Rolling Grant Programme in Astrophysics, Planetary Science and Space Instrumentation - 2010-2015
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
We propose a world-class programme of research encompassing astrophysics, planetary science and space instrumentation. In high energy astrophysics, we will investigate a range of extreme phenomena including gamma-ray bursts and accreting black holes, primarily through the use of space observatories such as XMM-Newton and Swift combined with multiwaveband follow-up. Our programme also focuses on the astrophysics of dwarf stars, from hot white dwarfs through to brown dwarfs, utilising observational data in the infrared through to the ultraviolet. We will also continue to search for planets in orbit around nearby stars, exploiting the novel sky survey being conducted by WASP. In planetary science we intend to progress our comparative study of auroral processes on Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury using a combination of remote imaging, in situ spacecraft measurements and modelling. A new strand of research aims at characterising the composition of asteroids and comets and also grains entering the solar system from interstellar space. In space instrumentation, we are engaged in ground-breaking research into X-ray interferometry with the eventual goal of providing, for the first time, an ultra-high resolution imaging capability in high energy astrophysics. We will also investigate the potential of a very low-mass X-ray optic for a diverse range of applications including monitoring the whole sky on a daily basis with an unprecedented sensitivity for transient X-ray events and the imaging of Solar Wind Charge Exchange in the Earth's magnetosphere. Finally we also propose to maintain a very strong commitment to knowledge transfer and to public outreach.
Organisations
Publications
Curran P. A.
(2007)
The prompt to late-time multiwavelength analysis of GRB060210
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Capalbi M.
(2007)
Long-term monitoring of the X-ray afterglow of GRB 050408 with
Swift/XRT
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Evans P. A.
(2007)
An online repository of
Swift/XRT light curves of ?-ray bursts
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Mineo T.
(2007)
GRB 050410 and GRB 050412: are they really dark gamma-ray bursts?
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Goad M. R.
(2007)
Swift multi-wavelength observations of the bright flaring burst GRB 051117A
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Godet O.
(2007)
GRB050822:: detailed analysis of an XRF observed by
Swift
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Curran P. A.
(2008)
On the nature of late X-ray flares in
Swift gamma-ray bursts
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Del Monte E.
(2008)
GRB 070724B: the first gamma ray burst localized by SuperAGILE and its Swift X-ray afterglow
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Porquet D.
(2008)
X-ray hiccups from Sagittarius A* observed by XMM-Newton -: The second brightest flare and three moderate flares caught in half a day
in ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Svensson K
(2010)
The host galaxies of core-collapse supernovae and gamma-ray bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
PRICE M
(2010)
Comet 81P/Wild 2: The size distribution of finer (sub-10 µm) dust collected by the Stardust spacecraft
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Behar E
(2010)
REMARKABLE SPECTRAL VARIABILITY OF PDS 456
in The Astrophysical Journal
Willingale R
(2010)
The spectral-temporal properties of the prompt pulses and rapid decay phase of gamma-ray bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gögüs E
(2010)
DISCOVERY OF A NEW SOFT GAMMA REPEATER, SGR J1833-0832
in The Astrophysical Journal
CHANGELA H
(2010)
Alteration assemblages in the nakhlites: Variation with depth on Mars Alteration assemblages in the nakhlites
in Meteoritics & Planetary Science
Terrier R
(2010)
FADING HARD X-RAY EMISSION FROM THE GALACTIC CENTER MOLECULAR CLOUD Sgr B2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Barstow M
(2010)
O VI IN THE LOCAL INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM
in The Astrophysical Journal
Rowlinson A
(2010)
Discovery of the afterglow and host galaxy of the low-redshift short GRB 080905A? The short GRB 080905A
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mackey A
(2010)
Deep Gemini/GMOS imaging of an extremely isolated globular cluster in the Local Group
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lyons N
(2010)
Can X-ray emission powered by a spinning-down magnetar explain some gamma-ray burst light-curve features?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kellett S
(2010)
Nature of the ring current in Saturn's dayside magnetosphere
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Troja E
(2010)
Going out with a bang: compact object collisions resulting from supernovae in binary systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen H
(2010)
A MATURE DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXY HOSTING GRB 080607 AT z = 3.036
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mateos S
(2010)
The XMM- Newton Wide Angle Survey (XWAS): the X-ray spectrum of type-1 AGN
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Willingale R
(2010)
Active Microstructured Optical Arrays of Grazing Incidence Reflectors
in X-Ray Optics and Instrumentation
Pandey S
(2010)
GRB 090902B: AFTERGLOW OBSERVATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Rowlinson A
(2010)
The unusual X-ray emission of the short Swift GRB 090515: evidence for the formation of a magnetar? The unusual X-ray emission of GRB 090515
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Belenkaya E
(2010)
IMF dependence of Saturn's auroras: modelling study of HST and Cassini data from 12-15 February 2008
in Annales Geophysicae
Evans P
(2010)
The Swift Burst Analyser I. BAT and XRT spectral and flux evolution of gamma ray bursts
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Milillo A
(2010)
The BepiColombo mission: An outstanding tool for investigating the Hermean environment
in Planetary and Space Science
Kocevski D
(2010)
Limits on radioactive powered emission associated with a short-hard GRB 070724A in a star-forming galaxy Short-hard GRB 070724A
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fraser G
(2010)
The mercury imaging X-ray spectrometer (MIXS) on bepicolombo
in Planetary and Space Science
Roberts T
(2010)
The Ultraluminous State
Vaughan S
(2010)
A Bayesian test for periodic signals in red noise A Bayesian test for periodic signals in red noise
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Motch C
(2010)
The X-ray source content of the XMM-Newton Galactic plane survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
D'Elia V
(2010)
VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy of the GRB 090926A afterglow
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Farihi J
(2010)
Rocky planetesimals as the origin of metals in DZ stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Young D
(2010)
Two type Ic supernovae in low-metallicity, dwarf galaxies: diversity of explosions
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Thöne C
(2010)
Photometry and spectroscopy of GRB 060526: a detailed study of the afterglow and host galaxy of a z = 3.2 gamma-ray burst
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Covino S
(2010)
Challenging gamma-ray burst models through the broadband dataset of GRB 060908
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Cardone V
(2010)
Constraining cosmological parameters by gamma-ray burst X-ray afterglow light curves GRBs afterglow and cosmological parameters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hurley K
(2010)
A new analysis of the short-duration, hard-spectrum GRB 051103, a possible extragalactic soft gamma repeater giant flare
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bunce E
(2010)
Extraordinary field-aligned current signatures in Saturn's high-latitude magnetosphere: Analysis of Cassini data during Revolution 89
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Jackson F
(2010)
Revealing X-ray luminous AGN in apparent starburst galaxies
Pérez-Ramírez D
(2010)
Detection of the high ${\sf z}$ GRB 080913 and its implications on progenitors and energy extraction mechanisms
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Mackey A
(2010)
EVIDENCE FOR AN ACCRETION ORIGIN FOR THE OUTER HALO GLOBULAR CLUSTER SYSTEM OF M31
in The Astrophysical Journal
Castro-Tirado A
(2010)
GRB 021004: Tomography of a gamma-ray burst progenitor and its host galaxy
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Fynbo J
(2010)
ERRATUM: "LOW-RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPY OF GAMMA-RAY BURST OPTICAL AFTERGLOWS: BIASES IN THE SWIFT SAMPLE AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ABSORBERS" (2009, ApJS, 185, 526)
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Finoguenov A
(2010)
X-ray groups and clusters of galaxies in the Subaru-XMM Deep Field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Owen R
(2010)
Soft X-ray emission from the inner disc of M33 Soft X-ray emission from inner disc of M33
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Description | We have undertaken an ambitious set of resewaerch projects in astrophysics and space technology. These have led to innovative X-ray optics, including interferometry, and a numnber of astrophysics and planetary science outcomes. These include studies of the most distant objects in the Universe, the characterisation of asteroid samples, the discovery of exoplanets, the characterisation of compact objects (neutron stars, black holes and white dwarfs) and the statistical properties of active galactic nuclei. |
Exploitation Route | The astrophsyical results will inform future studies. The hardware/technology findings can be used in future space missions. |
Sectors | Education |
Description | We have used our research to advance knowledge of astrophysics and space science which has been communicated to the public via outreach activties, including presentations at the National Space Centre, at various schools and through public outreach events including Stargazing live. Technology work has been carried out on X-ray optics which has led to designs for international space missions utlising low-cost and light-weight optical modules. |
First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
Impact Types | Societal |
Title | qsoft - ray tracing and simulation software for X-ray optics and X-ray telescopes |
Description | qsoft is a comprehensive suite of routines for the simulation of X-ray optics and X-ray telescopes. The routines can be accessed using the scripting languages R and/or Python. The routines are written in Fortran 77 and C and the source is self contained and requires no external packages or libraries. The source is available from GitHub. A fortran compiler (gfortran preferred) and R and/or Python with module f2py are required to build the libraries. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | This software has been used for the design and analysis of a number of existing X-ray telescopes: Rosat WFC, XMM-Newton, Swift, SVOM MXT. It is currently in use for the design of up coming instruments: ESA Theseus, NASA TAO, Chinese Einstein Probe. |
URL | https://github.com/dickwillingale |
Description | Numerous public talks and schools visits |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | Keynote/Invited Speaker |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Too numerous to list Inspiration of young and old audiences |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2012,2013 |
Description | UCAS recruitment day University of Leicester |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | The aim is to give prospective undergraduate students a selection of the types of subjects they will study in the University of Leicester College of Science. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
Description | Various school visits, astronomical society lectures |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Many presentations, 100s of students, excellent questions and discussion. Audience figures are totals for activities during each year. Improvements in interest in applying for science degrees |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018 |