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
McLeod D
(2021)
The evolution of the galaxy stellar-mass function over the last 12 billion years from a combination of ground-based and HST surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McLure R
(2018)
Dust attenuation in 2 < z < 3 star-forming galaxies from deep ALMA observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McLure R
(2018)
The VANDELS ESO public spectroscopic survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meiksin A
(2021)
Intergalactic Heating by Lya Photons Including Hyperfine Structure Corrections
in Research Notes of the AAS
Meiksin A
(2022)
The effect of ionizing background fluctuations on the spatial correlations of high redshift Lya-emitting galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meiksin A
(2020)
The influence of metagalactic ultraviolet background fluctuations on the high-redshift Lya forest
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meiksin A
(2019)
Time-dependent fluctuations in the metagalactic photoionization background
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meiksin A
(2021)
The impact of Lya emission line heating and cooling on the cosmic dawn 21-cm signal
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meiksin A
(2020)
The influence of metagalactic ultraviolet background fluctuations on the high-redshift Lya forest
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meiksin A
(2021)
The impact of Lya emission line heating and cooling on the cosmic dawn 21-cm signal
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Meriot R
(2022)
The Cosmic Mach Number as an environment measure for the underlying dark matter density field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Merlin E
(2018)
Chasing passive galaxies in the early Universe: a critical analysis in CANDELS GOODS-South
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Merlin E
(2021)
The ASTRODEEP-GS43 catalogue: New photometry and redshifts for the CANDELS GOODS-South field
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mesa D
(2022)
Constraining masses and separations of unseen companions to five accelerating nearby stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mingo B
(2022)
Accretion mode versus radio morphology in the LOFAR Deep Fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mingo B
(2022)
Accretion mode versus radio morphology in the LOFAR Deep Fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Miraghaei H
(2021)
No Dependence of Radio Properties of Brightest Group Galaxies on the Luminosity Gap
in The Astronomical Journal
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)
Hybrid analytic and machine-learned baryonic property insertion into galactic dark matter haloes
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
Moews B
(2021)
Ridges in the Dark Energy Survey for cosmic trough identification
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)
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
Mooney S
(2019)
Blazars in the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey first data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morabito L
(2022)
Identifying active galactic nuclei via brightness temperature with sub-arcsecond international LOFAR telescope observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morabito L
(2022)
Sub-arcsecond imaging with the International LOFAR Telescope I. Foundational calibration strategy and pipeline
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morabito L
(2019)
The origin of radio emission in broad absorption line quasars: Results from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Morganti R
(2021)
The best of both worlds: Combining LOFAR and Apertif to derive resolved radio spectral index images
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
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
Morton B
(2023)
A new residual distribution hydrodynamics solver for astrophysical simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mostert R
(2021)
Unveiling the rarest morphologies of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey radio source population with self-organised maps
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mpetha C
(2021)
Gravitational redshifting of galaxies in the SPIDERS cluster catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Muir J
(2020)
Blinding multiprobe cosmological experiments
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
Muxlow T
(2020)
The e-MERGE Survey (e-MERLIN Galaxy Evolution Survey): overview and survey description
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Narayanan D
(2018)
The IRX-ß dust attenuation relation in cosmological galaxy formation simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Narayanan D
(2018)
A Theory for the Variation of Dust Attenuation Laws in Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nava C
(2022)
K2-79b and K2-222b: Mass Measurements of Two Small Exoplanets with Periods beyond 10 days that Overlap with Periodic Magnetic Activity Signals
in The Astronomical Journal
Nicholl M
(2020)
An outflow powers the optical rise of the nearby, fast-evolving tidal disruption event AT2019qiz
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nielsen N
(2020)
The CGM at Cosmic Noon with KCWI: Outflows from a Star-forming Galaxy at z = 2.071
in The Astrophysical Journal
Oh B
(2020)
Calibration of a star formation and feedback model for cosmological simulations with enzo
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oh B
(2021)
Evolving beyond z =0: insights about the future of stars and the intergalactic medium
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oh B
(2022)
The fate of baryons in counterfactual universes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oh B
(2022)
The fate of baryons in counterfactual universes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society