A programme of astronomy at the University of Hertfordshire
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Hertfordshire
Department Name: Science and Technology RI
Abstract
This application is to support the programme of research at The Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR) at the University of Hertfordshire. The research includes: - conducting follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts, the most violent events in the Universe, detected by the Swift space mission, so as to better understand the nature and origin of these remarkable events. We will also use the huge luminosity of GRBs to study the distant regions of the universe where we find them; - understanding the formation and evolution of massive galaxies and the role of submillimetre-luminous galaxies in the early universe; - investigating the nature of a new class of star clusters found in the Milky Way's near neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy. Why no similar clusters exist in the Milky Way is a mystery, and may be telling us that the two galaxies evolved in different ways. We also plan to use our observations of these and other clusters to investigate the properties of so-called 'dark matter', which astronomers think makes up about 90% of the universe but which seems to be completely invisible; - to understand how the centres of active galaxies are fuelled, i.e. those where the energy produced is far more than can be produced by stars, and is most likely from accretion on to a massive black hole; - to determine the structure of active galactic nuclei and to understand why there is such a wide range of radio powers associated with active galaxies; - to determine what are the sufficient and necessary conditions for star formation to commence by studying the star formation process in nearby galaxies at scales of the local Jeans length, and to tie this in with star formation at large look-back times; - understand the energetics of the violent interstellar medium, notably the feedback cycle which links massive star formation to the surrounding medium, and it's impact on the disk-halo interface (ranging from setting up localised blow-out of gas to creating galactic winds, and the subsequent enrichment of the intergalactic medium); - to search for and identify all the massive star-forming regions in our Galaxy and from them learn how massive stars are formed; - to measure the energy distribution at optical and infrared wavelengths for extra-solar planets found close to their parent stars, these will give vital insights into the composition, formation and evolution of giant planets; - to understand the occurrence, formation history and properties of 'failed stars' known as brown dwarfs; - to understand the process of mass loss in evolved stars; this matter returns to the interstellar medium and eventually forms new stars; - using spectra to measure the composition of the oldest known stars in order to determine what types of stars were the first to form after the big bang; - a proposal to construct a new optical imaging camera to be used as a visitor instrument on the WHT, which will allow, among many other collaborative applications, a study of the morphology of massive star formation in galaxies; - the CAR has built a polarimeter (PlanetPol) with sufficiently high sensitivity to detect the polarization signature of the so-called hot-Jupiters (extrasolar planets with a size similar to that of Jupiter but in an orbit very close to the star).
Organisations
- University of Hertfordshire (Lead Research Organisation)
- McMaster University (Collaboration)
- University of Cape Town (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- University of Florida (Collaboration)
- Leiden University (Collaboration)
- Open University (Collaboration)
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
Publications
Day-Jones A
(2013)
The sub-stellar birth rate from UKIDSS?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ivison R
(2008)
Interferometric imaging of the high-redshift radio galaxy, 4C 60.07: an SMA, Spitzer and VLA study reveals a binary AGN/starburst
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wright N
(2008)
Extremely red stellar objects revealed by IPHAS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Goswami A
(2006)
A high-resolution spectral analysis of three carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ivison R
(2007)
The SCUBA HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey - III. Identification of radio and mid-infrared counterparts to submillimetre galaxies SHADES III
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Clements D
(2008)
The SCUBA Half-Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES) - VIII. The nature of faint submillimetre galaxies in SHADES, SWIRE and SXDF surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Allard E
(2006)
The star formation history and evolution of the circumnuclear region of M100
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Martin N
(2006)
Discovery and analysis of three faint dwarf galaxies and a globular cluster in the outer halo of the Andromeda galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Carolan P
(2009)
Supersonic turbulence in the cold massive core JCMT 18354???0649S ???
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Laurikainen E
(2007)
Properties of bars and bulges in the Hubble sequence
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ustinov E
(2008)
Linearization of radiative heating and cooling rates for the case of non-scattering planetary atmospheres
in Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer
KÖNIGL A
(2012)
STABILITY OF RADIATIVE RELATIVISTIC SHOCKS TO GLOBAL OSCILLATIONS
in International Journal of Modern Physics D
Guidorzi C
(2006)
The Early (<1 hr) Multi-Colour Afterglow of GRB 050502a with the 2-m Liverpool Telescope
in Chinese Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Hashimoto J.
(2008)
Wide-field infrared imaging polarimetry of the NGC 6334 region: A nest of infrared reflection nebulae
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Packham C.
(2007)
Gemini mid-IR polarimetry of NGC 1068: Polarized structures around the nucleus
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Levan Andrew
(2006)
Infrared and optical observations of GRB 030115 and its extremely red host galaxy:: Implications for dark bursts
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Levan A. J.
(2006)
The first
Swift X-ray flash:: The faint afterglow of XRF 050215B
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Bersier D.
(2006)
Evidence for a supernova associated with the X-ray flash 020903
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Whittet D. C. B.
(2008)
The efficiency of grain alignment in dense interstellar clouds: A reassessment of constraints from near-infrared polarization
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Chiar J. E.
(2006)
Spectropolarimetry of the 3.4 µm feature in the diffuse ISM toward the Galactic center quintuplet cluster
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Diaz-Santos T.
(2007)
Resolving the stellar populations in the circumnuclear ring of NGC 7469
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Williams Benjamin F.
(2007)
Virgo's intracluster globular clusters as seen by the advanced camera for surveys
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Tamura M.
(2006)
Near-infrared polarization images of the Orion Nebula
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Kennicutt
(2007)
Star formation in NGC 5194 (M51a). II. The spatially resolved star formation law
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Pandey S
(2006)
Multi-wavelength afterglow observations of the high redshift GRB 050730
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bradley T
(2006)
A composite H ii region luminosity function in H a of unprecedented statistical weight
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
L. Cioni M
(2008)
AGB stars as tracers of metallicity and mean age across M 33
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Knapen J
(2006)
CO emission from candidate photo-dissociation regions in M 81
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Fynbo J
(2006)
Probing cosmic chemical evolution with gamma-ray bursts: GRB 060206 at z = 4.048
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Fathi K
(2007)
Evolution of structure in late-type spiral galaxies I. Ionized gas kinematics in NGC 628
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morgan L
(2007)
A SCUBA survey of bright-rimmed clouds
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sollerman J
(2007)
The nature of the X-ray flash of August 24 2005 Photometric evidence for an on-axis z $\mathsf{= 0.83}$ burst with continuous energy injection and an associated supernova?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Boquien M
(2007)
Polychromatic view of intergalactic star formation in NGC 5291
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Urquhart J
(2007)
A tale of two cores: triggered massive star formation in the bright-rimmed cloud SFO 75
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Thompson M
(2006)
A SCUBA imaging survey of ultracompact HII regions The environments of massive star formation
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pillai T
(2007)
Probing the initial conditions of high mass star formation I. Deuteration and depletion in high mass pre/protocluster clumps
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jakobsson P
(2006)
H I column densities of z > 2 Swift gamma-ray bursts
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Maiorano E
(2006)
Physics of the GRB 030328 afterglow and its environment
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lindfors E
(2006)
Synchrotron flaring in the jet of 3C 279
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Aldenius M
(2006)
Experimental Mg I oscillator strengths and radiative lifetimes for astrophysical applications on metal-poor stars New data for the Mg I b triplet
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Urquhart J
(2009)
Observational study of sites of triggered star formation CO and mid-infrared observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Guidorzi C
(2006)
The circumburst environment of a FRED GRB: study of the prompt emission and X-ray/optical afterglow of GRB 051111
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Clark J
(2009)
The P Cygni supergiant [OMN2000] LS1 - implications for the star formation history of W51
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Urquhart J
(2006)
Radio continuum and molecular line observations of four bright-rimmed clouds
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ferrero P
(2006)
The GRB 060218/SN 2006aj event in the context of other gamma-ray burst supernovae
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Shimwell T
(2017)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey I. Survey description and preliminary data release?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
García Pérez A
(2009)
6 Li/ 7 Li estimates for metal-poor stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Duc P
(2007)
VCC 2062: an old tidal dwarf galaxy in the Virgo cluster?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morgan L
(2006)
A radio and mid-infrared survey of northern bright-rimmed clouds
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pompéia L
(2008)
Chemical abundances in LMC stellar populations I. The inner disk sample
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
| Description | JCMT Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey |
| Organisation | Leiden University |
| Department | Leiden Observatory |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | participated in drafting the proposal; participated in the observations; participated in drafting the science papers |
| Collaborator Contribution | participated in drafting the proposal; participated in the observations; participated in drafting the science papers |
| Impact | See Wilson et al. MNRAS (2012) 424 (4): 3050-3080. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21453.x and references therein. |
| Description | JCMT Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey |
| Organisation | McMaster University |
| Department | Department of Physics & Astronomy |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | participated in drafting the proposal; participated in the observations; participated in drafting the science papers |
| Collaborator Contribution | participated in drafting the proposal; participated in the observations; participated in drafting the science papers |
| Impact | See Wilson et al. MNRAS (2012) 424 (4): 3050-3080. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21453.x and references therein. |
| Description | JCMT Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey |
| Organisation | Open University |
| Department | School of Physical Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | participated in drafting the proposal; participated in the observations; participated in drafting the science papers |
| Collaborator Contribution | participated in drafting the proposal; participated in the observations; participated in drafting the science papers |
| Impact | See Wilson et al. MNRAS (2012) 424 (4): 3050-3080. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21453.x and references therein. |
| Description | Polarimetry for CanariCam |
| Organisation | University of Florida |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Design and scientific justification for adding polarimetry to CanariCam, a mid-IR imager for GranTecan. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided the imager/spectrometer |
| Impact | Guaranteed time on GranTecan telescope, resulting in publications |
| Description | SHADES |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Active SHADES member - observing and scientific input |
| Collaborator Contribution | led from Edinburgh |
| Impact | about 5 refereed papers |
| Description | THINGS, The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey |
| Organisation | Max Planck Society |
| Department | Max Planck Institute for Astronomy |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Co-wrote and co-led the collaboration; responsible for the observations and 33% of the calibration and reduction; involved in all science papers |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-wrote and co-led the collaboration; responsible for the observations of the other 66% of the calibration and reduction; involved in all science papers |
| Impact | See The Astronomical Journal Article Compilations: http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-3881/page/THINGS |
| Description | THINGS, The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey |
| Organisation | University of Cape Town |
| Department | Department of Astronomy |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Co-wrote and co-led the collaboration; responsible for the observations and 33% of the calibration and reduction; involved in all science papers |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-wrote and co-led the collaboration; responsible for the observations of the other 66% of the calibration and reduction; involved in all science papers |
| Impact | See The Astronomical Journal Article Compilations: http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-3881/page/THINGS |
| Description | UH-Japanese polarization survey |
| Organisation | National Astronomical Observatory of Japan |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Provided the polarization modules for the near-IR survey and scientific input |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided the survey telescope and three-channel camera near-IR camera |
| Impact | 2013ApJ...765L...6K 2012AAS...22052308K 2011ApJ...741...35K 2010ApJ...722L..23N 2010OLEB...40..335F 2009ApJ...692L..88F 2008AJ....136..621K 2008ApJ...677L..39H 2007PASJ...59..519N 2007PASJ...59..507S 2007PASJ...59..487K |