An Astrophysics Consolidated Grant for the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Central Lancashire
Department Name: Jeremiah Horrocks Institute
Abstract
The astrophysics group at the University of Central Lancashire carries out research in many different areas, including, solar physics, stellar variability, and galaxy formation.
This grant requests resources to support our core activities, including the exploitation of data from the latest ground- and space-based observatories, and to carry out state-of-the-art simulations of the formation of star clusters and galaxies.
The key areas covered by the grant are:
Solar physics - where space-based observatories such as the Solar Dynamics Observatory, STEREO, and Hinode will be exploited to investigate solar activity and the effect of the Sun on the solar system. This traces the development of magnetic features in the solar atmosphere, their eruption as flares and coronal mass ejections, and the propagation of material as it flows into space. This will be complemented by computer modelling of the magnetic processes that drive solar activity and its impact in the heliosphere.
Stellar variability - where international observatories such as Kepler, SALT, ALMA, and SOFIA will be used to study different types of variable and eruptive stars. Different variable stars will be investigated using asteroseismology, where the pulsations of stars over time are used to probe the dynamics and structure. Ejecta from evolved eruptive variable stars will be probed in the micron to millimetre range to determine the ejecta composition and understand dust formation.
Formation of star clusters and galaxies - where large supercomputers will be used to simulate the formation and evolution of star clusters and galaxies, including the Milky Way, using suites of numerical codes developed in-house and with close collaborators.
Structure and dynamics of galaxies - where observational and theoretical tools are combined to probe the behaviour of galaxies and phenomena that occur within them. This ranges from measurement of the star formation rate and its relation to dark matter content, to simulations of astrophysical jets, and the structure of large quasar groups.
Exploiting the varied expertise of the astrophysics group is an extensive outreach programme which utilises our purpose-built observatory. The observatory is already extensively used for visiting groups from schools and the general public, and the site will be developed to enhance its potential for public engagement. This programme will be developed to promote engagement with new audiences.
This grant requests resources to support our core activities, including the exploitation of data from the latest ground- and space-based observatories, and to carry out state-of-the-art simulations of the formation of star clusters and galaxies.
The key areas covered by the grant are:
Solar physics - where space-based observatories such as the Solar Dynamics Observatory, STEREO, and Hinode will be exploited to investigate solar activity and the effect of the Sun on the solar system. This traces the development of magnetic features in the solar atmosphere, their eruption as flares and coronal mass ejections, and the propagation of material as it flows into space. This will be complemented by computer modelling of the magnetic processes that drive solar activity and its impact in the heliosphere.
Stellar variability - where international observatories such as Kepler, SALT, ALMA, and SOFIA will be used to study different types of variable and eruptive stars. Different variable stars will be investigated using asteroseismology, where the pulsations of stars over time are used to probe the dynamics and structure. Ejecta from evolved eruptive variable stars will be probed in the micron to millimetre range to determine the ejecta composition and understand dust formation.
Formation of star clusters and galaxies - where large supercomputers will be used to simulate the formation and evolution of star clusters and galaxies, including the Milky Way, using suites of numerical codes developed in-house and with close collaborators.
Structure and dynamics of galaxies - where observational and theoretical tools are combined to probe the behaviour of galaxies and phenomena that occur within them. This ranges from measurement of the star formation rate and its relation to dark matter content, to simulations of astrophysical jets, and the structure of large quasar groups.
Exploiting the varied expertise of the astrophysics group is an extensive outreach programme which utilises our purpose-built observatory. The observatory is already extensively used for visiting groups from schools and the general public, and the site will be developed to enhance its potential for public engagement. This programme will be developed to promote engagement with new audiences.
Planned Impact
Our research impact outside the discipline has two legs - public engagement with people of all ages through a multi-level programme of activities, and knowledge exchange in collaboration with other academic disciplines and via that with industry. Our public engagement activities reach people of all ages, from young children to the oldest members of our community. In addition we engage at a number of levels, from public talks to large audiences, through long-term collaborations with local schools and colleges, bespoke activities at the University to curriculum enhancement events with teachers. Our knowledge exchange benefits from the research group being within the School of Computing, Engineering & Physical Sciences enabling easy collaboration with a range of disciplines; we are developing links with those elsewhere in the University, including within academic schools and support services. We highlight the novel aspects of our offering here, which will develop during the grant.
Alston Observatory is a key element of our public engagement activities. Over the last two years we have replaced the planetarium facility with a £15,000 investment, and refurbished the existing teaching room. This has enabled us to support a range of new activities, including educational visits from primary and secondary schools, observing events for the general public and astronomy outreach for community groups. We have piloted curriculum enhancement events for teachers. We are currently planning to expand the capacity, breadth of the astronomy covered and added science activities around biology and chemistry. Theme C in our application gives more detail on this, and requests staff support for the development, which will be matched in funding from UCLan and appropriate sponsorship.
We support direct engagement with school students via a number of routes. Each year 5-10 students take part in a variety of activities embedded within the research group, varying from work experience to Nuffield bursary projects. We work in local schools and colleges, and have an ongoing collaboration with the Ogden Trust, primarily working with them to support their Preston Science Partnership and the West Lakes Science Consortium. This provides some enabling funds and facilitation to work on collaborative projects in improving students' progression to Higher Education, focusing in the physics subject area in particular. This provides us with a unique understanding of the needs of the student communities, which we also apply more widely in other schools and colleges, for example with the University-sponsored West Lakes Academy. As well as these activities at secondary level, we engage with primary schools, for example working with Beauty in the Universe, a not-for-profit enterprise in East Lancashire. This enterprise was established by a UCLan graduate with support from our business incubation unit and astronomy staff, and we seek to support their expansion as it is clear that they could have a significant impact on a number of under-privileged communities in a way that is self-sustaining.
Knowledge exchange is always a little more challenging for astrophysics groups. Prime amongst our activities is an FP7 EU funded project Coronal Mass Ejections and Solar Energetic Particles: Forecasting the Space Weather Impact. This will produce a European Space Weather alert system to forecast energetic particle radiation storms and geomagnetic storms, which can affect satellites, GPS, power lines and communications, and is a direct result of our solar physics research. We are working within a unique NASA Space Act agreement to provide instrument software, utilising relevant skills amongst the engineering and computing staff within the School. This is funded by the University, anticipating broader knowledge exchange opportunities in the future. Other actives are currently at a smaller scale but span a range from computer games to mass data analysis.
Alston Observatory is a key element of our public engagement activities. Over the last two years we have replaced the planetarium facility with a £15,000 investment, and refurbished the existing teaching room. This has enabled us to support a range of new activities, including educational visits from primary and secondary schools, observing events for the general public and astronomy outreach for community groups. We have piloted curriculum enhancement events for teachers. We are currently planning to expand the capacity, breadth of the astronomy covered and added science activities around biology and chemistry. Theme C in our application gives more detail on this, and requests staff support for the development, which will be matched in funding from UCLan and appropriate sponsorship.
We support direct engagement with school students via a number of routes. Each year 5-10 students take part in a variety of activities embedded within the research group, varying from work experience to Nuffield bursary projects. We work in local schools and colleges, and have an ongoing collaboration with the Ogden Trust, primarily working with them to support their Preston Science Partnership and the West Lakes Science Consortium. This provides some enabling funds and facilitation to work on collaborative projects in improving students' progression to Higher Education, focusing in the physics subject area in particular. This provides us with a unique understanding of the needs of the student communities, which we also apply more widely in other schools and colleges, for example with the University-sponsored West Lakes Academy. As well as these activities at secondary level, we engage with primary schools, for example working with Beauty in the Universe, a not-for-profit enterprise in East Lancashire. This enterprise was established by a UCLan graduate with support from our business incubation unit and astronomy staff, and we seek to support their expansion as it is clear that they could have a significant impact on a number of under-privileged communities in a way that is self-sustaining.
Knowledge exchange is always a little more challenging for astrophysics groups. Prime amongst our activities is an FP7 EU funded project Coronal Mass Ejections and Solar Energetic Particles: Forecasting the Space Weather Impact. This will produce a European Space Weather alert system to forecast energetic particle radiation storms and geomagnetic storms, which can affect satellites, GPS, power lines and communications, and is a direct result of our solar physics research. We are working within a unique NASA Space Act agreement to provide instrument software, utilising relevant skills amongst the engineering and computing staff within the School. This is funded by the University, anticipating broader knowledge exchange opportunities in the future. Other actives are currently at a smaller scale but span a range from computer games to mass data analysis.
Publications
Kurtz D
(2015)
Asteroseismic measurement of surface-to-core rotation in a main-sequence star
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Laitinen T
(2012)
ENERGETIC PARTICLE DIFFUSION IN STRUCTURED TURBULENCE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Laitinen T
(2018)
The effect of turbulence strength on meandering field lines and Solar Energetic Particle event extents
in Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate
Laitinen T
(2013)
ENERGETIC PARTICLE DIFFUSION IN CRITICALLY BALANCED TURBULENCE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Laitinen T
(2017)
Early propagation of energetic particles across the mean field in turbulent plasmas
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Laitinen T
(2013)
ENERGETIC PARTICLE CROSS-FIELD PROPAGATION EARLY IN A SOLAR EVENT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Laitinen T
(2013)
Energetic Particle Diffusion In Critically Balanced Turbulence
Laitinen T
(2016)
Solar energetic particle access to distant longitudes through turbulent field-line meandering
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Laitinen T
(2013)
Energetic particle cross-field propagation early in a solar event
Laitinen T
(2015)
CORRECTING FOR INTERPLANETARY SCATTERING IN VELOCITY DISPERSION ANALYSIS OF SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lange S
(2013)
Particle scattering in turbulent plasmas with amplified wave modes
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lewis K
(2013)
DECODING THE MESSAGE FROM METEORITIC STARDUST SILICON CARBIDE GRAINS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Liu R
(2015)
Lindquist-Wheeler formulation of lattice universes
in Physical Review D
Lokas E
(2014)
Adventures of a tidally induced bar
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lugaro M
(2014)
Early solar system. Stellar origin of the ¹8²Hf cosmochronometer and the presolar history of solar system matter.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Macciò A
(2012)
HALO EXPANSION IN COSMOLOGICAL HYDRO SIMULATIONS: TOWARD A BARYONIC SOLUTION OF THE CUSP/CORE PROBLEM IN MASSIVE SPIRALS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Marasco A
(2015)
The effect of stellar feedback on a Milky Way-like galaxy and its gaseous halo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Marsh M
(2015)
SPARX: A modeling system for Solar Energetic Particle Radiation Space Weather forecasting
in Space Weather
Marsh M
(2013)
DRIFT-INDUCED PERPENDICULAR TRANSPORT OF SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Matthews S
(2011)
Solar Particle Acceleration Radiation and Kinetics (SPARK) A mission to understand the nature of particle acceleration
in Experimental Astronomy
Miranda M
(2016)
Origin of the metallicity distribution in the thick disc
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Miranda M
(2015)
Origin of the Metallicity Distribution in the Thick Disc
Mishenina T
(2017)
Observing the metal-poor solar neighbourhood: a comparison of galactic chemical evolution predictions*†
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mollá M
(2015)
Galactic chemical evolution: stellar yields and the initial mass function
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mollá M
(2017)
Galaxy chemical evolution models: the role of molecular gas formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Moyano Loyola G
(2015)
Tracking Cluster Debris (TraCD) - I. Dissolution of clusters and searching for the solar cradle
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murphy S
(2013)
Asteroseismology of KIC 11754974: a high-amplitude SX Phe pulsator in a 343-d binary system
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murphy S
(2014)
Finding binaries among Kepler pulsating stars from phase modulation of their pulsations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murphy S
(2015)
Finding non-eclipsing binaries through pulsational phase modulation
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Murphy S
(2012)
Pulsational amplitude growth of the star KIC 3429637 (HD 178875) in the context of Am and ? Pup stars Pulsational amplitude growth
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murphy S
(2013)
Super-Nyquist asteroseismology with the Kepler Space Telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murphy S
(2018)
Finding binaries from phase modulation of pulsating stars with Kepler: V. Orbital parameters, with eccentricity and mass-ratio distributions of 341 new binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Murphy S. J.
(2018)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Orbital parameters of 341 new binaries (Murphy+, 2018)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Méndez-Abreu J
(2014)
Secular- and merger-built bulges in barred galaxies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Natale G
(2015)
Predicting the stellar and non-equilibrium dust emission spectra of high-resolution simulated galaxies with dart-ray
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Natale G
(2014)
dart-ray: a 3D ray-tracing radiative transfer code for calculating the propagation of light in dusty galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Natale G
(2014)
A multiwavelength analysis of the clumpy FIR-bright sources in M33
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nemec J
(2015)
Metal-Rich SX Phe Stars in the Kepler Field
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Ness M
(2014)
YOUNG STARS IN AN OLD BULGE: A NATURAL OUTCOME OF INTERNAL EVOLUTION IN THE MILKY WAY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Obreja A
(2014)
The main sequence and the fundamental metallicity relation in MaGICC Galaxies: evolution and scatter
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pereira T
(2015)
THE FORMATION OF IRIS DIAGNOSTICS. IV. THE Mg ii TRIPLET LINES AS A NEW DIAGNOSTIC FOR LOWER CHROMOSPHERIC HEATING
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pignatari M
(2015)
CARBON-RICH PRESOLAR GRAINS FROM MASSIVE STARS: SUBSOLAR 12 C/ 13 C AND 14 N/ 15 N RATIOS AND THE MYSTERY OF 15 N
in The Astrophysical Journal