Astrophysics Research at the University of Leicester
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Our research aims to investigate a range of high-priority science topics in these areas:
i. studying high-energy and high-redshift explosive transients and how they relate to gravitational wave events
ii. investigating the growth and evolution of the first stars and black holes in galaxies
iii. determining the properties of accretion disks in active galactic nuclei
iv. measuring the fundamental properties of white dwarf stars, the remnants of stars like the Sun
v. investigating the properties of exoplanets, brown dwarfs and low mass stars
vi. determining the evolution of tidal disruption events in galaxies where stars are torn apart as they come close to a supermassive black
vii. investigating the origin of the stars seen in the centre of the Milky Way galaxy
viii. determining the structure of the Milky Way galaxy
ix. investigating the auroral emission of exoplanets
x. developing the concept of an intensity interferometry system for the Cherenkov Telescope Array to provide high-resolution images of cosmic objects
We will deliver this programme by carrying out observations using a broad range of ground and space based observing facilities, including XMM-Newton, HST, Swift, GAIA, JWST, ALMA, VLT, VISTA, WHT, INT, LT, NGTS, GOTO and Spitzer, and by conducting numerical simulations using major High Performance Computer facilities such as DiRAC.
i. studying high-energy and high-redshift explosive transients and how they relate to gravitational wave events
ii. investigating the growth and evolution of the first stars and black holes in galaxies
iii. determining the properties of accretion disks in active galactic nuclei
iv. measuring the fundamental properties of white dwarf stars, the remnants of stars like the Sun
v. investigating the properties of exoplanets, brown dwarfs and low mass stars
vi. determining the evolution of tidal disruption events in galaxies where stars are torn apart as they come close to a supermassive black
vii. investigating the origin of the stars seen in the centre of the Milky Way galaxy
viii. determining the structure of the Milky Way galaxy
ix. investigating the auroral emission of exoplanets
x. developing the concept of an intensity interferometry system for the Cherenkov Telescope Array to provide high-resolution images of cosmic objects
We will deliver this programme by carrying out observations using a broad range of ground and space based observing facilities, including XMM-Newton, HST, Swift, GAIA, JWST, ALMA, VLT, VISTA, WHT, INT, LT, NGTS, GOTO and Spitzer, and by conducting numerical simulations using major High Performance Computer facilities such as DiRAC.
Planned Impact
The applicants on the grant offer a diverse skill set that constitute a valuable resource to the private and public sectors. We have extensive experience and expertise in e.g. data analysis and handling, spacecraft and mission management, algorithm design, software engineering and high-performance computing. Exploitation of this expertise is supported at all levels within the University, and is a prime driver behind the £100M 'Space Park Leicester' concept.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is committed to promoting and maximising the impact of our research. The College of Science and Engineering plays a leading role in the Enterprise Agenda for the University and offers dedicated enterprise officers and impact enhancing resources. Further support is provided by the University's Research and Enterprise Division, which works with academics and external stakeholders to create maximum impact in the local, national, and international community. This structure (i) delivers enterprising impact through the alignment of our research with major global and industrial challenges, (ii) identifies and addresses the opportunities to play a positive role in the economic development of our region and the UK, (iii) utilises research and related activities to develop skills and capability within a broad spectrum of the public and private sectors, (iv) provides expert advice and guidance to industry and policy makers, (v) ensures that its intellectual property is effectively transferred and disseminated, and (vi) contributes to the wider cultural benefit of society through an enterprising and engaging outreach programme.
The long-term impact strategy has four elements:
(1) to support and develop the skills and experience of the applicants;
(2) to ensure that links with public and private sector industries are developed and maximised;
(3) to disseminate knowledge, skills and expertise to the benefit of the local, national and international business and civic communities;
(4) to sustain and develop our successful outreach programme with particular emphasis on enhancing our efforts to develop valid outcome measures.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is committed to promoting and maximising the impact of our research. The College of Science and Engineering plays a leading role in the Enterprise Agenda for the University and offers dedicated enterprise officers and impact enhancing resources. Further support is provided by the University's Research and Enterprise Division, which works with academics and external stakeholders to create maximum impact in the local, national, and international community. This structure (i) delivers enterprising impact through the alignment of our research with major global and industrial challenges, (ii) identifies and addresses the opportunities to play a positive role in the economic development of our region and the UK, (iii) utilises research and related activities to develop skills and capability within a broad spectrum of the public and private sectors, (iv) provides expert advice and guidance to industry and policy makers, (v) ensures that its intellectual property is effectively transferred and disseminated, and (vi) contributes to the wider cultural benefit of society through an enterprising and engaging outreach programme.
The long-term impact strategy has four elements:
(1) to support and develop the skills and experience of the applicants;
(2) to ensure that links with public and private sector industries are developed and maximised;
(3) to disseminate knowledge, skills and expertise to the benefit of the local, national and international business and civic communities;
(4) to sustain and develop our successful outreach programme with particular emphasis on enhancing our efforts to develop valid outcome measures.
Publications
Generozov A
(2022)
Forming young and hypervelocity stars in the Galactic Centre via tidal disruption of a molecular cloud
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chrimes A
(2022)
New candidates for magnetar counterparts from a deep search with the Hubble Space Telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nugent A
(2022)
Short GRB Host Galaxies. II. A Legacy Sample of Redshifts, Stellar Population Properties, and Implications for Their Neutron Star Merger Origins
in The Astrophysical Journal
Elbakyan V
(2022)
Gap opening by planets in discs with magnetized winds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dehnen W
(2022)
Measuring bar pattern speeds from single simulation snapshots
Lamb G
(2022)
Inhomogeneous Jets from Neutron Star Mergers: One Jet to Rule Them All
in Universe
Stratta G
(2022)
Breakthrough Multi-Messenger Astrophysics with the THESEUS Space Mission
in Galaxies
Elbakyan V
(2022)
Gap opening by planets in discs with magnetised winds
Zhang C
(2022)
First Wide Field-of-view X-Ray Observations by a Lobster-eye Focusing Telescope in Orbit
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Gompertz B
(2022)
The case for a minute-long merger-driven gamma-ray burst from fast-cooling synchrotron emission
in Nature Astronomy
Piro L
(2022)
Athena synergies in the multi-messenger and transient universe
in Experimental Astronomy
Mandhai S
(2022)
Exploring compact binary merger host galaxies and environments with zELDA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Thomas M
(2022)
SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
Fernández J
(2022)
Lateral spreading effects on VLBI radio images of neutron star merger jets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elbakyan V
(2022)
Episodic accretion and mergers during growth of massive protostars
Andreoni I
(2022)
A very luminous jet from the disruption of a star by a massive black hole.
in Nature
Kundu S
(2022)
Stars Crushed by Black Holes. III. Mild Compression of Radiative Stars by Supermassive Black Holes
in The Astrophysical Journal
Semczuk M
(2022)
The small boxy/peanut structure of the Milky Way traced by old stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Scardoni C
(2022)
Inward and outward migration of massive planets: moving towards a stalling radius
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Semczuk M
(2022)
Age-morphology dependence of the Milky Way boxy/peanut bulge seen in Mira variables
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nayakshin S
(2022)
ALMA constraints on assembly of core accretion planets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Melandri A
(2022)
The supernova of the MAGIC gamma-ray burst GRB 190114C
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Andreoni I
(2022)
Target-of-opportunity Observations of Gravitational-wave Events with Vera C. Rubin Observatory
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Fong W
(2022)
Short GRB Host Galaxies. I. Photometric and Spectroscopic Catalogs, Host Associations, and Galactocentric Offsets
in The Astrophysical Journal
Eyles-Ferris R
(2022)
Simulated optical light curves of super-Eddington tidal disruption events with ZEBRA flows
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nayakshin S
(2023)
Extreme evaporation of planets in hot thermally unstable protoplanetary discs: the case of FU Ori
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hennessy A
(2023)
A LOFAR prompt search for radio emission accompanying X-ray flares in GRB 210112A
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vorobyov E
(2023)
Formation of pebbles in (gravito-)viscous protoplanetary disks with various turbulent strengths
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Dehnen W
(2023)
Measuring bar pattern speeds from single simulation snapshots
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen C
(2023)
Orbital stability of two circumbinary planets around misaligned eccentric binaries
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nayakshin S
(2023)
On the origin of accretion bursts in FUORs
Wu Y
(2023)
Distinguishing magnetized disc winds from turbulent viscosity through substructure morphology in planet-forming discs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dehnen W
(2023)
A twisted and precessing Cepheid warp in the outer Milky Way disc
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Semczuk M
(2023)
Spiral arms and the angular momentum gap in Milky Way Cepheids
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Agüí Fernández J
(2023)
GRB 160410A: The first chemical study of the interstellar medium of a short GRB
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Elbakyan V
(2023)
Episodic accretion and mergers during growth of massive protostars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Eyles-Ferris R
(2023)
Finding LoTSS of hosts for GRBs: a search for galaxy-gamma-ray burst coincidences at low frequencies with LOFAR
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Levan A
(2023)
The First JWST Spectrum of a GRB Afterglow: No Bright Supernova in Observations of the Brightest GRB of all Time, GRB 221009A
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Elbakyan V
(2023)
Gap opening by planets in discs with magnetised winds
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Saccardi A
(2023)
Dissecting the interstellar medium of a z = 6.3 galaxy X-shooter spectroscopy and HST imaging of the afterglow and environment of the Swift GRB 210905A
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Birchall K
(2023)
The relationship between the incidence of X-ray selected AGN in nearby galaxies & star-formation rate
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Nayakshin S
(2024)
On the origin of accretion bursts in FU Ori
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Description | ENGRAVE |
Organisation | European Southern Observatory (ESO) |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Our Leicester team is part of a large international collaboration to use ESO telescopes and others, for follow-up of the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events. Tanvir is a member of the governing council of ENGRAVE. |
Collaborator Contribution | The collaboration has over 250 members, who bring diverse expertise. In particular, real time duties are the responsibility of a core group of about 40 people currently. |
Impact | One paper submitted so far. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | STARGATE |
Organisation | European Southern Observatory (ESO) |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Tanvir is PI of a large collaboration whose goal is to obtain optical/nIR follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts using ESO facilities. |
Collaborator Contribution | The collaboration consists of a (geographically spread) core group who trigger and analyse the rapid target-of-opportunity observations, plus a wider group who contribute to planning, interpretation and analysis for at least some of the specialised sub-projects. (the number of partner institutions in this sense is large and fluid, and they are not individually listed. Similarly the value of the in-kind contributions is not well defined; except for ESO for which the value recorded here is a rough estimate) |
Impact | About 15 papers written to date. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | VINROUGE |
Organisation | European Southern Observatory (ESO) |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Tanvir is PI of a large international collaboration dedicated to using the ESO VISTA telescope for follow-up observations of gravitational wave events. |
Collaborator Contribution | Other partners provide expertise on different aspects of our campaign. |
Impact | Two papers directly; several others enabled by the results. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Astronomical Society (Knowle) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk to astronomical society |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Cardiff Astronomical Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk to society |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Cheltenham Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Panel discussion |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Interview for BBC series "Universe" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Gave wide ranging interview for the producers of the 2021 BBC series "Universe" introduced by Brian Cox. Some of the interview featured in the broadcast programme and some material was used to help script the main commentary. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Northants Natural History Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk to society |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Seminar at Goddard Space Flight Centre, USA |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk to scientists and engineers at NASA |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Talk at NewScientist Live event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk at NewScientist Live event |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Talk to Cambridge University Astronomical Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Talk about gravitational waves and gamma-ray bursts |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Talk to Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talking on gravitational waves and gamma-ray bursts to amateur astronomy group: hybrid format, both in person and on-line audience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |