Stars, dust and gas: the life cycle of galaxies
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The life cycle of matter describes the evolution of a galaxy. Collapsing clouds in the interstellar medium leads to star formation. This locks much of the gas reservoir of the galaxy away, in stars. At the end of their life, stars eject much of their gas back into space, either as a supernova, or through an extreme wind - our Sun will do the latter. The ejecta contain the products of nuclear burning and enrich the gas with elements such as carbon and oxygen. They also produce solid particles, called dust. The ejecta become part of the next generation of star formation, changing the appearance and evolution of these stars. This cycle of matter has been called the ecology of a galaxy. The dust also becomes incorporated in the cycle of matter and in the star formation, initiate the formation of planets. In our solar system, some dust grains have been found which date from the formation of the solar system. Their composition can be used as a fingerprint to identify the type of dying star from which they formed. We study this life cycle of matter: the formation of stars, their death, and the formation of planetary systems, making use of telescopes such as e-Merlin, ALMA, the VLT and the JCMT. We will idenitfy the type of stars from whose death gave rise to our solar system.
Publications
Aleman I
(2011)
Modelling the warm H2 infrared emission of the Helix nebula cometary knots Modelling the H2 emission of cometary knots
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
André P
(2014)
PRISM (Polarized Radiation Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission): an extended white paper
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Anupama G
(2013)
The 2010 outburst and pre-outburst optical spectrum of the recurrent nova U Scorpii
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Asgekar A
(2013)
LOFAR detections of low-frequency radio recombination lines towards Cassiopeia A
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Assaf K
(2013)
Polarization morphology of SiO masers in the circumstellar envelope of the asymptotic giant branch star R Cassiopeiae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Assaf K
(2011)
The 43-GHz SiO maser in the circumstellar envelope of the asymptotic giant branch star R Cassiopeiae 43-GHz SiO maser of the AGB star R Cassiopeiae
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Battersby C
(2011)
Characterizing precursors to stellar clusters with Herschel
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Boyer M
(2011)
SURVEYING THE AGENTS OF GALAXY EVOLUTION IN THE TIDALLY STRIPPED, LOW METALLICITY SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD (SAGE-SMC). II. COOL EVOLVED STARS
in The Astronomical Journal
Boyer M
(2012)
ERRATUM: "SURVEYING THE AGENTS OF GALAXY EVOLUTION IN THE TIDALLY STRIPPED, LOW-METALLICITY SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD (SAGE-SMC). II. COOL EVOLVED STARS" (2011, AJ, 142, 103)
in The Astronomical Journal
Breen S
(2014)
12.2-GHz methanol maser MMB follow-up catalogue - III. Longitude range 10° to 20°
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| Description | The research covered a number of topics. A prime goal was to survey the Galaxy for sites of star formation and for evolved stars, using radio, sub-millimetre, infrared and optical surveys wavelengths. Much progress was made on this project, which will last over a decade., with incorporation of VLA and Herschel data. We also surveyed the Large Magellanic Clouds at wavelengths sensitive to dust and initiated programs to do the same for stars in Globular clusters. Sites of high-mass-star formation in the Galaxy were studied, including a high impact program with the ALMA observatory. We worked on the catastrophic mass loss which ends the life of normal (sun-like) stars. and studied how this depends on the type of star. Iron dust was discovered around old stars. |
| Exploitation Route | The research is continuing with new STFC support under our current consolidated grant. Collaborators in the US, South Africa, Australia and elsewhere have also obtained new funding for this program. |
| Sectors | Education |
| Description | JBCA has one of the most wide-ranging and publicly visible outreach programs in astronomy within the UK. About half the outreach was directly based on the research described in this application. We have dedicated resources,including a recording room at JBCA, and a dedicated Visitor Centre at Jodrell Bank, to support a large range of activities. We maintain a high public profile through our contacts with local and national television, radio and newspapers, all of which help to maintain a strong public interest in astronomy. The outreach included regular events at Jodrell Bank, organized in connection with the Visitor Centre. Examples included Stargazing events, Astro-kid day, and ``Ask an Engineer/Astronomer''. The events made use of the inflatable planetarium (very popular with children), the 3D theatre, and talks by the staff. The outreach team also organizes school events and teacher training. An example of our approach is provided by the Asymmetric Planetary Nebula (APN5) conference, organized as part of this grant. Directly related to this conference, and involving people and materials from the APN5 conference, we organized a two-day programme of activities at nearby Keswick High School (a specialist science school). The activities aimed at all key stages at Keswick and included sessions for local primary school children. Activities included telescope building, operating a transportable radio telescope, a demonstration of a Mars rover, the JB inflatable planetarium, and presentations by Science Made Simple. This event reached more than 2000 children in an economically challenged region of the UK. Such activities provide strong support to STEM education, by generating interest by the children in these topics and encouraging them to continue in higher education. Extensive use is made of the internet in the JBCA outreach. Our extensive website attracts over 160,000 external visits each month. We are part of The Children's University of Manchester where we run the 'Earth and Beyond' http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/earthandbeyond, with a range of hands-on activities. The Jodcast http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/jodcast/ is a twice-monthly podcast, including the latest news, what is in the sky this month, interviews with guest astronomers, a mini-drama, etc. A HD video feed is included. It is among the top astronomy podcasts in the world with over 3000 regular listeners per podcast, and was started and is run by postdocs and students, with help from staff. It regularly interviews senior visitors to the Galactic research group. The Jodcast was supported through an STFC grant. Our Twitter feeds http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/feeds/twitter had over 100000 followers. Other events include sidewalk astronomy, where we take telescopes into the city centre, and cultural events at Jodrell Bank. Our strength as innovators has recently resulted in an STFC Large Award to develop 'festival'-style summer events beginning with the 50th anniversary of the Lovell Telescope and including coordinating Space 50 on behalf of the BNSC. The visitor centre at Jodrell Bank attracted 80\,000 visitors per year at this time. The University submitted a formal planning application for the new Discovery Centre, supported by funding from the Northwest Development Agency. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2007 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic |
| Description | ASIAA |
| Amount | £18,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Academia Sinica |
| Department | Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | Taiwan, Province of China |
| Start | 08/2012 |
| End | 09/2013 |
| Description | Daphne Jackson Trust |
| Amount | £48,630 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Royal Astronomical Society |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2012 |
| End | 07/2015 |
| Description | Phil Diamond |
| Organisation | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Secondment of Phil Diamond as a director of the institute |
| Collaborator Contribution | Salary |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Phil Diamond |
| Organisation | Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Africa |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Secondment of Phil Diamond as SKA director |
| Collaborator Contribution | Salary |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Discovery Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre organizes a wide range of activities aimed at hard-to-reach audiences. This includes young people for whom we organize major music events with science activities, and many school activities. The Centre attracts 140,000 people per year, including around 30,000 for the music festivals and 50,000 school children. The iconic Lovell telescope plays an important role in this activity. The Discovery Centre is recognized as the international leader in science outreach. The 140,000 visitors per year raise the national profile of science and help to convince the political scene of the relevance of science. Many of the children come from disadvantages areas in the north of the UK. The leaders of these activities were awarded the Kelvin medal for their outreach work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014 |
| URL | http://www.jodrellbank.net/ |
| Description | Keswick high school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Alongside an international meeting which we organized in the Lake District, we organized two days of science activities at Keswick high School. This made use of the people and resources at the conference. We did planetarium shows, presentations by Science Made easy, talks, and a variety of other activities. the school also brought in pupils from local primary schools. In total the activity reached 2000 pupils in age ranging from 5 up to 17. We had enthusiastic feedback from the school regarding the impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Stargazing Live |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Jodrell Bank Observatory hosted the BBC Stargazing Live even every year since its inception. The program airs over three nights at prime time and including iplayer reached audiences of 10 million+ each year. Staff for JBCA were involved with the program and the presenting but the event was not JBCA specific. The programs have had a massive impact on the national audiences, as evidenced by complete sell-out of astronomy magazines in the following weeks and very large interest on the internet. The increase of applicants to study physics may in part be related to these programs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013,2014 |
| Description | The Jodcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Since 2006, we have produced a podcast called the Jodcast. This is led by our research students and reaches an audience of around 7,000 for each twice monthly show. The podcast includes the latest news in astronomy, interviews and ask an astronomer sections. Each month since Jan 2012 the show features a "Jodbite" in which one of the researchers in the group is interviewed about their work. Impact is measured by downloads: each episode gets about 5000 downloads. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016 |
| URL | http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/jodcast/ |