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
Tremblin P
(2020)
Rotational spectral modulation of cloudless atmospheres for L/T brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tr
(2016)
Cross-correlation of weak lensing and gamma rays: implications for the nature of dark matter
in ArXiv e-prints
Tojeiro Rita
(2016)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): halo formation times and halo assembly bias on the cosmic web
in ArXiv e-prints
Tojeiro R
(2017)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): halo formation times and halo assembly bias on the cosmic web
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Timmons N
(2015)
EXTINCTION AND NEBULAR LINE PROPERTIES OF A HERSCHEL -SELECTED LENSED DUSTY STARBURST AT z = 1.027
in The Astrophysical Journal
Tiley A
(2019)
The shapes of the rotation curves of star-forming galaxies over the last ˜10 Gyr
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Thomson A. P.
(2015)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Selected ALESS submm galaxies radio properties (Thomson+, 2014)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Thomson A
(2015)
Tracing cool molecular gas and star formation on ~100 pc scales within a z ~ 2.3 galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Thomson A
(2017)
Evolution of Dust-obscured Star Formation and Gas to z = 2.2 from HiZELS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Thomas R
(2017)
VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS): IGM transmission towards galaxies with 2.5 < z < 5.5 and the colour selection of high-redshift galaxies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Taylor A. N.
(2016)
Cosmic Shear Bias and Calibration in Cosmic Shear Studies
in arXiv e-prints
Taylor A
(2018)
Cosmic shear bias and calibration in dark energy studies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tasca L. A. M.
(2016)
The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey First Data Release: spectra and spectroscopic redshifts of 698 objects up to z~6 in CANDELS
in ArXiv e-prints
Tasca L
(2015)
The evolving star formation rate: M ? relation and sSFR since z ? 5 from the VUDS spectroscopic survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tasca L
(2017)
The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey first data release: Spectra and spectroscopic redshifts of 698 objects up to z spec ~ 6 in CANDELS
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tadaki K
(2015)
SXDF-ALMA 1.5 arcmin 2 DEEP SURVEY: A COMPACT DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXY AT z = 2.5
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sánchez P
(2017)
Near-infrared Variability of Obscured and Unobscured X-Ray-selected AGNs in the COSMOS Field
in The Astrophysical Journal
Swinbank A
(2019)
The energetics of starburst-driven outflows at z ~ 1 from KMOS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Swinbank A
(2015)
ALMA RESOLVES THE PROPERTIES OF STAR-FORMING REGIONS IN A DENSE GAS DISK AT z ~ 3
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sweijen F
(2022)
Deep sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging of the Lockman Hole field at 144 MHz
in Nature Astronomy
Suzuki T
(2017)
The Interstellar Medium in [O iii]-selected Star-forming Galaxies at z ~ 3.2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Suzuki T
(2016)
[O iii] emission line as a tracer of star-forming galaxies at high redshifts: comparison between Ha and [O iii] emitters at z=2.23 in HiZELS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Suarez T
(2021)
Modelling intergalactic low ionization metal absorption line systems near the epoch of reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stott J
(2016)
The KMOS Redshift One Spectroscopic Survey (KROSS): dynamical properties, gas and dark matter fractions of typical z ~ 1 star-forming galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stone J
(2018)
The LEECH Exoplanet Imaging Survey: Limits on Planet Occurrence Rates under Conservative Assumptions
in The Astronomical Journal
Stewart A
(2015)
LOFAR MSSS: detection of a low-frequency radio transient in 400 h of monitoring of the North Celestial Pole
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stein Y
(2017)
Extraplanar HII regions in the edge-on spiral galaxies NGC 3628 and NGC 4522
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Stefanon M
(2015)
STELLAR MASS FUNCTIONS OF GALAXIES AT 4 < z < 7 FROM AN IRAC -SELECTED SAMPLE IN COSMOS/ULTRAVISTA: LIMITS ON THE ABUNDANCE OF VERY MASSIVE GALAXIES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stanley F
(2017)
The mean star formation rates of unobscured QSOs: searching for evidence of suppressed or enhanced star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stach S
(2018)
An ALMA Survey of the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey UKIDSS/UDS Field: Number Counts of Submillimeter Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stach S
(2021)
An ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey UKIDSS/UDS field: halo masses for submillimetre galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Squicciarini V
(2021)
Unveiling the star formation history of the Upper Scorpius association through its kinematics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sotomayor-Beltran C
(2015)
Calibrating high-precision Faraday rotation measurements for LOFAR and the next generation of low-frequency radio telescopes (Corrigendum)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sorini D
(2020)
simba: the average properties of the circumgalactic medium of 2 = z = 3 quasars are determined primarily by stellar feedback
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sobral D.
(2016)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: CF-HiZELS survey (Sobral+, 2015)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Sobral D
(2017)
The CALYMHA survey: Lya luminosity function and global escape fraction of Lya photons at z = 2.23
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sobral D
(2018)
The nature of luminous Ly a emitters at z ~ 2-3: maximal dust-poor starbursts and highly ionizing AGN
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sobral D
(2015)
CF-HiZELS, an ~10 deg2 emission-line survey with spectroscopic follow-up: Ha, [O iii] + Hß and [O ii] luminosity functions at z = 0.8, 1.4 and 2.2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sobral D
(2016)
The most luminous H a emitters at z ~ 0.8-2.23 from HiZELS: evolution of AGN and star-forming galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sobey C
(2015)
LOFAR discovery of a quiet emission mode in PSR B0823+26
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith M
(2017)
The Herschel -ATLAS Data Release 2, Paper I. Submillimeter and Far-infrared Images of the South and North Galactic Poles: The Largest Herschel Survey of the Extragalactic Sky
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Smith D. J. B.
(2016)
The WEAVE-LOFAR Survey
in SF2A-2016: Proceedings of the Annual meeting of the French Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Smith B
(2015)
The first Population II stars formed in externally enriched mini-haloes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith B
(2017)
grackle: a chemistry and cooling library for astrophysics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smer-Barreto Vanessa
(2015)
Planck Satellite Constraints on Pseudo-Nambu--Goldstone Boson Quintessence
in ArXiv e-prints
Smer-Barreto V
(2017)
Planck satellite constraints on pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson quintessence
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Smartt SJ
(2017)
A kilonova as the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source.
in Nature
Skemer A
(2016)
THE LEECH EXOPLANET IMAGING SURVEY: CHARACTERIZATION OF THE COLDEST DIRECTLY IMAGED EXOPLANET, GJ 504 b, AND EVIDENCE FOR SUPERSTELLAR METALLICITY
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sissa E
(2018)
High-contrast study of the candidate planets and protoplanetary disk around HD 100546
in Astronomy & Astrophysics