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

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Oemler A (2009) ABELL 851 AND THE ROLE OF STARBURSTS IN CLUSTER GALAXY EVOLUTION in The Astrophysical Journal

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Geach J (2009) THE NATURE OF DUSTY STARBURST GALAXIES IN A RICH CLUSTER AT z = 0.4: THE PROGENITORS OF LENTICULARS? in The Astrophysical Journal

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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 The Astrophysical Journal

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Geach J (2009) THE CHANDRA DEEP PROTOCLUSTER SURVEY: Lya BLOBS ARE POWERED BY HEATING, NOT COOLING in The Astrophysical Journal

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Wilman D (2009) MORPHOLOGICAL COMPOSITION OF z ~ 0.4 GROUPS: THE SITE OF S0 FORMATION in The Astrophysical Journal

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Liu R (2009) IMPLOSION IN A CORONAL ERUPTION in The Astrophysical Journal

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Tian L (2011) ON ASYMMETRY OF MAGNETIC HELICITY IN EMERGING ACTIVE REGIONS: HIGH-RESOLUTION OBSERVATIONS in The Astrophysical Journal

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Bauer F (2010) X-RAY CONSTRAINTS ON THE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI PROPERTIES IN SPITZER -INFRARED SPECTROGRAPH IDENTIFIED z ~ 2 ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES in The Astrophysical Journal

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Fan Y (2009) ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ASYMMETRIC HELICITY INJECTION IN EMERGING ACTIVE REGIONS in The Astrophysical Journal

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Coppin K (2010) MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF CANDIDATE ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI-DOMINATED SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES in The Astrophysical Journal

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Geach J (2011) ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE MOLECULAR GAS FRACTION OF STAR-FORMING GALAXIES in The Astrophysical Journal

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Smith G (2009) HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS OF A SPECTACULAR NEW STRONG-LENSING GALAXY CLUSTER: MACS J1149.5+2223 AT z = 0.544 in The Astrophysical Journal

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Hopwood R (2010) ULTRA DEEP AKARI OBSERVATIONS OF ABELL 2218: RESOLVING THE 15 µm EXTRAGALACTIC BACKGROUND LIGHT in The Astrophysical Journal

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Aharonian F (2009) HESS OBSERVATIONS OF THE PROMPT AND AFTERGLOW PHASES OF GRB 060602B in The Astrophysical Journal

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O'Dea K (2010) HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE FAR-ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS OF BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES: THE ROLE OF STAR FORMATION IN COOLING FLOWS AND BCG EVOLUTION in The Astrophysical Journal

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Peng E (2011) THE HST /ACS COMA CLUSTER SURVEY. IV. INTERGALACTIC GLOBULAR CLUSTERS AND THE MASSIVE GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM AT THE CORE OF THE COMA GALAXY CLUSTER in The Astrophysical Journal

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Frayer D (2011) GREEN BANK TELESCOPE ZPECTROMETER CO(1-0) OBSERVATIONS OF THE STRONGLY LENSED SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES FROM THE HERSCHEL ATLAS in The Astrophysical Journal

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Finoguenov A (2009) THE ROADMAP FOR UNIFICATION IN GALAXY GROUP SELECTION. I. A SEARCH FOR EXTENDED X-RAY EMISSION IN THE CNOC2 SURVEY in The Astrophysical Journal

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Aharonian F (2009) DISCOVERY OF VERY HIGH ENERGY ?-RAY EMISSION FROM CENTAURUS A WITH H.E.S.S. in The Astrophysical Journal

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Reeves J (2009) A COMPTON-THICK WIND IN THE HIGH-LUMINOSITY QUASAR, PDS 456 in The Astrophysical Journal

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Aharonian F (2009) A SEARCH FOR A DARK MATTER ANNIHILATION SIGNAL TOWARD THE CANIS MAJOR OVERDENSITY WITH H.E.S.S. in The Astrophysical Journal

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Huang J (2009) INFRARED SPECTROGRAPH SPECTROSCOPY AND MULTI-WAVELENGTH STUDY OF LUMINOUS STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT z ? 1.9 in The Astrophysical Journal

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Silverman J (2010) THE EXTENDED CHANDRA DEEP FIELD-SOUTH SURVEY: OPTICAL SPECTROSCOPY OF FAINT X-RAY SOURCES WITH THE VLT AND KECK in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

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Luo B (2010) IDENTIFICATIONS AND PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS OF THE 2 Ms CHANDRA DEEP FIELD-SOUTH SOURCES in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

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Hammer D (2010) THE HST /ACS COMA CLUSTER SURVEY. II. DATA DESCRIPTION AND SOURCE CATALOGS in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

 
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