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 (and soon the James Webb Space Telescope), 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 detailed 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 (and soon the James Webb Space Telescope), 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 detailed 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.
Organisations
Publications
Jones M
(2018)
The C-Band All-Sky Survey (C-BASS): design and capabilities
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jones O
(2021)
Infrared variable stars in the compact elliptical galaxy M32
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Jorquera S
(2022)
Large Binocular Telescope Search for Companions and Substructures in the (Pre)transitional Disk of AB Aurigae
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jorquera S
(2022)
Large Binocular Telescope Search for Companions and Substructures in the (Pre)transitional Disk of AB Aurigae
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jose J
(2020)
A Novel Survey for Young Substellar Objects with the W -band Filter. II. The Coolest and Lowest Mass Members of the Serpens-South Star-forming Region
in The Astrophysical Journal
Jurlin N
(2020)
The life cycle of radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jurlin N
(2020)
The life cycle of radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field
Kacprzak T
(2020)
Monte Carlo control loops for cosmic shear cosmology with DES Year 1 data
in Physical Review D
Kalomenopoulos M
(2021)
Mapping the inhomogeneous Universe with standard sirens: degeneracy between inhomogeneity and modified gravity theories
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Karamanis M
(2022)
Accelerating astronomical and cosmological inference with preconditioned Monte Carlo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Karamanis M
(2021)
zeus : a python implementation of ensemble slice sampling for efficient Bayesian parameter inference
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Karamanis M
(2022)
pocoMC: A Python package for accelerated Bayesian inference in astronomy and cosmology
in Journal of Open Source Software
Katsianis A
(2021)
The specific star formation rate function at different mass scales and quenching: a comparison between cosmological models and SDSS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kervick C
(2022)
Two-point Separation Functions for Modeling Wide Binary Systems in Nearby Dwarf Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kimock B
(2021)
The Origin and Evolution of Lya Blobs in Cosmological Galaxy Formation Simulations
in The Astrophysical Journal
Klitsch A
(2019)
ALMACAL V: absorption-selected galaxies with evidence for excited ISMs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Koekemoer A
(2020)
Timing the earliest quenching events with a robust sample of massive quiescent galaxies at 2 < z < 5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kondapally R
(2022)
Cosmic evolution of low-excitation radio galaxies in the LOFAR two-metre sky survey deep fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kondapally R
(2021)
The LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1 III. Host-galaxy identifications and value added catalogues
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kondapally R
(2022)
Cosmic evolution of low-excitation radio galaxies in the LOFAR two-metre sky survey deep fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koprowski M
(2018)
A direct calibration of the IRX-ß relation in Lyman-break Galaxies at z = 3-5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koprowski M
(2020)
An ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 cosmology legacy survey UKIDSS/UDS field: Dust attenuation in high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kosiarek M
(2019)
K2-291b: A Rocky Super-Earth in a 2.2 day Orbit
in The Astronomical Journal
Koukoufilippas N
(2020)
Tomographic measurement of the intergalactic gas pressure through galaxy-tSZ cross-correlations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kovacs E
(2022)
Validating Synthetic Galaxy Catalogs for Dark Energy Science in the LSST Era
in The Open Journal of Astrophysics
Kovacs E
(2022)
Validating Synthetic Galaxy Catalogs for Dark Energy Science in the LSST Era
in The Open Journal of Astrophysics
Kovács A
(2022)
The DES view of the Eridanus supervoid and the CMB cold spot
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Krajnovic D
(2018)
A quartet of black holes and a missing duo: probing the low end of the MBH-s relation with the adaptive optics assisted integral-field spectroscopy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kraljic K
(2020)
The impact of the connectivity of the cosmic web on the physical properties of galaxies at its nodes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kuzma P
(2021)
Detecting globular cluster tidal extensions with Bayesian inference - I. Analysis of ? Centauri with Gaia EDR3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kuzma P
(2022)
Forward and back: kinematics of the Palomar 5 tidal tails
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lacedelli G
(2022)
Investigating the architecture and internal structure of the TOI-561 system planets with CHEOPS, HARPS-N, and TESS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lacedelli G
(2021)
An unusually low density ultra-short period super-Earth and three mini-Neptunes around the old star TOI-561
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lacedelli G
(2021)
An unusually low density ultra-short period super-Earth and three mini-Neptunes around the old star TOI-561
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lagrange A
(2019)
Post-conjunction detection of ß Pictoris b with VLT/SPHERE
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lalchand B
(2022)
A Novel Survey for Young Substellar Objects with the W-band Filter. V. IC 348 and Barnard 5 in the Perseus Cloud
in The Astronomical Journal
Lam M
(2019)
The white dwarf luminosity functions from the Pan-STARRS 1 3p Steradian Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Langellier N
(2021)
Detection Limits of Low-mass, Long-period Exoplanets Using Gaussian Processes Applied to HARPS-N Solar Radial Velocities
in The Astronomical Journal
Langlois M
(2021)
The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE) II. Observations, data reduction and analysis, detection performances, and initial results
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Latif M
(2022)
Turbulent cold flows gave birth to the first quasars
in Nature
Latif M
(2022)
The Birth Mass Function of Population III Stars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Latif M
(2020)
The Birth of Binary Direct-collapse Black Holes
in The Astrophysical Journal
Latif M
(2021)
Radiation hydrodynamical simulations of the birth of intermediate-mass black holes in the first galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Latif M
(2020)
Inception of a first quasar at cosmic dawn
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lazzoni C
(2018)
Dynamical models to explain observations with SPHERE in planetary systems with double debris belts
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lazzoni C
(2020)
The search for disks or planetary objects around directly imaged companions: a candidate around DH Tauri B
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Leauthaud A
(2022)
Lensing without borders - I. A blind comparison of the amplitude of galaxy-galaxy lensing between independent imaging surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee S
(2022)
Probing gravity with the DES-CMASS sample and BOSS spectroscopy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee S
(2022)
Galaxy-galaxy lensing with the DES-CMASS catalogue: measurement and constraints on the galaxy-matter cross-correlation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society