Extragalactic Astronomy at Durham 2008-2013
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Over recent years observational astronomers at Durham have been at the forefront of many major advances in the study of galaxies and cosmology. We have a publication and citation record which we believe speaks for itself (see proposal introduction). Durham astronomers currently lead major international projects that exploit many of the the world's foremost ground and space observatories. We will capitalize on our proven track record in AGN studies, precision spectrophotometric analysis of stellar populations in nearby galaxies, multiwavelength studies of galaxy populations at high redshift and panoramic QSO and galaxy surveys, to answer open questions which lie at the core of modern astrophysics. In this proposal we present the case for support of a coherent and comprehensive programme that builds on our strengths and seizes new opportunities. Our programme addresses key questions in the STFC Roadmap, such as ``What are the laws of physics in extreme conditions?'', ``How do galaxies, stars and planets form and evolve?'' and ``What is the Universe made of and how does it evolve?''. This proposal is constructed around the four core themes of our research: Theme A: AGN: outflows from black holes their growth and environment Theme B: Galaxy evolution and archaeology and closely related to this; Theme C: feedback and the formation of galaxies Theme D: Survey cosmology, using galaxies and clusters as probes of large scale structure and evolution There is a well established deep rooted synergy between our work and the research of the ICC group, and the instrumentation group (CfAI).
Publications
Mountrichas G
(2009)
2PIGG group masses via 2dF galaxy z -space distortion
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Geach J
(2011)
4098 galaxy clusters to z~ 0.6 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey equatorial Stripe 82 A catalogue of Stripe 82 clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smail Ian
(2009)
A 100 kpc INVERSE COMPTON X-RAY HALO AROUND 4C 60.07 AT z=3.79
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Lehmer B. D.
(2010)
A CHANDRA PERSPECTIVE ON GALAXY-WIDE X-RAY BINARY EMISSION AND ITS CORRELATION WITH STAR FORMATION RATE AND STELLAR MASS: NEW RESULTS FROM LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Kilgard RE
(2006)
A Chandra survey of nearby spiral galaxies. I. Point source catalogs (vol 159, pg 214, 2005)
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES
Ebeling H.
(2007)
A complete sample of 12 very X-ray luminous galaxy clusters at z > 0.5
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Reeves J. N.
(2009)
A COMPTON-THICK WIND IN THE HIGH-LUMINOSITY QUASAR, PDS 456
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Geach J
(2011)
A GALEX/Spitzer survey of the Cl 0016+16 supercluster at z = 0.55: acceleration of the onset of star formation in satellite groups Star formation around Cl 0016+16
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Swinbank A
(2010)
A Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS and ACS morphological study of z ~ 2 submillimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chapin E
(2011)
A joint analysis of BLAST 250-500 µm and LABOCA 870 µm observations in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South BLAST and LABOCA observations of the ECDF-S
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Greve T. R.
(2010)
A LABOCA SURVEY OF THE EXTENDED CHANDRA DEEP FIELD SOUTH-SUBMILLIMETER PROPERTIES OF NEAR-INFRARED SELECTED GALAXIES
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Smith R
(2008)
A large population of recently quenched red-sequence dwarf galaxies in the outskirts of the Coma cluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Hainline L
(2009)
A MID-INFRARED IMAGING SURVEY OF SUBMILLIMETER-SELECTED GALAXIES WITH THE SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Messias H.
(2010)
A MULTI-WAVELENGTH APPROACH TO THE PROPERTIES OF EXTREMELY RED GALAXY POPULATIONS. I. CONTRIBUTION TO THE STAR FORMATION RATE DENSITY AND ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS CONTENT
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Kashlinsky A.
(2010)
A NEW MEASUREMENT OF THE BULK FLOW OF X-RAY LUMINOUS CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Geach J. E.
(2006)
A panoramic mid-infrared survey of two distant clusters
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Gierlinski M
(2008)
A periodicity of approximately 1 hour in X-ray emission from the active galaxy RE J1034+396.
in Nature
Smail I
(2008)
A pilot survey for KX QSOs in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rauch Michael
(2008)
A population of faint extended line emitters and the host galaxies of optically thick QSO absorption systems
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Aharonian F.
(2009)
A SEARCH FOR A DARK MATTER ANNIHILATION SIGNAL TOWARD THE CANIS MAJOR OVERDENSITY WITH HESS
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Greve T. R.
(2006)
A search for dense gas in luminous submillimeter galaxies with the 100 m Green Bank Telescope
in ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL
Matsuda Y
(2010)
A search for galaxies in and around an H i overdense region at
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Casey C
(2009)
A search for neutral carbon towards two z = 4.05 submillimetre galaxies, GN???20 and GN???20.2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Swinbank A
(2009)
A spatially resolved map of the kinematics, star formation and stellar mass assembly in a star-forming galaxy at z = 4.9
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ebeling H
(2009)
A spectacular giant arc in the massive cluster lens MACS J1206.2-0847
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davies G
(2009)
A spectroscopic measure of the star formation rate density in dwarf galaxies at z ~ 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Gilbank D
(2011)
A spectroscopic measurement of galaxy formation time-scales with the Redshift One LDSS3 Emission line Survey ROLES z~ 1 SSFR-mass
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith R
(2009)
A spectroscopic survey of dwarf galaxies in the Coma cluster: stellar populations, environment and downsizing
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tamura N
(2006)
A Subaru/Suprime-Cam wide-field survey of globular cluster populations around M87 - I. Observation, data analysis and luminosity function
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Coppin K
(2009)
A submillimetre galaxy at z = 4.76 in the LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field -South
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smail Ian
(2007)
A very bright, highly magnified Lyman break galaxy at z=3.07
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Moran Sean M.
(2007)
A wide-field survey of two z similar to 0.5 galaxy clusters: Identifying the physical processes responsible for the observed transformation of spirals into S0s
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Richard J
(2010)
Abell 370 revisited: refurbished Hubble imaging of the first strong lensing cluster Strong-lensing analysis of Abell 370
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Oemler A
(2009)
ABELL 851 AND THE ROLE OF STARBURSTS IN CLUSTER GALAXY EVOLUTION
in The Astrophysical Journal
Oemler
(2009)
ABELL 851 AND THE ROLE OF STARBURSTS IN CLUSTER GALAXY EVOLUTION (vol 693, pg 152, 2009)
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Smith R
(2009)
Abundance ratios in red-sequence galaxies over a wide mass range: the 'X-planes' for magnesium, calcium, carbon and nitrogen
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Merluzzi P
(2010)
ACCESS: NIR luminosity function and stellar mass function of galaxies in the Shapley supercluster environment
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Benson A
(2011)
Accretion shocks and cold filaments in galaxy formation Accretion shocks and cold filaments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ivison R. J.
(2007)
AEGIS20: A radio survey of the Extended Groth Strip
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Smith R
(2009)
Ages and metallicities for quiescent galaxies in the Shapley supercluster: driving parameters of the stellar populations Driving parameters of stellar populations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gelbord J
(2009)
AGN with strong forbidden high-ionization lines selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wardlow J
(2010)
An AzTEC 1.1-mm survey for ULIRGs in the field of the Galaxy Cluster MS 0451.6-0305
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Aharonian F.
(2007)
An exceptional very high energy gamma-ray flare of PKS 2155-304
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Stott J. P.
(2007)
An increase in the faint red galaxy population in massive clusters since z similar to 0.5
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Lira P
(2008)
An infrared study of the double nucleus in NGC 3256
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Quillen Alice C.
(2008)
An infrared survey of brightest cluster galaxies. I
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES
O'Dea Christopher P.
(2008)
An infrared survey of brightest cluster galaxies. II. Why are some brightest cluster galaxies forming stars?
in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Allington-Smith J
(2010)
Astrophotonic spectroscopy: defining the potential advantage
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smail I
(2009)
Astrophysics: Hidden Universe uncovered.
in Nature
Liu R
(2009)
ASYMMETRIC ERUPTIVE FILAMENTS
in The Astrophysical Journal
| Description | The programme funded by this grant produce a number of observational insights into fundamental features of galaxies, black holes and large-scale structure. To give just one example, using the newly-completed Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) we undertook the first survey of extreme starburst galaxies in the distant Universe, demonstrating that these galaxies are very likely to be the progenitors of the most massive galaxies seen today in the local Universe, but seen in an early and very active phase of formation. |
| Exploitation Route | Further academic research or through the development of new facilities (e.g. ELT and SKA) or observational programmes. |
| Sectors | Education |
| URL | http://www.astro.dur.ac.uk/Cosmology |
| Description | 6dFGS survey |
| Organisation | Australian Astronomical Observatory |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis and construction of the FP catalogue, i.e. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.443.1231C |
| Collaborator Contribution | Many other science contributions, e.g. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.444.3926J http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.445.2677S http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.455..386S |
| Impact | now focused on mostly exclusively on 6dF++, i.e. TAIPAN http://www.taipan-survey.org/ Map the southern cosmography with ~110 k redshifts. First detailed map of the southern hemisphere peculiar velocities. |
| Description | 6dFGS survey |
| Organisation | Australian National University (ANU) |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis and construction of the FP catalogue, i.e. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.443.1231C |
| Collaborator Contribution | Many other science contributions, e.g. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.444.3926J http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014MNRAS.445.2677S http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016MNRAS.455..386S |
| Impact | now focused on mostly exclusively on 6dF++, i.e. TAIPAN http://www.taipan-survey.org/ Map the southern cosmography with ~110 k redshifts. First detailed map of the southern hemisphere peculiar velocities. |
| Description | Wide field astronomical surveys |
| Organisation | University of Hawaii |
| Department | Institute for Astronomy |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Durham an offical partnet in the Pan-STARRS consortium, which operate a telescope in Hawaii. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They provide the telscope and operations support. |
| Impact | The principle output is research papers published in refereed journals. |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | Seminars and invited talks |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Paper Presentation |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | All of the co-applicants on this grants have given numberous seminars and invited talks at universities and international meetings and conferences. These activities help to enhance the wider knowledge of our research, and foster new collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008,2009,2010,2011,2012 |