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
Sabater J
(2019)
The LoTSS view of radio AGN in the local Universe The most massive galaxies are always switched on
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sabater J
(2021)
The LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1 II. The ELAIS-N1 LOFAR deep field
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sampaio-Santos H
(2021)
Is diffuse intracluster light a good tracer of the galaxy cluster matter distribution?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Samuroff S
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: the impact of galaxy neighbours on weak lensing cosmology with im3shape
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sanders R
(2021)
The MOSDEF Survey: The Evolution of the Mass-Metallicity Relation from z = 0 to z ~ 3.3*
in The Astrophysical Journal
Savini F
(2018)
Studying the late evolution of a radio-loud AGN in a galaxy group with LOFAR
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Savino A
(2022)
The Hubble Space Telescope Survey of M31 Satellite Galaxies. I. RR Lyrae-based Distances and Refined 3D Geometric Structure
in The Astrophysical Journal
Saxena A
(2018)
Discovery of a radio galaxy at z = 5.72
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Saxena A
(2019)
The nature of faint radio galaxies at high redshifts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Saxena A
(2020)
The VANDELS survey: a strong correlation between Ly a equivalent width and stellar metallicity at 3 = z = 5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Schirra A
(2021)
Bringing faint active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to light: a view from large-scale cosmological simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Schmitz M
(2020)
Euclid : Nonparametric point spread function field recovery through interpolation on a graph Laplacian
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Secco L
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Cosmology from cosmic shear and robustness to modeling uncertainty
in Physical Review D
Sengupta A
(2022)
The Preprocessing of Galaxies in the Early Stages of Cluster Formation in Abell 1882 at z = 0.139
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Shapley A
(2020)
The First Robust Constraints on the Relationship between Dust-to-gas Ratio and Metallicity in Luminous Star-forming Galaxies at High Redshift
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shi K
(2019)
A Census of Galaxy Constituents in a Coma Progenitor Observed at z > 3
in The Astrophysical Journal
Shimwell T
(2022)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey V. Second data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Shimwell T
(2019)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey II. First data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Short P
(2020)
The tidal disruption event AT 2018hyz - I. Double-peaked emission lines and a flat Balmer decrement
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Siewert T
(2020)
One- and two-point source statistics from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey first data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Sinigaglia F
(2022)
MIGHTEE-Hi: Evolution of Hi Scaling Relations of Star-forming Galaxies at z < 0.5*
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Sissa E
(2018)
High-contrast study of the candidate planets and protoplanetary disk around HD 100546
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Smith D
(2021)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields The star-formation rate-radio luminosity relation at low frequencies
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
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
Sonnenfeld A
(2022)
The dark matter halo masses of elliptical galaxies as a function of observationally robust quantities
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
Sorini D
(2021)
Extended Hernquist-Springel formalism for cosmic star formation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sorini D
(2022)
How baryons affect haloes and large-scale structure: a unified picture from the Simba simulation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stacey H
(2019)
LoTSS/HETDEX: Disentangling star formation and AGN activity in gravitationally lensed radio-quiet quasars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Stacey H
(2018)
Gravitational lensing reveals extreme dust-obscured star formation in quasar host galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
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
Stanford S
(2021)
Euclid Preparation. XIV. The Complete Calibration of the Color-Redshift Relation (C3R2) Survey: Data Release 3
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Stevans M
(2021)
The NEWFIRM HETDEX Survey: Photometric Catalog and a Conservative Sample of Massive Quiescent Galaxies at z = 3-5 over 17.5 deg 2 in the SHELA Field
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stone J
(2018)
The LEECH Exoplanet Imaging Survey: Limits on Planet Occurrence Rates under Conservative Assumptions
in The Astronomical Journal
Suarez T
(2021)
Modelling intergalactic low ionization metal absorption line systems near the epoch of reionization
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
Sweijen F
(2022)
Deep sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging of the Lockman Hole field at 144 MHz
in Nature Astronomy
Sweijen F
(2022)
Deep sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging of the Lockman Hole field at 144 MHz
in Nature Astronomy
Swinbank A
(2019)
The energetics of starburst-driven outflows at z ~ 1 from KMOS
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sánchez C
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: Exploiting small-scale information with lensing shear ratios
in Physical Review D
Taylor A
(2018)
Cosmic shear bias and calibration in dark energy studies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Taylor P
(2021)
Euclid: Forecasts for k-cut 3×2 Point Statistics
in The Open Journal of Astrophysics
Thomas N
(2021)
The radio galaxy population in the simba simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Tiongco M
(2021)
Central dynamics of multimass rotating star clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
To C
(2021)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Cluster Abundances, Weak Lensing, and Galaxy Correlations.
in Physical review letters