiles of edge-on debris discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Masterson M
(2022)
Probing the Extent of Fe Ka Emission in Nearby Active Galactic Nuclei Using Multi-order Analysis of Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Data
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lovell J
(2022)
High-resolution ALMA and HST imaging of ?CrB: a broad debris disc around a post-main-sequence star with low-mass companions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hinkley S
(2022)
The JWST Early Release Science Program for the Direct Imaging and Spectroscopy of Exoplanetary Systems
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Maitra S
(2022)
Redshift space three-point correlation function of IGM at z < 0.48
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jennings J
(2022)
Superresolution trends in the ALMA Taurus survey: structured inner discs and compact discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Baleato Lizancos A
(2022)
Delensing the CMB with the cosmic infrared background: the impact of foregrounds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brennan S
(2022)
Progenitor, environment, and modelling of the interacting transient AT 2016jbu (Gaia16cfr)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Marsh M
(2022)
Fourier formalism for relativistic axion-photon conversion with astrophysical applications
in Physical Review D
Winter A
(2022)
Forming short period sub-stellar companions in 47 Tucanae - II. Analytical expressions for the orbital evolution of planets in dense environments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pelisoli I
(2022)
Found: a rapidly spinning white dwarf in LAMOST J024048.51+195226.9
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Speedie J
(2022)
Turbulent disc viscosity and the bifurcation of planet formation histories
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | Many new discoveries about the formation and evolution of galaxies, star formation, planet formation and particle physics theory have been made possible by the award. |
| Exploitation Route | Many international collaborative projects use our results |
| Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education |
| Title | Data from "Multi-wavelength continuum sizes of protoplanetary discs: scaling relations and implications for grain growth and radial drift" |
| Description | Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 from Tazzari et al., 2021, "Multi-wavelength continuum sizes of protoplanetary discs: scaling relations and implications for grain growth and radial drift", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, arXiv:2010.02249 Both tables are available in IPAC format, which is in human- and machine-readable:
|
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/4756381 |
| Title | Data from "Multi-wavelength continuum sizes of protoplanetary discs: scaling relations and implications for grain growth and radial drift" |
| Description | Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 from Tazzari et al., 2021, "Multi-wavelength continuum sizes of protoplanetary discs: scaling relations and implications for grain growth and radial drift", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, arXiv:2010.02249 Both tables are available in IPAC format, which is in human- and machine-readable:
|
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/4756380 |
| Title | Data from "The first ALMA survey of protoplanetary discs at 3 mm: demographics of grain growth in the Lupus region" |
| Description | Table 1 and Table 2 from Tazzari et al., 2021, "The first ALMA survey of protoplanetary discs at 3 mm: demographics of grain growth in the Lupus region", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, arXiv:2010.02248 Both tables are available in IPAC format, which is in human- and machine-readable:
|
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/4756281 |
| Title | Data from "The first ALMA survey of protoplanetary discs at 3 mm: demographics of grain growth in the Lupus region" |
| Description | Table 1 and Table 2 from Tazzari et al., 2021, "The first ALMA survey of protoplanetary discs at 3 mm: demographics of grain growth in the Lupus region", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, arXiv:2010.02248 Both tables are available in IPAC format, which is in human- and machine-readable:
|
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/4756282 |
| Title | Gaia Photometric Science Alerts |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'Gaia Photometric Science Alerts.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...652A..76H) |
| 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/652/A76 |
| Title | HD 163296 disk rings distribution of solids |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'Distribution of solids in the rings of the HD 163296 disk: a multiwavelength study.' (bibcode: 2022A&A...664A.137G) |
| 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/664/A137 |
| Title | NGTS clusters survey. IV. |
| Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' NGTS clusters survey. IV. Search for Dipper stars in the Orion Nebular Cluster.' (bibcode: 2023MNRAS.521.1700M) |
| 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/521/1700 |