PATT-linked grant for Warwick Astronomy & Astrophysics Group, April 2011 to March 2013

Lead Research Organisation: University of Warwick
Department Name: Physics

Abstract

At the end of their lives stars settle into one of three possible final compact states known as white dwarfs, neutron stars or black-holes. All three of these are incredibly dense by our standards, so much so that to a neutron star matter at Earth-like densities is only a little different from a vacuum. Many examples of such objects are known, and they are often far from being inactive as they can be so closely paired up with other stars than we can see the effects of gas transferring from one star to the compact object. In such a process the gas can be heated to many millions of degrees making these object efficient X-ray sources. Furthermore, both white dwarfs and neutron stars can show explosive effects as material accreting onto them sparks into uncontrollable fusion, generating vast amounts of energy within seconds or minutes. Such explosions can light up the furthest reaches of the Universe to reveal the history of the build up of structures in the Universe. Our work centres on trying to understand such processes and how the various objects that we see relate to one another. The purpose of this grant is to support the travel needed to observe these objects on ground-based telescopes where we carry out observations of the high-speed processes that occur as material crashes onto these remarkable objects.

Publications

10 25 50
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Barentsen G (2014) The second data release of the INT Photometric Ha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS DR2) in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Burton J (2012) z '-BAND GROUND-BASED DETECTION OF THE SECONDARY ECLIPSE OF WASP-19b in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series

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Byrne C (2021) Binary evolution pathways of blue large-amplitude pulsators in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Carter P (2013) A search for the hidden population of AM CVn binaries in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Copperwheat C (2013) Transmission photometry of WASP-12b: simultaneous measurement of the planetary radius in three bands in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Hodgkin S (2021) Gaia Early Data Release 3 Gaia photometric science alerts in Astronomy & Astrophysics

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Kurtz D (2013) Hot DAVs: a probable new class of pulsating white dwarf stars in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Mallonn M (2016) Broad-band spectrophotometry of HAT-P-32 b: search for a scattering signature in the planetary spectrum in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Parsons S (2013) Eclipsing post-common envelope binaries from the Catalina surveys in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Stanway E (2014) Radio observations of GRB host galaxies in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

 
Description Please see related rolling grant.
Exploitation Route Telescope time forms the basis of research papers that are used by others.
Sectors Education,Other

 
Description This grant funded field trips to collect astronomical data, which were then used to investigate hugely dense and compact stars, planet beyond our solar system and galaxies in the distant Universe. Please see the associated rolling grant for details.
First Year Of Impact 2011
Sector Education
Impact Types Cultural