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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Hoyos C (2011) The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey - III. Structural parameters of galaxies using single Sérsic fits? Structural parameters of galaxies in Coma in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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

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Alonso-Herrero Almudena (2008) The host galaxies and black holes of typical z ~ 0.5-1.4 AGNs in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

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Egami E (2010) The Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS): Overview in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Eales S. (2010) The Herschel ATLAS in PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC

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Stark DP (2008) The formation and assembly of a typical star-forming galaxy at redshift z approximately 3. in Nature

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Bower R (2008) The flip side of galaxy formation: a combined model of galaxy formation and cluster heating in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Gilbert Holly R. (2008) The filament-moreton wave interaction of 2006 December 6 in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

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Rex M (2010) The far-infrared/submillimeter properties of galaxies located behind the Bullet cluster in Astronomy and Astrophysics

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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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Poggianti BM (2006) The evolution of the star formation activity in galaxies and its dependence on environment in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

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Stott J (2009) The evolution of the red sequence slope in massive galaxy clusters in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Hartley W (2010) The evolution of galaxy clustering since z= 3 using the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey: the divergence of passive and star-forming galaxies Clustering of passive galaxies in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Silverman J. D. (2008) The evolution of agn host galaxies: From blue to red and the influence of large-scale structures in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

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Atrio-Barandela F (2010) THE ERROR BUDGET OF THE DARK FLOW MEASUREMENT in The Astrophysical Journal

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Liu Rui (2008) The effect of magnetic reconnection and writhing in a partial filament eruption in ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL

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Negrello M (2010) The detection of a population of submillimeter-bright, strongly lensed galaxies. in Science (New York, N.Y.)

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Poppett C (2010) The dependence of the properties of optical fibres on length in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Sobral D (2011) The dependence of star formation activity on environment and stellar mass at z~ 1 from the HiZELS-Ha survey? Star formation, environment & mass at z~1 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Hill M (2011) The contribution of AGN to the submillimetre population The AGN contribution to the sub-mm population in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Font A (2008) The colours of satellite galaxies in groups and clusters The colours of satellite galaxies in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Lane K (2007) The colour selection of distant galaxies in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Early Data Release in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

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Balogh M (2009) The colour of galaxies in distant groups in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Reed D (2009) The clustering of the first galaxy haloes 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