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
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
Mottram J
(2010)
The Red MSX Source survey: the bolometric fluxes and luminosity distributions of young massive stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mouhcine M
(2011)
The galaxy population of Abell 1367: the stellar mass-metallicity relation? Galaxy population of Abell 1367
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mucciarelli A
(2012)
Giants reveal what dwarfs conceal: Li abundance in lower red giant branch stars as diagnostic of the primordial Li? Li abundance in lower RGB stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mucciarelli A
(2011)
Lithium abundance in the globular cluster M4: from the turn-off to the red giant branch bump? Lithium in M4
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Muldrew S
(2012)
Measures of galaxy environment - I. What is 'environment'? What is galaxy environment?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Munari U
(2011)
Properties, evolution and morpho-kinematical modelling of the very fast nova V2672 Oph (Nova Oph 2009), a clone of U Sco Nova Oph 2009
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mundell C
(2010)
Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Era of Rapid Followup
in Advances in Astronomy
Mundell C
(2009)
RADIO VARIABILITY IN SEYFERT NUCLEI
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
Musella I
(2012)
STELLAR ARCHEOLOGY IN THE GALACTIC HALO WITH ULTRA-FAINT DWARFS. VII. HERCULES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nardetto N
(2008)
High-resolution spectroscopy for Cepheids distance determination III. A relation between ? -velocities and ? -asymmetries
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Negrello M
(2010)
The detection of a population of submillimeter-bright, strongly lensed galaxies.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
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
Ness J
(2009)
HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE EVOLVING SHOCK IN THE 2006 OUTBURST OF RS OPHIUCHI
in The Astronomical Journal
Ness J
(2009)
SWIFT X-RAY AND ULTRAVIOLET MONITORING OF THE CLASSICAL NOVA V458 VUL (NOVA VUL 2007)
in The Astronomical Journal
Nettke W
(2017)
The SCUBA-2 Ambitious Sky Survey: a catalogue of beam-sized sources in the Galactic longitude range 120°-140°
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nicholl M
(2016)
Erratum: On the diversity of superluminous supernovae: ejected mass as the dominant factor: Table 1.
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nobuta K
(2012)
BLACK HOLE MASS AND EDDINGTON RATIO DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS OF X-RAY-SELECTED BROAD-LINE AGNs AT z ~ 1.4 IN THE SUBARU XMM-NEWTON DEEP FIELD
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nugent PE
(2011)
Supernova SN 2011fe from an exploding carbon-oxygen white dwarf star.
in Nature
Osborne J
(2011)
THE SUPERSOFT X-RAY PHASE OF NOVA RS OPHIUCHI 2006
in The Astrophysical Journal
Osborne J
(2011)
Swift observations of the March 2011 outburst of the cataclysmic variable NSV 1436: a probable dwarf nova
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ouchi M
(2010)
STATISTICS OF 207 Lya EMITTERS AT A REDSHIFT NEAR 7: CONSTRAINTS ON REIONIZATION AND GALAXY FORMATION MODELS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ouchi Masami
(2008)
The Subaru/
XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS).: IV.: Evolution of Lya emitters from
z=3.1 to 5.7 in the 1 deg
2 field:: Luminosity functions and AGN
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES
Owers M
(2017)
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the cluster redshift survey, target selection and cluster properties
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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 |