Astronomy and Astrophysics at Edinburgh
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
An astonishing feature of modern astrophysical research is that we have in principle a chain of explanation that stretches from processes on cosmological scales of billions of light years, down to the creation of stars, planets around the stars and life on the planets. In a sense, this process is almost a closed loop: the early Universe was once of sub-nuclear scale, so that quantum mechanical uncertainty is bound to seed fluctuations in density, which eventually collapse under gravity to make astronomical structures. This is the same physics of the very small that governs the formation of the atoms out of which we are all made.
But unanswered questions abound at all stages of this process. Our theories of the early Universe and explanations of its current expansion rest on the concept that empty space can have weight: the so-called "dark energy". We need to study its properties and understand its origin. In so doing, we often assume that Einstein's relativity describes gravity correctly on all scales, but can we test this? If the standard theory is correct, dark matter is required, and we are driven to follow the processes by which it clumps, and by which the gas within these clumps evolves and eventually collapses to form stars and massive black holes. New large telescopes on the ground, together with observing platforms in space such as the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, allow us to see this process in action and compare the observations with detailed computer simulations. Nearer to home, we can dissect galaxies such as our own Milky Way into individual stars, for the most detail view of how they were assembled. And finally we can study how planets arise around these stars, both from new instruments that can detect the presence of "exo-planets" and by computer simulations of how they may be created within the discs of gas and dust left over from star formation. Ultimately, one can refine the search to planets potentially capable of supporting life, and ask how life might arise within these early planetary systems.
Research in astronomy at Edinburgh attacks all of these connected questions. Progress is rapid, driven by technological breakthroughs in observational facilities and computing power, and our understanding is evolving rapidly. Major progress, even if not final answers, can be expected within a few years. This is an exciting time for our understanding of the full history and structure of our Universe and our place within it.
But unanswered questions abound at all stages of this process. Our theories of the early Universe and explanations of its current expansion rest on the concept that empty space can have weight: the so-called "dark energy". We need to study its properties and understand its origin. In so doing, we often assume that Einstein's relativity describes gravity correctly on all scales, but can we test this? If the standard theory is correct, dark matter is required, and we are driven to follow the processes by which it clumps, and by which the gas within these clumps evolves and eventually collapses to form stars and massive black holes. New large telescopes on the ground, together with observing platforms in space such as the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, allow us to see this process in action and compare the observations with detailed computer simulations. Nearer to home, we can dissect galaxies such as our own Milky Way into individual stars, for the most detail view of how they were assembled. And finally we can study how planets arise around these stars, both from new instruments that can detect the presence of "exo-planets" and by computer simulations of how they may be created within the discs of gas and dust left over from star formation. Ultimately, one can refine the search to planets potentially capable of supporting life, and ask how life might arise within these early planetary systems.
Research in astronomy at Edinburgh attacks all of these connected questions. Progress is rapid, driven by technological breakthroughs in observational facilities and computing power, and our understanding is evolving rapidly. Major progress, even if not final answers, can be expected within a few years. This is an exciting time for our understanding of the full history and structure of our Universe and our place within it.
Planned Impact
Details of our Pathways to Impact are provided in the separate 2-page attachment. In brief, we carry out an extensive programme of public engagement and knowledge transfer, implemented in collaboration with the UK ATC, and our own Wide Field Astronomy Unit. Much stems directly from the research activities that are the subject of this application.
Our work in knowledge transfer and exploitation is exemplified by the case study of MOPED and the resulting spin-out company Blackford Analysis. MOPED (Massively Optimised Parameter Estimation and Data compression) is a unique process that employs a massive data compression step, enabling very rapid analysis without compromising accuracy. The MOPED algorithm was designed at the IfA by Prof. Alan Heavens and Dr Benjamin Panter to solve problems in cosmology, but has since been successfully applied to a number of medical applications, the most obvious being the ability of MOPED to speed up 3-D MRI image reconstruction to the point where it would no longer be necessary to immobilize children with a general anaesthetic for MRI scans. A spin-out company, Blackford Analysis Ltd, started trading in August 2010, has received significant investment, and now employs 9 people in the UK (sited at ROE, allowing continued academic interaction), developing very rapid image alignment tools for the medical imaging market. There has been direct user-engagement in the medical imaging field, through researchers, clinicians and industry luminaries, as well as MRI scanner manufacturers and PACS vendors. Recently Blackford Analysis has expanded its work into applications in other areas, securing a two-year consultancy contract with Rolls Royce worth £65,000, and identifying further commercial applications of MOPED in security imaging and in the oil and gas industries.
The case of Blackford Analysis exemplifies how novel techniques developed for astronomical research can be effectively applied to have a major impact in wider society. We plan to replicate this success through the University of Edinburgh's involvement in the new Higgs Centre for Innovation (to be completed at ROE by spring 2016). The Higgs Centre aims to ensure that further technologies, algorithms, and techniques from any of ATC instrumentation, IfA research, or WFAU data handling are effectively transferred to industry through close interactions between our academics/PDRAs and the public and private sectors (with the potential to create of further spinout companies from the STFC incubator). We are also taking the Big Data initiative, and interaction with the commercial sector, very seriously. (i) We have a long tradition of designing and developing new data centre facilities in active collaboration with local companies, who then use their experience with other commercial customers. (ii) As part of leading a proposal for UK participation in LSST, we are working with STFC to identify BIS infrastructure funding to work with industry. (iii) We are currently advertising for a new position specialising in novel data handling techniques.
We are also involved in a particularly vigorous programme of Public Outreach, Engagement & Education, under the auspices of the ROE Visitor Centre (www.roe.ac.uk/vc; jointly funded by the University and STFC) that draws directly on the cutting-edge research supported by our STFC Consolidated grant. Within the UK university sector, this programme is unusual in its breadth and scope, extending well beyond the normal expectation of public talks, press releases and media interviews. This is in part because university staff, PDRAs and students have the opportunity to work collaboratively with Visitor Centre Staff, but is also due to the unique advantages afforded by the ROE site, with its unusual combination of front-line astronomical research, world-leadiing instrument development, and astronomical history/heritage. Further details of activities and impact are provided in the Pathways to Impact attachment.
Our work in knowledge transfer and exploitation is exemplified by the case study of MOPED and the resulting spin-out company Blackford Analysis. MOPED (Massively Optimised Parameter Estimation and Data compression) is a unique process that employs a massive data compression step, enabling very rapid analysis without compromising accuracy. The MOPED algorithm was designed at the IfA by Prof. Alan Heavens and Dr Benjamin Panter to solve problems in cosmology, but has since been successfully applied to a number of medical applications, the most obvious being the ability of MOPED to speed up 3-D MRI image reconstruction to the point where it would no longer be necessary to immobilize children with a general anaesthetic for MRI scans. A spin-out company, Blackford Analysis Ltd, started trading in August 2010, has received significant investment, and now employs 9 people in the UK (sited at ROE, allowing continued academic interaction), developing very rapid image alignment tools for the medical imaging market. There has been direct user-engagement in the medical imaging field, through researchers, clinicians and industry luminaries, as well as MRI scanner manufacturers and PACS vendors. Recently Blackford Analysis has expanded its work into applications in other areas, securing a two-year consultancy contract with Rolls Royce worth £65,000, and identifying further commercial applications of MOPED in security imaging and in the oil and gas industries.
The case of Blackford Analysis exemplifies how novel techniques developed for astronomical research can be effectively applied to have a major impact in wider society. We plan to replicate this success through the University of Edinburgh's involvement in the new Higgs Centre for Innovation (to be completed at ROE by spring 2016). The Higgs Centre aims to ensure that further technologies, algorithms, and techniques from any of ATC instrumentation, IfA research, or WFAU data handling are effectively transferred to industry through close interactions between our academics/PDRAs and the public and private sectors (with the potential to create of further spinout companies from the STFC incubator). We are also taking the Big Data initiative, and interaction with the commercial sector, very seriously. (i) We have a long tradition of designing and developing new data centre facilities in active collaboration with local companies, who then use their experience with other commercial customers. (ii) As part of leading a proposal for UK participation in LSST, we are working with STFC to identify BIS infrastructure funding to work with industry. (iii) We are currently advertising for a new position specialising in novel data handling techniques.
We are also involved in a particularly vigorous programme of Public Outreach, Engagement & Education, under the auspices of the ROE Visitor Centre (www.roe.ac.uk/vc; jointly funded by the University and STFC) that draws directly on the cutting-edge research supported by our STFC Consolidated grant. Within the UK university sector, this programme is unusual in its breadth and scope, extending well beyond the normal expectation of public talks, press releases and media interviews. This is in part because university staff, PDRAs and students have the opportunity to work collaboratively with Visitor Centre Staff, but is also due to the unique advantages afforded by the ROE site, with its unusual combination of front-line astronomical research, world-leadiing instrument development, and astronomical history/heritage. Further details of activities and impact are provided in the Pathways to Impact attachment.
Organisations
Publications
Merlin E
(2015)
T-PHOT: A new code for PSF-matched, prior-based, multiwavelength extragalactic deconfusion photometry
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Merlin E.
(2016)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: ASTRODEEP Frontier Fields Catalogues (Merlin+, 2016)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Merlin E.
(2016)
T-PHOT: PSF-matched, prior-based, multiwavelength extragalactic deconfusion photometry
in Astrophysics Source Code Library
Mesa D
(2017)
Upper limits for mass and radius of objects around Proxima Cen from SPHERE/VLT
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Mesa D
(2021)
Limits on the presence of planets in systems with debris discs: HD 92945 and HD 107146
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mesa D
(2016)
Characterizing HR 3549 B using SPHERE
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Meyer E
(2017)
New ALMA and Fermi /LAT Observations of the Large-scale Jet of PKS 0637-752 Strengthen the Case Against the IC/CMB Model
in The Astrophysical Journal
Micha
(2016)
The SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: the nature of bright submm galaxies from 2 deg2 of 850-um imaging
in ArXiv e-prints
Michalowski M
(2017)
The SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: the nature of bright submm galaxies from 2 deg2 of 850-µm imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Miles B
(2023)
The JWST Early-release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems II: A 1 to 20 µm Spectrum of the Planetary-mass Companion VHS 1256-1257 b
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Mingo B
(2022)
Accretion mode versus radio morphology in the LOFAR Deep Fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Miraghaei H
(2017)
On the morphological dichotomies observed in the powerful radio galaxies
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Miraghaei H
(2017)
The nuclear properties and extended morphologies of powerful radio galaxies: the roles of host galaxy and environment
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Miraghaei H.
(2017)
The nuclear properties and extended morphologies of powerful radio galaxies: the roles of host galaxy and environment
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mizuki T
(2018)
Orbital Characterization of GJ1108A System, and Comparison of Dynamical Mass with Model-derived Mass for Resolved Binaries
in The Astrophysical Journal
Moews B
(2021)
Ridges in the Dark Energy Survey for cosmic trough identification
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Moews B
(2020)
Gaussbock: Fast Parallel-iterative Cosmological Parameter Estimation with Bayesian Nonparametrics
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mohammad F
(2016)
Redshift-Space Distortions and f ( z ) from Group-Galaxy Correlations
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Mohammad F
(2016)
Group-galaxy correlations in redshift space as a probe of the growth of structure
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mohammad Faizan G.
(2015)
Group-galaxy correlations in redshift space as a probe of the growth of structure
in ArXiv e-prints
Moldón J
(2015)
The LOFAR long baseline snapshot calibrator survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Molina J
(2017)
SINFONI-HiZELS: the dynamics, merger rates and metallicity gradients of 'typical' star-forming galaxies at z = 0.8-2.2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Montaña A
(2021)
Early science with the Large Millimeter Telescope: a 1.1 mm AzTEC survey of red- Herschel dusty star-forming galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mooney S
(2019)
Blazars in the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey first data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mooney S
(2019)
Revisiting the Fanaroff-Riley dichotomy and radio-galaxy morphology with the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morabito L
(2019)
The origin of radio emission in broad absorption line quasars: Results from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morabito L
(2017)
Investigating the unification of LOFAR-detected powerful AGN in the Boötes field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Moriya T
(2022)
Euclid : Searching for pair-instability supernovae with the Deep Survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morosan D
(2017)
The association of a J -burst with a solar jet
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morris D
(2017)
Use of Docker for deployment and testing of astronomy software
in Astronomy and Computing
Mortier A
(2020)
K2-111: an old system with two planets in near-resonance†
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mortier A
(2018)
K2-263 b: a 50 d period sub-Neptune with a mass measurement using HARPS-N
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mpetha C
(2021)
Gravitational redshifting of galaxies in the SPIDERS cluster catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Muir J
(2021)
DES Y1 results: Splitting growth and geometry to test ? CDM
in Physical Review D
Muir J
(2020)
Blinding multiprobe cosmological experiments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Muzzin A.
(2016)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: COSMOS/UltraVISTA Ks-selected catalogs v4.1 (Muzzin+, 2013)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Mármol-Queraltó E
(2016)
The evolution of the equivalent width of the Ha emission line and specific star formation rate in star-forming galaxies at 1 < z < 5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Naidoo K
(2023)
Euclid : Calibrating photometric redshifts with spectroscopic cross-correlations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Nandra K
(2015)
AEGIS-X: DEEP CHANDRA IMAGING OF THE CENTRAL GROTH STRIP
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Nandra K.
(2015)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: AEGIS-X Deep survey of EGS (AEGIS-XD) (Nandra+, 2015)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Nayyeri H
(2017)
CANDELS MULTI-WAVELENGTH CATALOGS: SOURCE IDENTIFICATION AND PHOTOMETRY IN THE CANDELS COSMOS SURVEY FIELD
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Nayyeri H
(2017)
Herschel and Hubble Study of a Lensed Massive Dusty Starbursting Galaxy at z ~ 3
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nayyeri H
(2016)
CANDIDATE GRAVITATIONALLY LENSED DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXIES IN THE HERSCHEL WIDE AREA SURVEYS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nayyeri H.
(2017)
Herschel and Hubble study of a lensed massive dusty starbursting galaxy at $z\sim3$
in ArXiv e-prints
Nayyeri H.
(2016)
Candidate Gravitationally Lensed Dusty Star-forming Galaxies in the Herschel Wide Area Surveys
in ArXiv e-prints
Negrello M
(2017)
The Herschel -ATLAS: a sample of 500 µm-selected lensed galaxies over 600 deg 2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nelles A
(2015)
Calibrating the absolute amplitude scale for air showers measured at LOFAR
in Journal of Instrumentation
Nesseris S
(2022)
Euclid : Forecast constraints on consistency tests of the ?CDM model
in Astronomy & Astrophysics