Astronomy at the Open University 2017-2020
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Faculty of Sci, Tech, Eng & Maths (STEM)
Abstract
Our research programme, Astronomy at the Open University, covers the breadth of cosmic evolution, from dark energy to the birth of planets. We do this research by observation, laboratory experiments, simulations and modelling. We use purpose-designed laboratories and instruments, and instruments on telescopes and spacecraft to make our observations and measurements. Our group is based in the Department of Physical Sciences at the OU.
So what are we trying to find out? We have 8 separate projects, from exoplanets and stars to distant galaxies. We already know a lot about how the Solar System came about. The Sun and planets formed from a cloud of dust and gas about 4570 million years ago. The cloud collapsed to a spinning disk and dust and gas spiralled inwards. The core of the disk became hot, forming the Sun, while the leftover dust and gas formed the planets. Boulders gravitated together to make planets, but no-one knows how the dust grains became boulders. We are experimenting with colliding centimetre-sized particles in zero-gravity conditions to see if they stick together, to find the missing link in how planets form. We also look at processes that cause stars to change as they age. Only recently has it been recognised that so many stars are binary systems, where two or more stars are in close association and affect each others' motion. Such systems affect the way mass and energy is lost from a star, and how they are transferred into the interstellar medium. We will study how 'binarity' affects the behaviour of massive stars (>20 times the mass of the Sun) and low mass stars (< the mass of the Sun), and how star populations change as they age. Studying these effects is vital, because the environment of a star influences any planets that surround it. Many hundreds of planets have been discovered around other stars (exoplanets) and we are working to describe the range of properties of these planets, especially when they are located close to their central star. A star can even completely destroy a close-in exoplanet, which could be an important new source of dust in the nearby universe and even in distant galaxies in the early Universe. Also in the early Universe, we can use the way that galaxies warp space and time to learn about the dark matter that surrounds them, and the dark energy that drives them apart.
What else do we do? We build and test instruments for ground-based telescopes and for space missions, striving to make them smaller and lighter, and explore how they can be used on Earth for medical or security purposes. One of the most important benefits of our research is that it helps to train and inspire students: the next generation of scientists and engineers. We also enjoy telling as many people as possible about our work, and what we have learned from it about our origins.
So what are we trying to find out? We have 8 separate projects, from exoplanets and stars to distant galaxies. We already know a lot about how the Solar System came about. The Sun and planets formed from a cloud of dust and gas about 4570 million years ago. The cloud collapsed to a spinning disk and dust and gas spiralled inwards. The core of the disk became hot, forming the Sun, while the leftover dust and gas formed the planets. Boulders gravitated together to make planets, but no-one knows how the dust grains became boulders. We are experimenting with colliding centimetre-sized particles in zero-gravity conditions to see if they stick together, to find the missing link in how planets form. We also look at processes that cause stars to change as they age. Only recently has it been recognised that so many stars are binary systems, where two or more stars are in close association and affect each others' motion. Such systems affect the way mass and energy is lost from a star, and how they are transferred into the interstellar medium. We will study how 'binarity' affects the behaviour of massive stars (>20 times the mass of the Sun) and low mass stars (< the mass of the Sun), and how star populations change as they age. Studying these effects is vital, because the environment of a star influences any planets that surround it. Many hundreds of planets have been discovered around other stars (exoplanets) and we are working to describe the range of properties of these planets, especially when they are located close to their central star. A star can even completely destroy a close-in exoplanet, which could be an important new source of dust in the nearby universe and even in distant galaxies in the early Universe. Also in the early Universe, we can use the way that galaxies warp space and time to learn about the dark matter that surrounds them, and the dark energy that drives them apart.
What else do we do? We build and test instruments for ground-based telescopes and for space missions, striving to make them smaller and lighter, and explore how they can be used on Earth for medical or security purposes. One of the most important benefits of our research is that it helps to train and inspire students: the next generation of scientists and engineers. We also enjoy telling as many people as possible about our work, and what we have learned from it about our origins.
Planned Impact
Please see Appendix F for further details.
KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE -
BENEFICIARIES: Our key external, industrial and commercial partners in this project are e2v, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the LSST Corporation, ESA, Astronomy Tuition, the Wolfson Trust, the BBC and FutureLearn.
BENEFITS:
Our long-established collaboration with UK-based imaging specialist e2v has enabled the company to grow its business in international space missions and increase competitiveness. We have helped develop e2v's understanding of the processes at work in imaging sensors, and improved image sensor designs and test methodologies. The current proposal will allow us to extend e2v's competitiveness in imaging through characterisation of the brighter-fatter effect in CCDs. We have previously studied space radiation damage on the e2v sensors, trained more than 30 engineers in testing of e2v products, and were instrumental in the company's successful £3.8m Regional Growth Fund award in 2012 - funding that has created around 100 jobs. Our project also involves collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory and the LSST Corporation, for whom our detector characterisation in this project (in both cases building on our ongoing work) will be valuable for LSST primary science goals and for detector physics.
Our microgravity research programme already has a UKSA-funded outreach programme, with UK astronaut Major Tim Peake planning to tweet our public engagement videos from the ISS (see below) since it fulfils the ELIPS and ISS public engagement objectives of ESA; our research programme will provide further opportunities for new online content. Together with our existing content, this will be promoted through our BBC partnership (described below). We will actively seek opportunities to highlight all research in this grant through our unique OU-BBC media partnership (see below), and our commercial arm OU Worldwide sells a portfolio of our internally-funded BBC programmes to both commercial and public service TV networks globally.
The in-house robotic telescopes used in this proposal (PIRATE, the Bradford Robotic Telescope) are also used in our distance education, and PIRATE has been used as a hands-on exemplar by the independent company Astronomy Tuition, who run hands-on residential school astronomy for OU students and other students. Our research in this grant will enable our external teaching partners to provide students with science applications of small telescopes with the telescopes used on hand. PIRATE is also run remotely through the Wolfson Trust and Open University's joint educational initiative, the Open Science Laboratory, which will benefit directly from the exemplar science applications in this proposal, and may involve public and/or student use of our robotic telescope for follow-ups of targets of interest from this proposal.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT -
BENEFICIARIES: Our audiences are (a) the science-inclined general public (b) new public audiences who have previously only had limited engagement with STEM (c) teachers of science at school and college level (d) young people, e.g. ages 10-14 (e) older influencers of young people, such as parents, family, and group leaders. The audience demographics of each broadcast project depend on the channel (e.g. BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, Channel 4) and the slot (i.e. the day and time of transmission).
BENEFITS:
The OU is a world leader in science public engagement. OU Astronomy research features prominently in the OU's public engagement. The OU has had a Partnership with the BBC for over 40 years and co-produces up to 25 peak time TV and radio series a year and from January 2011 commissions co-productions with other broadcasters e.g. Channel 4. The OU is also one of the leading worldwide providers of free online educational resources. The Open University founded FutureLearn, the UK's MOOC provider. We are responsible for the Education and Public Outreach for PLATO2.0 & ASTERICS, highlighting our research.
KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE -
BENEFICIARIES: Our key external, industrial and commercial partners in this project are e2v, Brookhaven National Laboratory, the LSST Corporation, ESA, Astronomy Tuition, the Wolfson Trust, the BBC and FutureLearn.
BENEFITS:
Our long-established collaboration with UK-based imaging specialist e2v has enabled the company to grow its business in international space missions and increase competitiveness. We have helped develop e2v's understanding of the processes at work in imaging sensors, and improved image sensor designs and test methodologies. The current proposal will allow us to extend e2v's competitiveness in imaging through characterisation of the brighter-fatter effect in CCDs. We have previously studied space radiation damage on the e2v sensors, trained more than 30 engineers in testing of e2v products, and were instrumental in the company's successful £3.8m Regional Growth Fund award in 2012 - funding that has created around 100 jobs. Our project also involves collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory and the LSST Corporation, for whom our detector characterisation in this project (in both cases building on our ongoing work) will be valuable for LSST primary science goals and for detector physics.
Our microgravity research programme already has a UKSA-funded outreach programme, with UK astronaut Major Tim Peake planning to tweet our public engagement videos from the ISS (see below) since it fulfils the ELIPS and ISS public engagement objectives of ESA; our research programme will provide further opportunities for new online content. Together with our existing content, this will be promoted through our BBC partnership (described below). We will actively seek opportunities to highlight all research in this grant through our unique OU-BBC media partnership (see below), and our commercial arm OU Worldwide sells a portfolio of our internally-funded BBC programmes to both commercial and public service TV networks globally.
The in-house robotic telescopes used in this proposal (PIRATE, the Bradford Robotic Telescope) are also used in our distance education, and PIRATE has been used as a hands-on exemplar by the independent company Astronomy Tuition, who run hands-on residential school astronomy for OU students and other students. Our research in this grant will enable our external teaching partners to provide students with science applications of small telescopes with the telescopes used on hand. PIRATE is also run remotely through the Wolfson Trust and Open University's joint educational initiative, the Open Science Laboratory, which will benefit directly from the exemplar science applications in this proposal, and may involve public and/or student use of our robotic telescope for follow-ups of targets of interest from this proposal.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT -
BENEFICIARIES: Our audiences are (a) the science-inclined general public (b) new public audiences who have previously only had limited engagement with STEM (c) teachers of science at school and college level (d) young people, e.g. ages 10-14 (e) older influencers of young people, such as parents, family, and group leaders. The audience demographics of each broadcast project depend on the channel (e.g. BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, Channel 4) and the slot (i.e. the day and time of transmission).
BENEFITS:
The OU is a world leader in science public engagement. OU Astronomy research features prominently in the OU's public engagement. The OU has had a Partnership with the BBC for over 40 years and co-produces up to 25 peak time TV and radio series a year and from January 2011 commissions co-productions with other broadcasters e.g. Channel 4. The OU is also one of the leading worldwide providers of free online educational resources. The Open University founded FutureLearn, the UK's MOOC provider. We are responsible for the Education and Public Outreach for PLATO2.0 & ASTERICS, highlighting our research.
Organisations
Publications
Zotti G
(2018)
Exploring cosmic origins with CORE: Extragalactic sources in cosmic microwave background maps
in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Zavala J
(2017)
A dusty star-forming galaxy at z = 6 revealed by strong gravitational lensing
in Nature Astronomy
Wittenmyer R
(2018)
The K2-HERMES Survey. I. Planet-candidate Properties from K2 Campaigns 1-3
in The Astronomical Journal
Wittenmyer R
(2017)
The Pan-Pacific Planet Search. VII. The Most Eccentric Planet Orbiting a Giant Star
in The Astronomical Journal
Wittenmyer R
(2019)
Truly eccentric - II. When can two circular planets mimic a single eccentric orbit?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Williams W
(2019)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey III. First data release: Optical/infrared identifications and value-added catalogue
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Williams W
(2019)
NGC 326: X-shaped no more
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wilde J
(2022)
Detecting gravitational lenses using machine learning: exploring interpretability and sensitivity to rare lensing configurations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vernardos G
(2019)
Spectroscopic confirmation and modelling of two lensed quadruple quasars in the Dark Energy Survey public footprint
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Urquhart S
(2022)
The bright extragalactic ALMA redshift survey (BEARS) I: redshifts of bright gravitationally lensed galaxies from the Herschel ATLAS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tuomi M
(2018)
AD Leonis: Radial Velocity Signal of Stellar Rotation or Spin-Orbit Resonance?
in The Astronomical Journal
Thomson A
(2019)
Through thick or thin: multiple components of the magneto-ionic medium towards the nearby H ii region Sharpless 2-27 revealed by Faraday tomography
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stock S
(2020)
The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs Characterization of the nearby ultra-compact multiplanetary system YZ Ceti
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Staab D
(2017)
SALT observations of the chromospheric activity of transiting planet hosts: mass-loss and star-planet interactions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Staab D
(2019)
A compact multi-planet system around a bright nearby star from the Dispersed Matter Planet Project
in Nature Astronomy
Spinoglio L
(2017)
Galaxy Evolution Studies with the SPace IR Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics ( SPICA ): The Power of IR Spectroscopy
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Shimwell T
(2019)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey II. First data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Shim H
(2022)
Multiwavelength properties of 850-µm selected sources from the North Ecliptic Pole SCUBA-2 survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Serjeant S
(2019)
What do astronomers want from the STFC?
in Astronomy & Geophysics
Serjeant S
(2018)
New RAS 200 show is all-round impressive
in Astronomy & Geophysics
Serjeant S
(2019)
How Far Can We Push Deconvolution? A SCUBA-2 Test Case
in Research Notes of the AAS
Saintonge A
(2018)
JINGLE, a JCMT legacy survey of dust and gas for galaxy evolution studies - I. Survey overview and first results
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sabater J
(2019)
The LoTSS view of radio AGN in the local Universe The most massive galaxies are always switched on
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Ribas I
(2018)
A candidate super-Earth planet orbiting near the snow line of Barnard's star.
in Nature
Quitzow-James R
(2017)
Exploring a search for long-duration transient gravitational waves associated with magnetar bursts
in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Perotti G
(2021)
Linking ice and gas in the Lambda Orionis Barnard 35A cloud
Perotti G
(2023)
Linking ice and gas in the Coronet cluster in Corona Australis
Perotti G
(2021)
Linking ice and gas in the ? Orionis Barnard 35A cloud
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Perotti G
(2023)
Linking ice and gas in the Coronet cluster in Corona Australis
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Perotti G
(2020)
Linking ice and gas in the Serpens low-mass star-forming region
Perotti G
(2020)
Linking ice and gas in the Serpens low-mass star-forming region
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Pearson C
(2018)
The Herschel-PACS North Ecliptic Pole Survey
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
Ohyama Y
(2018)
AKARI mid-infrared slitless spectroscopic survey of star-forming galaxies at z ? 0.5
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Noble J
(2017)
Two-dimensional ice mapping of molecular cores
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nettke W
(2017)
The SCUBA-2 Ambitious Sky Survey: a catalogue of beam-sized sources in the Galactic longitude range 120°-140°
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nayyeri H
(2018)
Spitzer Observations of the North Ecliptic Pole
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
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
Moody J
(2017)
Automated Polarimetry with Smaller Aperture Telescopes: The ROVOR Observatory
in Galaxies
Mills E
(2018)
The Dense Gas Fraction in Galactic Center Clouds
in The Astrophysical Journal
Metcalf R
(2019)
The strong gravitational lens finding challenge
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
McCully C
(2017)
The Rapid Reddening and Featureless Optical Spectra of the Optical Counterpart of GW170817, AT 2017gfo, during the First Four Days
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mazzocchi V
(2019)
99.992% 28Si CVD-grown epilayer on 300 mm substrates for large scale integration of silicon spin qubits
in Journal of Crystal Growth
Marshall J
(2018)
Re-analyzing the Dynamical Stability of the HD 47366 Planetary System
in The Astronomical Journal
Marshall E
(2018)
On the (mis)behavior of water in the mantle: Controls on nominally anhydrous mineral water content in mantle peridotites
in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Marchetti L
(2017)
Finding bright z = 6.6 Ly a emitters with lensing: prospects for Euclid
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mahatma V
(2020)
Investigating the spectral age problem with powerful radio galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society