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)
- California Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Leiden University (Collaboration)
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Collaboration)
- Paris Institute of Astrophysics (Collaboration)
Publications
Davis T
(2013)
The ATLAS3D Project - XIV. The extent and kinematics of the molecular gas in early-type galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davis T
(2011)
The ATLAS3D project - X. On the origin of the molecular and ionized gas in early-type galaxies On the origin of gas in early-type galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Davis T
(2013)
Revealing the origin of the cold ISM in massive early-type galaxies
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Davis TA
(2013)
A black-hole mass measurement from molecular gas kinematics in NGC4526.
in Nature
De Franco A
(2017)
Cherenkov telescope array extragalactic survey discovery potential and the impact of axion-like particles and secondary gamma rays
in Astroparticle Physics
De Jong J
(2017)
The third data release of the Kilo-Degree Survey and associated data products
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
De Marchi G
(2011)
STAR FORMATION IN 30 DORADUS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Delahaye T
(2012)
Can Planck constrain indirect detection of dark matter in our Galaxy?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Delahaye Timur
(2012)
Can
Planck constrain indirect detection of dark matter in our Galaxy?
in MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Dietrich JP
(2012)
A filament of dark matter between two clusters of galaxies.
in Nature
Dilday B
(2012)
PTF 11kx: a type Ia supernova with a symbiotic nova progenitor.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Doolin S
(2011)
The dynamics and stability of circumbinary orbits Circumbinary orbits
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dopita M
(2010)
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS AND THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM OF M83: IMAGING AND PHOTOMETRY WITH THE WIDE FIELD CAMERA 3 ON THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dopita M
(2010)
Supernova remnants, planetary nebulae and the distance to NGC 4214
in Astrophysics and Space Science
Drake A
(2013)
Evolution of star formation in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey field - I. Luminosity functions and cosmic star formation rate out to z = 1.6
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Driskill J
(2014)
Wetting transparency of graphene in water.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Duc P
(2015)
The ATLAS3D project - XXIX. The new look of early-type galaxies and surrounding fields disclosed by extremely deep optical images
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Duc P
(2011)
Investigating the Merger Origin of Early-type Galaxies using Ultra-deep Optical Images
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Duc P
(2013)
Probing the mass assembly of massive nearby galaxies with deep imaging
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Duc P
(2014)
Identification of old tidal dwarfs near early-type galaxies from deep imaging and H i observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duc P. -A.
(2015)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: ATLAS3D project. XXIX (Duc+, 2015)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Duffy P
(2012)
The non-thermal emission of extended radio galaxy lobes with curved electron spectra Energies from curved synchrotron spectra
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dumbser M
(2014)
A posteriori subcell limiting of the discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for hyperbolic conservation laws
in Journal of Computational Physics
Díaz-Santos T
(2010)
A HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF THE NUCLEI AND STAR-FORMING REGIONS IN LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Eales S
(2010)
The Herschel ATLAS
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Eales S.
(2010)
The Herschel ATLAS
in PUBLICATIONS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC
Elford J
(2024)
WISDOM Project - XVI. The link between circumnuclear molecular gas reservoirs and active galactic nucleus fuelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Emsellem, E And Alatalo, K And Blitz, L And Bois, M And Bournaud, F And Bureau, M And Cappellari, M And Davies, RL And Davis, TA And De Zeeuw, PT And Khochfar, S And Krajnovic, D And Kuntschner, H And Lablanche, P-Y And McDermid, RM And Morganti, R And Naab, T And Oosterloo, T And Sarzi, M And Scott, N And Serra, P And Weijmans, A And Young, LM
(2010)
The ATLAS 3D project: A paradigm shift for early-type galaxies
Erben T
(2013)
CFHTLenS: the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey - imaging data and catalogue products
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Erlund M
(2010)
Two types of shock in the hotspot of the giant quasar 4C74.26: a high-resolution comparison from Chandra, Gemini and MERLIN Two types of shock within a hotspot
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Esselstein R
(2018)
The K2 M67 Study: Establishing the Limits of Stellar Rotation Period Measurements in M67 with K2 Campaign 5 Data
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fabbiano G
(2010)
FIELD AND GLOBULAR CLUSTER LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARIES IN NGC 4278
in The Astrophysical Journal
Falcón-Barroso J
(2011)
The Fundamental Plane of Early-Type Galaxies
in EAS Publications Series
Falcón-Barroso J
(2011)
The SAURON project - XIX. Optical and near-infrared scaling relations of nearby elliptical, lenticular and Sa galaxies The SAURON project - XIX
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Favrie N
(2014)
A thermodynamically compatible splitting procedure in hyperelasticity
in Journal of Computational Physics
Ferber Asaf
(2013)
A construction of almost Steiner systems
in arXiv e-prints
Finkelstein S
(2011)
HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGING OF Lya EMISSION AT z ˜ 4.4
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fitzpatrick B
(2014)
Simulating the Outer Nebula of SN 1987A
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Fitzpatrick B.
(2011)
Asymmetry in common envelope ejecta
in Asymmetric Planetary Nebulae 5 Conference
Fitzpatrick Benedict J. R.
(2010)
Simulating the Homunculus Nebula of Eta Carinae with an Innovative Multi-mass SPH Technique
in American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #215
Fogarty L
(2014)
The SAMI Pilot Survey: the kinematic morphology-density relation in Abell 85, Abell 168 and Abell 2399
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 |