Astrophysics at Oxford: 2010-2015
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Department Name: Oxford Physics
Abstract
Astrophysicists at Oxford are trying to determine six basic things about the Universe. (1) What is it made of? The Universe appears to be at the beginning of a period of accelerated expansion driven by some mysterious stuff known as 'dark energy'. Einstein had a theory for what this stuff is: he called it the Cosmological Constant. We will be testing his theory by measuring the apparent brightnesses of distant exploding stars (supernovae), by measuring the distortions of distant galaxies as light is bent by the gravity of more nearby galaxies, and by measuring the precise positions of about one million galaxies. (2) What is the history of Hydrogen in the Universe? Hydrogen - the most abundant element in the Universe - is the most important building material for making stars. Atoms of Hydrogen combine into molecules within dense clouds, and these clouds provide the nursery for the birth of new stars. We will be using giant new telescopes operating at millimetre and radio wavelengths to observe, and hence understand, this process throughout most of the history of the Universe. (3) What can we learn about how galaxies formed from galaxies observed at current times? We are involved in large observational programmes that can be viewed as 'archaeology' of nearby galaxies looking for clues of important events in their history, for example by finding fast-moving gas orbiting a dormant supermassive black hole. We also study the relation between stellar populations and dark matter by studying the orbits of stars within and beyond the optical light in a galaxy. (4) What can we learn about how galaxies formed from distant galaxies observed at earlier times? Because of the finite speed of light, distant galaxies are seen when the Universe, and the galaxies within it, were young, and often these galaxies are so dusty that they are only effectively studied using infrared and radio observations. We map out the large-scale distribution of galaxies in the distant Universe using a combination of wide-field imaging (taking pictures) and spectroscopy (spreading light out into its constituent colours). We study these systems as they form and evolve, sometimes in dramatic bursts of star formation associated with supermassive black holes. (5) When did the first galaxies form? The Hydrogen in the Universe formed atoms about 300,000 years after the Big Bang, but was largely re-ionized (converted back to protons and electrons) during the so-called Epoch of Reionization. We use giant ground-based telescopes and satellites (e.g. the Hubble Space Telescope) to study these first galaxies and determine whether it was radiation associated with the birth of these galaxies, or stars within them, that was responsible for the re-ionization. (6) How do black holes influence star and galaxy formation? Black holes grow by 'gobbling up' gas and stars in a process called accretion. This process seems commonly to yield outflows in the form of winds and jets, the latter capable of reaching speeds very close to the speed of light. We study these systems in our own galaxy and in distant galaxies to determine the physics of such 'feedback mechanisms' (growth of the black hole is halted, albeit temporarily, by outflows driven by processes associated with the black hole). Our aim is to understand the influence of (compact) black holes on the formation of stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies on much large physical scales.
Organisations
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Lead Research Organisation)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- Leiden University (Collaboration)
- California Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Collaboration)
- Paris Institute of Astrophysics (Collaboration)
Publications
Walker E
(2011)
Supernova Legacy Survey: using spectral signatures to improve Type Ia supernovae as distance indicators SNLS: improving SNe Ia as distance indicators
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sullivan M
(2011)
SNLS3: CONSTRAINTS ON DARK ENERGY COMBINING THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY THREE-YEAR DATA WITH OTHER PROBES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Crocker A
(2011)
Molecular gas and star formation in early-type galaxies Molecular gas and star formation in E/S0s
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Freire P
(2011)
On the nature and evolution of the unique binary pulsar J1903+0327 PSR J1903+0327
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bianco F
(2011)
CONSTRAINING TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE PROGENITORS FROM THREE YEARS OF SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nugent, PE And Sullivan, M And Cenko, SB And Thomas, RC And Kasen, D And Howell, DA And Bersier, D And Bloom, JS And Kulkarni, SR And Kandrashoff, MT And Filippenko, AV And Silverman, JM And Marcy, GW And Howard, AW And Isaacson, HT And Maguire, K And Suzuki, N And Tarlton, JE And Pan, YC And Bildsten, L And Fulton, BJ And Parrent, JT And Sand, D And Podsiadlowski, P And Bianco, FB And Dilday, B And Graham, ML And Lyman, J And James, P And Kasliwal, MM And Law, NM And Quimby, RM And Hook, IM An
(2011)
Supernova 2011fe from an Exploding Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarf Star
Bañados M
(2011)
Emergent flux from particle collisions near a Kerr black hole
in Physical Review D
Kaviraj S
(2011)
A coincidence of disturbed morphology and blue UV colour: minor-merger-driven star formation in early-type galaxies at z~ 0.6 Minor-merger-driven star formation in ETGs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chongchitnan S
(2011)
Scale-dependent bias from the reconstruction of non-Gaussian distributions
in Physical Review D
Conley A
(2011)
SUPERNOVA CONSTRAINTS AND SYSTEMATIC UNCERTAINTIES FROM THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE SUPERNOVA LEGACY SURVEY
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Doolin S
(2011)
The dynamics and stability of circumbinary orbits Circumbinary orbits
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Colombi S
(2011)
Extreme value statistics of smooth Gaussian random fields Extreme value statistics of smooth Gaussian random fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Maguire K
(2011)
PTF10ops - a subluminous, normal-width light curve Type Ia supernova in the middle of nowhere PTF10ops: A subluminous, normal-width SN Ia
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davis O
(2011)
Most massive haloes with Gumbel statistics Most massive haloes with Gumbel statistics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gofford J
(2011)
A broad-band X-ray view of the warm absorber in radio-quiet quasar MR 2251-178 Broad-band Suzaku and Swift view of MR 2251-178
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davies R
(2011)
New views of old galaxies
in Astronomy & Geophysics
Patat F
(2011)
Connecting RS Ophiuchi to [some] type Ia supernovae
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Emsellem E
(2011)
The ATLAS3D project - III. A census of the stellar angular momentum within the effective radius of early-type galaxies: unveiling the distribution of fast and slow rotators Census of the stellar angular momentum in ETGs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Actis M
(2011)
Design concepts for the Cherenkov Telescope Array CTA: an advanced facility for ground-based high-energy gamma-ray astronomy
in Experimental Astronomy
Blundell K
(2011)
SS433's accretion disc, wind and jets: before, during and after a major flare SS433 before, during and after a major flare
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bois M
(2011)
The ATLAS3D project - VI. Simulations of binary galaxy mergers and the link with fast rotators, slow rotators and kinematically distinct cores The ATLAS3D project - VI. Binary galaxy mergers
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zacchei A
(2011)
Planck early results. V. The Low Frequency Instrument data processing
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Whitmore B
(2011)
USING Ha MORPHOLOGY AND SURFACE BRIGHTNESS FLUCTUATIONS TO AGE-DATE STAR CLUSTERS IN M83
in The Astrophysical Journal
Duc P
(2011)
The ATLAS3D project - IX. The merger origin of a fast- and a slow-rotating early-type galaxy revealed with deep optical imaging: first results The merger origin of NGC 680 and 5557
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lorenzoni S
(2011)
Star-forming galaxies at z˜ 8-9 from Hubble Space Telescope/WFC3: implications for reionization Star-forming galaxies at z˜ 8-9 from HST/WFC3
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
Alatalo K
(2011)
DISCOVERY OF AN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS DRIVEN MOLECULAR OUTFLOW IN THE LOCAL EARLY-TYPE GALAXY NGC 1266
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bureau M
(2011)
Molecular Gas and Star Formation in Local Early-type Galaxies
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Tillson H
(2011)
The environment and redshift dependence of accretion on to dark matter haloes and subhaloes Accretion on to dark haloes and subhaloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fritz A.
(2011)
Discovery of the Most Distant Object in the Universe at z~9.4
in Swift and the Surprising Sky: The First Seven Years of Swift. Online at: <A href="http://www.brera.inaf.it/docM/OAB/Research/SWIFT/Swift7/?p=program">http://www.brera.inaf.it/docM/OAB/Research/SWIFT/Swift7/?p=program</A
Cappellari L
(2011)
Resolution Scalable Image Coding With Reversible Cellular Automata
in IEEE Transactions on Image Processing
De Marchi G
(2011)
STAR FORMATION IN 30 DORADUS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Goodall P
(2011)
When microquasar jets and supernova collide: hydrodynamically simulating the SS 433-W 50 interaction Numerical simulations of the SS 433-W 50 system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nugent PE
(2011)
Supernova SN 2011fe from an exploding carbon-oxygen white dwarf star.
in Nature
Lin J
(2011)
LMXB AND IMXB EVOLUTION: I. THE BINARY RADIO PULSAR PSR J1614-2230
in The Astrophysical Journal
Windhorst R
(2011)
THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3 EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE DATA: PANCHROMATIC FAINT OBJECT COUNTS FOR 0.2-2 µm WAVELENGTH
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Fox Derek
(2011)
Gamma-Ray Bursts: From Progenitors to Probes
in NOAO Proposal
Knigge C
(2011)
Two populations of X-ray pulsars produced by two types of supernova.
in Nature
Straughn A
(2011)
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE WFC3 EARLY RELEASE SCIENCE: EMISSION-LINE GALAXIES FROM INFRARED GRISM OBSERVATIONS
in The Astronomical Journal
Darg D
(2011)
Galaxy Zoo: multimergers and the Millennium Simulation Galaxy Zoo: multimergers and Millennium
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Justham S
(2011)
On the formation of single and binary helium-rich subdwarf O stars The formation of He-rich sdO stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | Canada France Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) |
| Organisation | Leiden University |
| Department | Leiden Institute of Physics |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Miller was responsible for the shear measurements for this international collaboration, and took part in the cosmology analysis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Other aspects of the lensing analysis. |
| Impact | Research publications |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Canada France Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) |
| Organisation | University of British Columbia |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Miller was responsible for the shear measurements for this international collaboration, and took part in the cosmology analysis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Other aspects of the lensing analysis. |
| Impact | Research publications |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Canada France Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Department | School of Physics and Astronomy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Miller was responsible for the shear measurements for this international collaboration, and took part in the cosmology analysis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Other aspects of the lensing analysis. |
| Impact | Research publications |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | EarLy unIverse Exploration with nIRspec (ELIXIR) |
| Organisation | Paris Institute of Astrophysics |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Oxford network node has been analysing data from Hubble Space Telescope deep imaging fields (including those from the new WFC3 infrared camera) to determine observing strategies for JWST, and also to provide an initial target list for spectroscopy with NIRSpec on JWST. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This is an EU FP7 network associated with the NIRSpec instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. The Instrument Science Team comprises: Stephane Charlot (IAP, Paris - lead network); Andrew Bunker (Oxford); Marijn Franx (Leiden); Santiago Arribas (Madrid); Roberto Maiolino (Rome); Hans-Walter Rix (MPIA Heidelberg) and Peter Jakobsen (ESA), with out industrial partner (Astrium, Germany). We are responsible for the NIRSpec near-infrared spectrograph, which is being built and tested, and we will execute a 900-hour GTO programme to investigate galaxies at high redshift. The EU FP7 ELIXIR Network is intended to plan the science for this large programme. |
| Impact | The Network funds several PhD students and Early Stage Researchers at the nodes across Europe, including two graduate students at Oxford (Joseph Caruana and Silvio Lorenzoni). These researchers have participated in many of the papers from our group, and Lorenzoni has a first-author paper accepted. |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Galaxies in the Reionization Epoch |
| Organisation | California Institute of Technology |
| Department | Caltech Astronomy |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Oxford has been responsible for reducing the Hubble Space Telescope images and identifying potential high-redshift candidates through colour selection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Oxford has lead this project, in collaboration with Prof Richard Ellis at Caltech, using archival Hubble Space Telescope images with WFC3 to identify Lyman-break galaxies at z=7 and beyond. Caltech has mainly been involved in the spectroscopic follow-up. |
| Impact | Five refereed accepted papers so far (Bunker et al. 2010; Wilkins et al. 2010; Lorenzoni et al. 2011; Wilkins et al. 2011, Wilkins et al. 2012). A press release in December 2009, resulting in extensive coverage. Several invited talks at conferences. |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Kilo Degree Survey weak lensing collaboration |
| Organisation | Leiden University |
| Department | Leiden Institute of Physics |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Responsible for the Point Spread Function modelling and weak lensing shear measurement, employed by the survey. Jointly responsible for cosmology analysis and paper writing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All other aspects of data collection, survey analysis and paper writing |
| Impact | Research papers |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Kilo Degree Survey weak lensing collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Department | School of Physics and Astronomy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Responsible for the Point Spread Function modelling and weak lensing shear measurement, employed by the survey. Jointly responsible for cosmology analysis and paper writing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | All other aspects of data collection, survey analysis and paper writing |
| Impact | Research papers |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | The WFC3 Spectroscopic Parallel (WISP) Survey |
| Organisation | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) |
| Department | Physics and Astronomy |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Oxford is responsible for studying the star formation rates of these galaxies from their H-alpha line luminosities, and for constructing the line luminosity function at redshifts around one. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The WISP collaboration, based at UCLA and also the Spitzer Science Center (in Caltech) and with collaborators elsewhere in the USA and Germany, is responsible for reducing the Hubble Space Telescope slitless grism spectroscopy to search for emission line objects at high redshift. Most of this reduction and cataloging occurs in Los Angeles. |
| Impact | One refereed paper on the initial work - Atek et al. (2010) - and several more in preparation. Various presentations by the team at American Astronomical Society meetings. |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Press release on the first Hubble WFC3 Deep Infrared Images |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | We issued a press release on our work on 8 December 2009 entitled "Reinvigorated Hubble Space Telescope Reveals Most Distant Galaxies Yet". Our press release results in extensive coverage in the scientific media and the international press including: Nature Blog http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2009/12/ hubble_revisits_distant_haunt.html BBC News (online) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8401374.stm We also appeared in The Times (print version) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |