Astrophysics at Oxford
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Oxford Physics
Abstract
Astrophysicists at Oxford are trying to determine three basic things about the Universe. What is it made of? The Universe now appears to be begun a period of accelerated expansion driven by some rather mysterious stuff known as `dark energy'. Einstein had a theory for what this stuff is, he called it the Cosmological Constant, and we will be testing his theory by measuring precisely the positions of about a million galaxies, the distortions of more distant galaxies due to the bending of light by gravity, and the brightnesses of distant supernovae. How did the galaxies form? It now looks like the disks of galaxies like the Milky Way have had a rather boring past history, growing by gradual accretion of both normal and `dark' matter and forming their stars gradually. Most of the stars in the Universe, however, are in so-called spheroidal galaxies which appear to have had a much more exciting history. They seemed to have formed in dramatic bursts of star formation associated with the growth of supermassive black holes. We can see if this is true by doing two very different sorts of `experiment': we can look directly at very distant galaxies which, because of the finite speed of light, are seen at times when the Universe, and the galaxies within it, were young; or we can do `archaeology' on nearby galaxies looking for clues of an exciting youth, for example by finding fast-moving gas orbiting a dormant supermassive black hole. How do exotic objects like quasars influence the Universe? When spheroidal galaxies were young and their black holes were still growing they seemed to develop jets that squirted material into their environments. This process heated up large parts of the Universe. Jets are also seen in our own Galaxy associated with so-called microquasars, and since the output from these objects varies on human timescales, they are easier to study, and should provide clues as to how jets work and how important they were in the history of galaxy formation.
Organisations
Publications
Ansarinejad B
(2020)
K-CLASH: spatially resolving star-forming galaxies in field and cluster environments at z ˜ 0.2-0.6
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bureau M
(2011)
The SAURON project - XVIII. The integrated UV-line-strength relations of early-type galaxies The SAURON project - XVIII
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davis T
(2016)
On the depletion and accretion time-scales of cold gas in local early-type galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davis T
(2014)
The ATLAS3D Project - XXVIII. Dynamically driven star formation suppression in early-type galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duc P
(2015)
The ATLAS3D project - XXIX. The new look of early-type galaxies and surrounding fields disclosed by extremely deep optical images
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Falcón-Barroso J
(2011)
The SAURON project - XIX. Optical and near-infrared scaling relations of nearby elliptical, lenticular and Sa galaxies The SAURON project - XIX
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McDermid R
(2014)
CONNECTION BETWEEN DYNAMICALLY DERIVED INITIAL MASS FUNCTION NORMALIZATION AND STELLAR POPULATION PARAMETERS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Naab T
(2014)
The ATLAS3D project - XXV. Two-dimensional kinematic analysis of simulated galaxies and the cosmological origin of fast and slow rotators
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nevado B
(2016)
Widespread adaptive evolution during repeated evolutionary radiations in New World lupins.
in Nature communications
Scott N
(2009)
The SAURON Project - XIV. No escape from V esc : a global and local parameter in early-type galaxy evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Serra P
(2014)
The ATLAS3D project - XXVI. H i discs in real and simulated fast and slow rotators
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Turner T
(2010)
SIGNIFICANT X-RAY LINE EMISSION IN THE 5-6 keV BAND OF NGC 4051
in The Astrophysical Journal
Turner T
(2009)
X-ray absorption and reflection in active galactic nuclei
in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review
Turner T
(2009)
SUZAKU OBSERVATION OF A HARD EXCESS IN 1H 0419 - 577: DETECTION OF A COMPTON-THICK PARTIAL-COVERING ABSORBER
in The Astrophysical Journal
Weijmans A
(2014)
The ATLAS 3D project - XXIV. The intrinsic shape distribution of early-type galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Williams M
(2011)
The stellar kinematics and populations of boxy bulges: cylindrical rotation and vertical gradients? Kinematics and populations of boxy bulges
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Young L
(2014)
The ATLAS3D project - XXVII. Cold gas and the colours and ages of early-type galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society