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
Hall A
(2020)
Towards determining the neutrino mass hierarchy: weak lensing and galaxy clustering forecasts with baryons and intrinsic alignments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2020)
Towards determining the neutrino mass hierarchy: weak lensing and galaxy clustering forecasts with baryons and intrinsic alignments
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2019)
A Bayesian method for combining theoretical and simulated covariance matrices for large-scale structure surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2019)
Cosmology with extragalactic proper motions: harmonic formalism, estimators, and forecasts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall A
(2020)
Impact of our local environment on cosmological statistics
in Physical Review D
Hall C
(2018)
Is the spiral morphology of the Elias 2-27 circumstellar disc due to gravitational instability?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hall C
(2019)
The Temporal Requirements of Directly Observing Self-gravitating Spiral Waves in Protoplanetary Disks with ALMA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hamadouche M
(2022)
A combined VANDELS and LEGA-C study: the evolution of quiescent galaxy size, stellar mass, and age from z = 0.6 to z = 1.3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hamaus N
(2022)
Euclid : Forecasts from redshift-space distortions and the Alcock-Paczynski test with cosmic voids
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hang Q
(2021)
Stacked CMB lensing and ISW signals around superstructures in the DESI Legacy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hang Q
(2022)
Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): probing galaxy-group correlations in redshift space with the halo streaming model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hang Q
(2021)
Galaxy clustering in the DESI Legacy Survey and its imprint on the CMB
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hardcastle M
(2021)
The contribution of discrete sources to the sky temperature at 144 MHz
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hardcastle M
(2019)
Radio-loud AGN in the first LoTSS data release The lifetimes and environmental impact of jet-driven sources
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hartley W
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Deep Field optical + near-infrared images and catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hartley W
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Deep Field optical + near-infrared images and catalogue
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hassan S
(2020)
Testing galaxy formation simulations with damped Lyman-a abundance and metallicity evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hassan S
(2018)
Constraining the contribution of active galactic nuclei to reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hassan S
(2022)
Reionization with Simba: How Much Does Astrophysics Matter in Modeling Cosmic Reionization?
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hatsukade B
(2018)
ALMA twenty-six arcmin2 survey of GOODS-S at one millimeter (ASAGAO): Source catalog and number counts
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
Hattab M
(2019)
A case study of hurdle and generalized additive models in astronomy: the escape of ionizing radiation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Haywood R
(2018)
An Accurate Mass Determination for Kepler-1655b, a Moderately Irradiated World with a Significant Volatile Envelope
in The Astronomical Journal
Heesen V
(2019)
Calibrating the relation of low-frequency radio continuum to star formation rate at 1 kpc scale with LOFAR
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Heesen V
(2018)
LOFAR reveals the giant: a low-frequency radio continuum study of the outflow in the nearby FR I radio galaxy 3C 31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Herrera Ruiz N
(2021)
LOFAR Deep Fields: probing a broader population of polarized radio galaxies in ELAIS-N1
in Astronomy & Astrophysics