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
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
Pope E
(2010)
Mass transport by buoyant bubbles in galaxy clusters Mass transport by buoyant bubbles
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Russell H
(2010)
Chandra observation of two shock fronts in the merging galaxy cluster Abell 2146 The merging cluster Abell 2146
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Bothwell M
(2010)
High-resolution CO and radio imaging of ULIRGs: extended CO structures and implications for the universal star formation law
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Benson A
(2010)
Galaxy formation spanning cosmic history Galaxy formation spanning cosmic history
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Engel H
(2010)
MOST SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES ARE MAJOR MERGERS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Rawle T
(2010)
Stellar population gradients in early-type cluster galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rawle T
(2010)
Deep Herschel view of obscured star formation in the Bullet cluster
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Lehmer B
(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 The Astrophysical Journal
Vignali C
(2010)
Discovery of Compton-thick quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Almeida U
(2010)
Particle acceleration and magnetic field structure in PKS 2155-304: optical polarimetric observations Optical polarimetry of PKS 2155-304
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith G
(2010)
LoCuSS: Probing galaxy transformation physics with Herschel
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Eales S.
(2010)
The Herschel ATLAS
in PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC
Mahony E
(2010)
The RASSâ??6dFGS catalogue: a sample of X-ray selected AGN from the 6dF Galaxy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Egami E
(2010)
The Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS): Overview
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Luo B
(2010)
IDENTIFICATIONS AND PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS OF THE 2 Ms CHANDRA DEEP FIELD-SOUTH SOURCES
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Lehnert MD
(2010)
Spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy at redshift z = 8.6.
in Nature
Garn T
(2010)
Obscured star formation at z = 0.84 with HiZELS: the relationship between star formation rate and Ha or ultraviolet dust extinction
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Muxlow T
(2010)
Discovery of an unusual new radio source in the star-forming galaxy M82: faint supernova, supermassive black hole or an extragalactic microquasar?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Shone A
(2010)
The association between gas and galaxies - III. The cross-correlation of galaxies and Lya absorbers at
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Ivison R
(2010)
BLAST: the far-infrared/radio correlation in distant galaxies Bolometric FIR/radio correlation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hopwood R
(2010)
ULTRA DEEP AKARI OBSERVATIONS OF ABELL 2218: RESOLVING THE 15 µm EXTRAGALACTIC BACKGROUND LIGHT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Alexander D
(2010)
Searching for evidence of energetic feedback in distant galaxies: a galaxy wide outflow in a z ˜ 2 ultraluminous infrared galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| 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 |