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)
- Leiden University (Collaboration)
- McMaster University (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (Collaboration)
- University of Florida (Collaboration)
- The Open University (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- University of Cape Town (Collaboration)
Publications
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
Allard E
(2006)
The star formation history and evolution of the circumnuclear region of M100
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aoki W
(2007)
Spectroscopic Studies of Extremely Metal-poor Stars with the Subaru High-Dispersion Spectrograph. IV. The a-Element-Enhanced Metal-poor Star BS 16934-002
in The Astrophysical Journal
Aoki W
(2008)
Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor Stars. III. Main-Sequence Turnoff Stars from the SDSS SEGUE Sample1
in The Astrophysical Journal
Aoki W
(2007)
Carbon-enhanced Metal-poor Stars. I. Chemical Compositions of 26 Stars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Aoki W
(2006)
Carbon-enhanced Metal-poor Stars: Osmium and Iridium Abundances in the Neutron-Capture-enhanced Subgiants CS 31062-050 and LP 625-44
in The Astrophysical Journal
Auld R
(2006)
The Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey: precursor observations of the NGC 628 group
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bersier D.
(2006)
Evidence for a supernova associated with the X-ray flash 020903
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Bigiel F
(2008)
THE STAR FORMATION LAW IN NEARBY GALAXIES ON SUB-KPC SCALES
in The Astronomical Journal
Boquien M
(2007)
Polychromatic view of intergalactic star formation in NGC 5291
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Boquien M
(2009)
COLLISIONAL DEBRIS AS LABORATORIES TO STUDY STAR FORMATION
in The Astronomical Journal
Bournaud F
(2007)
Missing mass in collisional debris from galaxies.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Bradley T
(2006)
A composite H ii region luminosity function in H a of unprecedented statistical weight
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bravo-Alfaro H.
(2006)
Multifrequency study of the blue compact dwarf Haro 2: NIR imaging and optical spectroscopy
in REVISTA MEXICANA DE ASTRONOMIA Y ASTROFISICA
Buta R
(2006)
Fourier Dissection of Early-Type Galaxy Bars
in The Astronomical Journal
Böker T
(2008)
A SINFONI VIEW OF GALAXY CENTERS: MORPHOLOGY AND KINEMATICS OF FIVE NUCLEAR STAR-FORMATION RINGS
in The Astronomical Journal
Carolan P
(2009)
Supersonic turbulence in the cold massive core JCMT 18354???0649S ???
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chapman S
(2006)
A Kinematically Selected, Metal-poor Stellar Halo in the Outskirts of M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chiar J. E.
(2006)
Spectropolarimetry of the 3.4 mu m feature in the diffuse ISM toward the Galactic center quintuplet cluster
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Cioni M
(2013)
The Magellanic Clouds as a Template for the Study of Stellar Populations and Galaxy Interactions
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Clark J
(2009)
The P Cygni supergiant [OMN2000] LS1 - implications for the star formation history of W51
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
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
Comerón S
(2007)
Discovery of ultra-compact nuclear rings in three spiral galaxies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Coppin K
(2008)
The SCUBA HAlf Degree Extragalactic Survey - VI. 350-µm mapping of submillimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Coppin K
(2008)
Testing the evolutionary link between submillimetre galaxies and quasars: CO observations of QSOs at z ~ 2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Coppin K
(2006)
The SCUBA Half-Degree Extragalactic Survey - II. Submillimetre maps, catalogue and number counts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Day-Jones A
(2013)
The sub-stellar birth rate from UKIDSS?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Blok W
(2008)
HIGH-RESOLUTION ROTATION CURVES AND GALAXY MASS MODELS FROM THINGS
in The Astronomical Journal
Diaz-Santos T.
(2007)
Resolving the stellar populations in the circumnuclear ring of NGC 7469
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Duc P
(2007)
VCC 2062: an old tidal dwarf galaxy in the Virgo cluster?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Durrell P
(2007)
The Resolved Stellar Populations of a Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy in the Virgo Cluster
in The Astrophysical Journal
Elmegreen B
(2007)
Variation of Galactic Bar Length with Amplitude and Density as Evidence for Bar Growth over a Hubble Time
in The Astrophysical Journal
Elmegreen D
(2006)
Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC and MIPS Observations of the Interacting Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207: Clumpy Emission
in The Astrophysical Journal
Faria D
(2007)
Probing the Nature of the G1 Clump Stellar Overdensity in the Outskirts of M31
in The Astronomical Journal
Fathi K
(2007)
Evolution of structure in late-type spiral galaxies I. Ionized gas kinematics in NGC 628
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Fermi LAT And Fermi GBM Collaborations
(2009)
Fermi observations of high-energy gamma-ray emission from GRB 080916C.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Ferrero P
(2006)
The GRB 060218/SN 2006aj event in the context of other gamma-ray burst supernovae
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Folkes S
(2012)
Identifying ultra-cool dwarfs at low Galactic latitudes: a southern candidate catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Froebrich D
(2011)
UWISH2 - the UKIRT Widefield Infrared Survey for H2 The UKIRT Widefield Infrared Survey for H2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fruchter AS
(2006)
Long gamma-ray bursts and core-collapse supernovae have different environments.
in Nature
Fukue T
(2009)
NEAR-INFRARED CIRCULAR POLARIMETRY AND CORRELATION DIAGRAMS IN THE ORION BECKLIN-NEUGEBAUER/KLEINMAN-LOW REGION: CONTRIBUTION OF DICHROIC EXTINCTION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fynbo J
(2006)
Probing cosmic chemical evolution with gamma-ray bursts: GRB 060206 at z = 4.048
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
García Pérez A
(2008)
A new sample of extremely/ultra metal-poor stars
in Physica Scripta
García Pérez A
(2009)
6 Li/ 7 Li estimates for metal-poor stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gomez H
(2009)
Accounting for the foreground contribution to the dust emission towards Kepler's supernova remnant
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
Granot J
(2008)
Opacity Buildup in Impulsive Relativistic Sources
in The Astrophysical Journal
Granot J
(2008)
Analytic expressions for the surface brightness profile of gamma-ray burst afterglow images
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Green J
(2008)
Multibeam maser survey of methanol and excited OH in the Magellanic Clouds: new detections and maser abundance estimates
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Green J
(2009)
The 6-GHz multibeam maser survey - I. Techniques
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| 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 |