Dissecting galaxies at the cosmic dawn
Lead Research Organisation:
Liverpool John Moores University
Department Name: Astrophysics Research Institute
Abstract
Contemplating our origins is a key part of what makes us human, and has provoked ideas and stories in every civilisation. My research is similarly motivated by this curiosity. I am driven by questions such as: How were stars and galaxies first formed after the creation of the Universe in the Big Bang? How did they differ from those we see around us in the local Universe? When were the elements necessary for life, such as oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, first created? The formation of the first stars and their assembly into the first galaxies is now a frontier focus of modern physics, and the subject of intensifying research activity.
Owing to the finite speed of light, we see galaxies farther back in time by observing more distant examples. The scrutiny and refinement of models of structure formation in the early Universe therefore requires direct observation of the most-distant galaxies. The installation in 2009 of new instrumentation aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) enabled it to detect starlight that travelled across the cosmos for 13.4 billion years, emitted from galaxies seen only 400 million years after the Big Bang. These remarkable observations proved that galaxies, and the elements needed for life, were present mere moments into cosmic history.
Hubble's forthcoming successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), aims to discover the forebears of these systems and characterise the physical processes governing the growth of the very first generation of galaxies. Due to launch in 2021, JWST's instruments will reveal galaxies seen 100 million years after the Big Bang. Over the next five years I will exploit the world's premier ground-based telescopes, and JWST, to answer fundamental questions such as: When did the first stars and galaxies form? How rapidly did the first galaxies evolve, and which physical processes regulated their growth? Which galaxies were responsible for ionising the intergalactic neutral hydrogen that pervaded the early Universe? Did the stars within galaxies dominate this process, or was it driven by the first population of black holes?
My analyses will deliver measurements of the fundamental diagnostic quantities that describe the formation and evolution of the first galaxies. They will thus enable refinement of galaxy evolution models in a regime that is at present wholly unconstrained by observations. Such measurements are the crucial ingredient needed to foster the next major development in our understanding of the structures that first illuminated the cosmos.
Owing to the finite speed of light, we see galaxies farther back in time by observing more distant examples. The scrutiny and refinement of models of structure formation in the early Universe therefore requires direct observation of the most-distant galaxies. The installation in 2009 of new instrumentation aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) enabled it to detect starlight that travelled across the cosmos for 13.4 billion years, emitted from galaxies seen only 400 million years after the Big Bang. These remarkable observations proved that galaxies, and the elements needed for life, were present mere moments into cosmic history.
Hubble's forthcoming successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), aims to discover the forebears of these systems and characterise the physical processes governing the growth of the very first generation of galaxies. Due to launch in 2021, JWST's instruments will reveal galaxies seen 100 million years after the Big Bang. Over the next five years I will exploit the world's premier ground-based telescopes, and JWST, to answer fundamental questions such as: When did the first stars and galaxies form? How rapidly did the first galaxies evolve, and which physical processes regulated their growth? Which galaxies were responsible for ionising the intergalactic neutral hydrogen that pervaded the early Universe? Did the stars within galaxies dominate this process, or was it driven by the first population of black holes?
My analyses will deliver measurements of the fundamental diagnostic quantities that describe the formation and evolution of the first galaxies. They will thus enable refinement of galaxy evolution models in a regime that is at present wholly unconstrained by observations. Such measurements are the crucial ingredient needed to foster the next major development in our understanding of the structures that first illuminated the cosmos.
Organisations
- Liverpool John Moores University (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- Hiroshima University (Collaboration)
- University of Arizona (Collaboration)
- Leiden University (Collaboration)
- University of Geneva (Collaboration)
- University of Chile (Collaboration)
- Swinburne University of Technology (Collaboration)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (Collaboration)
- European Space Agency (Collaboration)
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (Collaboration)
Publications
Barrufet L.
(2022)
Unveiling the Nature of Infrared Bright, Optically Dark Galaxies with Early JWST Data
in arXiv e-prints
Robertson B. E.
(2022)
Discovery and properties of the earliest galaxies with confirmed distances
in arXiv e-prints
Curtis-Lake Emma
(2022)
Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z=10.3-13.2
in arXiv e-prints
Endsley Ryan
(2022)
ALMA Confirmation of an Obscured Hyperluminous Radio-Loud AGN at $z=6.853$ Associated with a Dusty Starburst in the 1.5 deg$^2$ COSMOS Field
in arXiv e-prints
Schouws Sander
(2021)
Significant Dust-Obscured Star Formation in Luminous Lyman-break Galaxies at $z$$\sim$$7$$-$$8$
in arXiv e-prints
Endsley Ryan
(2021)
Radio and Far-IR Emission Associated with a Massive Star-forming Galaxy Candidate at z$\simeq$6.8: A Radio-Loud AGN in the Reionization Era?
in arXiv e-prints
Bouwens R. J.
(2021)
Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey: Selection and Characterization of Luminous Interstellar Medium Reservoirs in the z>6.5 Universe
in arXiv e-prints
Witstok J
(2021)
Prospects for observing the low-density cosmic web in Lyman- a emission
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Posses A
(2023)
Structure and kinematics of a massive galaxy at z ~ 7
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Witstok J
(2024)
Inside the bubble: exploring the environments of reionisation-era Lyman- a emitting galaxies with JADES and FRESCO
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bunker A
(2023)
JADES NIRSpec Spectroscopy of GN-z11: Lyman- a emission and possible enhanced nitrogen abundance in a z = 10.60 luminous galaxy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Cameron A
(2023)
JADES: Probing interstellar medium conditions at z ~ 5.5-9.5 with ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Laseter I
(2024)
JADES: Detecting [OIII] ? 4363 emitters and testing strong line calibrations in the high- z Universe with ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy up to z ~ 9.5
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Saxena A
(2023)
JADES: Discovery of extremely high equivalent width Lyman- a emission from a faint galaxy within an ionized bubble at z = 7.3
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Barrufet L
(2023)
Unveiling the nature of infrared bright, optically dark galaxies with early JWST data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Witstok J
(2022)
Dual constraints with ALMA: new [O iii ] 88-µm and dust-continuum observations reveal the ISM conditions of luminous LBGs at z ~ 7
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Leonova E
(2022)
The prevalence of galaxy overdensities around UV-luminous Lyman emitters in the Epoch of Reionization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oesch P
(2023)
The JWST FRESCO survey: legacy NIRCam/grism spectroscopy and imaging in the two GOODS fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Molyneux S
(2024)
The Quasar Feedback Survey: characterizing CO excitation in quasar host galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sommovigo L
(2022)
The ALMA REBELS Survey: cosmic dust temperature evolution out to z ~ 7
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vallini L
(2024)
Spatially resolved Kennicutt-Schmidt relation at z ˜ 7 and its connection with the interstellar medium properties
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Molyneux S
(2022)
Spectroscopic confirmation of a gravitationally lensed Lyman-break galaxy at z [C ii ] = 6.827 using NOEMA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Topping M
(2022)
The ALMA REBELS Survey: specific star formation rates in the reionization era
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dayal P
(2022)
The ALMA REBELS survey: the dust content of z ~ 7 Lyman break galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hygate A
(2023)
The ALMA REBELS Survey: discovery of a massive, highly star-forming, and morphologically complex ULIRG at z = 7.31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ferrara A
(2022)
The ALMA REBELS Survey. Epoch of Reionization giants: Properties of dusty galaxies at z ˜ 7
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Topping M
(2024)
Metal-poor star formation at z > 6 with JWST : New insight into hard radiation fields and nitrogen enrichment on 20 pc scales
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Curti M
(2023)
The chemical enrichment in the early Universe as probed by JWST via direct metallicity measurements at z ~ 8
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kumari N
(2024)
A study of extreme C iii ]1908 & [O iii ]88/[C ii ]157 emission in Pox 186: implications for JWST +ALMA (FUV + FIR) studies of distant galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Simmonds C
(2023)
The ionizing photon production efficiency at z ~ 6 for Lyman-alpha emitters using JEMS and MUSE
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bowler R
(2024)
The ALMA REBELS survey: obscured star formation in massive Lyman-break galaxies at z = 4-8 revealed by the IRX-ß and M ? relations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Algera H
(2024)
Cold dust and low [O iii ]/[C ii ] ratios: an evolved star-forming population at redshift 7
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Witstok J
(2023)
An empirical study of dust properties at the earliest epochs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Endsley R
(2023)
ALMA confirmation of an obscured hyperluminous radio-loud AGN at z = 6.853 associated with a dusty starburst in the 1.5 deg2 COSMOS field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Witstok J
(2021)
Assessing the sources of reionization: a spectroscopic case study of a 30× lensed galaxy at z ~ 5 with Lya, C iv , Mg ii , and [Ne iii ]
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fudamoto Y
(2024)
The NOEMA observations of GN-z11: Constraining the neutral interstellar medium and dust formation in the heart of cosmic reionization at z = 10.6
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Inami H
(2022)
The ALMA REBELS Survey: dust continuum detections at z > 6.5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Endsley R
(2022)
The REBELS ALMA Survey: efficient Ly a transmission of UV-bright z ? 7 galaxies from large velocity offsets and broad line widths
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Palla M
(2024)
Metal and dust evolution in ALMA REBELS galaxies: insights for future JWST observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Endsley R
(2022)
Radio and far-IR emission associated with a massive star-forming galaxy candidate at z ? 6.8: a radio-loud AGN in the reionization era?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Witstok J
(2023)
Carbonaceous dust grains seen in the first billion years of cosmic time.
in Nature
Fudamoto Y
(2021)
Normal, dust-obscured galaxies in the epoch of reionization.
in Nature
Robertson B
(2023)
Identification and properties of intense star-forming galaxies at redshifts z > 10
in Nature Astronomy
Curtis-Lake E
(2023)
Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3-13.2
in Nature Astronomy
Ren Y
(2023)
Updated Measurements of [O iii] 88 µm, [C ii] 158 µm, and Dust Continuum Emission from a z = 7.2 Galaxy
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bouwens R
(2022)
Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey: Selection and Characterization of Luminous Interstellar Medium Reservoirs in the z > 6.5 Universe
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hainline K
(2020)
Simulating JWST/NIRCam Color Selection of High-redshift Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sun F
(2023)
First Sample of Ha+[O iii]?5007 Line Emitters at z > 6 Through JWST/NIRCam Slitless Spectroscopy: Physical Properties and Line-luminosity Functions
in The Astrophysical Journal
Schouws S
(2022)
Significant Dust-obscured Star Formation in Luminous Lyman-break Galaxies at z ~ 7-8
in The Astrophysical Journal
Schouws S
(2023)
ALMA as a Redshift Machine: Using [C ii] to Efficiently Confirm Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization
in The Astrophysical Journal
Title | On the origin of [CII] in the Epoch of Reionization |
Description | ALMA program 2018.1.01551.S. This program is a pilot to understand the interstellar medium of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time, searching for the presence of the diffuse ionised medium. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Published in Witstok et al. 2022 |
URL | https://almascience.eso.org/aq/?result_view=observations&projectCode=2018.1.01551.S |
Title | Resolving disks and mergers in the Epoch of Reionization |
Description | New data-set approved and currently data is being collected. This is a direct follow-up from key science goals of the award. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Only a small subset of data has been taken, but my PhD student Sian Phillips will be writing her thesis on this new data. |
URL | https://almascience.nrao.edu/aq/?result_view=projects&projectCode=2022.1.01131.S |
Title | Resolving the kinematic structure of a [CII] emitter 800 million years after the Big Bang |
Description | ALMA data-set 2017.1.00604.S. The deepest ever look at the dust and cool gas in a galaxy in the first billion years of cosmic time. One of the key aims is to confirm the nature of disk kinematics in this early system. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Preliminary analysis has been used to successfully obtain larger data samples. |
URL | https://almascience.eso.org/aq/?result_view=observations&projectCode=2017.1.00604.S |
Title | The ISM conditions of UV-selected galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization |
Description | ALMA program 2018.1.00429.S. This program aims to uncover the physical properties of star-forming regions in two pilot sources in the first billion years of cosmic time. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The preliminary pilot results were used to successfully obtain a larger data-sample. Results published in Witstok et al. 2022 |
URL | https://almascience.eso.org/aq/?result_view=observations&projectCode=2018.1.00429.S |
Title | The chemical enrichment in the early Universe as probed by JWST via direct metallicity measurements at z~8 |
Description | Reduced and flux calibrated JWST/NIRSpec 1D spectra for the three sources (ID_4590 at z=8.4953, ID_6355 at z=7.6643 and ID_10612 at z=7.6592) analysed in Curti et al., 2022, "The chemical enrichment in the early Universe as probed by JWST via direct metallicity measurements at ~8" (published on MNRAS, Volume 518, Issue 1, pp.425-438) For more details on the data processing we refer to the Section 2.1 of the paper. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Some of the earliest determination of the mass metallicity relation at z=8 with JWST |
URL | https://zenodo.org/record/6940560 |
Title | Using [OIII] to reveal the ISM conditions of UV-selected galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization |
Description | ALMA program 2019.1.01524.S. This program aims to expand the sample of sources for which we can study the physical properties of the star-forming regions in galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Published in Witstok et al. 2022 |
URL | https://almascience.eso.org/aq/?result_view=observations&projectCode=2019.1.01524.S |
Description | JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Department | European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | I have contributed to the target selection and spectroscopic redshift analysis for the JADES survey. |
Collaborator Contribution | The NIRSpec GTO team is led from ESA ESTEC. |
Impact | Data is expected to start coming in from fall 2022. 3 publications are listed under my portfolio that are associated with this collaboration based on simulated data: Chevallard et al. (2019) doi:10.1093/mnras/sty2426, Williams et al. (2018) doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aabcbb, Hainline et al. (2020) doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab7dc3 |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Local analogs of z>6 galaxies |
Organisation | Space Telescope Science Institute |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I have co-written all telescope proposals for this project, resulting in a 10 orbit Hubble Space Telescope program (in-kind $25,000), complemented by 4 hours on the Gemini telescope (in-kind $15,000). |
Collaborator Contribution | Nimisha Kumari, a research fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute, who is my co-PI for these proposals, has analysed archival data available on local analog of the distant galaxies I observe with ALMA. |
Impact | A paper on the Hubble Space Telescope data is being prepared by Nimisha Kumari. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | REBELS: Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey |
Organisation | Hiroshima University |
Country | Japan |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I am a leading member of the international REBELS team, sitting on its management board and responsible for data-processing. |
Collaborator Contribution | I have listed my collaborators on the management board and collaborators that have unique telescope data access though their country and/or University. |
Impact | We are collecting the largest data-set of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time with the ALMA telescope. Data collection is 80% completed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | REBELS: Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey |
Organisation | Leiden University |
Department | Leiden Observatory |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I am a leading member of the international REBELS team, sitting on its management board and responsible for data-processing. |
Collaborator Contribution | I have listed my collaborators on the management board and collaborators that have unique telescope data access though their country and/or University. |
Impact | We are collecting the largest data-set of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time with the ALMA telescope. Data collection is 80% completed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | REBELS: Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey |
Organisation | Swinburne University of Technology |
Country | Australia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I am a leading member of the international REBELS team, sitting on its management board and responsible for data-processing. |
Collaborator Contribution | I have listed my collaborators on the management board and collaborators that have unique telescope data access though their country and/or University. |
Impact | We are collecting the largest data-set of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time with the ALMA telescope. Data collection is 80% completed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | REBELS: Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey |
Organisation | University of Arizona |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I am a leading member of the international REBELS team, sitting on its management board and responsible for data-processing. |
Collaborator Contribution | I have listed my collaborators on the management board and collaborators that have unique telescope data access though their country and/or University. |
Impact | We are collecting the largest data-set of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time with the ALMA telescope. Data collection is 80% completed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | REBELS: Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey |
Organisation | University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I am a leading member of the international REBELS team, sitting on its management board and responsible for data-processing. |
Collaborator Contribution | I have listed my collaborators on the management board and collaborators that have unique telescope data access though their country and/or University. |
Impact | We are collecting the largest data-set of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time with the ALMA telescope. Data collection is 80% completed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | REBELS: Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey |
Organisation | University of Chile |
Country | Chile |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I am a leading member of the international REBELS team, sitting on its management board and responsible for data-processing. |
Collaborator Contribution | I have listed my collaborators on the management board and collaborators that have unique telescope data access though their country and/or University. |
Impact | We are collecting the largest data-set of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time with the ALMA telescope. Data collection is 80% completed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | REBELS: Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey |
Organisation | University of Geneva |
Department | Geneva Observatory |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I am a leading member of the international REBELS team, sitting on its management board and responsible for data-processing. |
Collaborator Contribution | I have listed my collaborators on the management board and collaborators that have unique telescope data access though their country and/or University. |
Impact | We are collecting the largest data-set of galaxies in the first billion years of cosmic time with the ALMA telescope. Data collection is 80% completed |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | BBC 5 Live interview on DART mission |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | BBC 5 Live interview on DART mission |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC 5 Live interview on new Hubble study of Comet |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | BBC 5 Live interview on new Hubble study of Comet |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC Cambridgeshire radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on JWST for a short segment on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | BBC Jersey radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on JWST for a short segment on BBC Radio Jersey. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | BBC Kent Radio interview on DART mission |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | BBC Kent Radio interview on DART mission |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC Kent Radio interview on JWST first data |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | BBC Kent Radio interview on JWST first data |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC Kent radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on JWST on the local BBC Radio Kent |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC Merseyside radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on JWST for a short segment on BBC Radio Merseyside |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | BBC News Channel TV interview on JWST in orbit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on a live TV interview on the BBC News channel for a special on the James Webb Space Telescope getting to orbit. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC News Channel TV interview on JWST mirror unfolding |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on a live TV interview on the BBC News channel for a special on the James Webb Space Telescope unfolding its mirror. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC News Channel TV interview on JWST sunshield |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on a BBC News Channel special on JWST unfolding its sunshield. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | BBC Radio Kent interview on bright early galaxies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Live interview with BBC Radio Kent on this press release https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/webb-unlocks-secrets-of-one-of-the-most-distant-galaxies-ever-seen/. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
URL | https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/webb-unlocks-secrets-of-one-of-the-most-distant-galaxies-ever... |
Description | BBC Scotland Radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on a Radio interview for BBC Scotland on a little segment about JWST. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC Scotland TV interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on the BBC Scotland program 'The Seven' on a special about the James Webb Space Telescope |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC Shropshire radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on JWST for a short segment on BBC Radio Shropshire. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | BBC Wiltshire radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on JWST for a short segment on BBC Radio Wiltshire. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | BBC World News TV interview on JWST micrometeorite impact |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | BBC World News TV interview on JWST micrometeorite impact |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | BBC World service radio interview on JWST |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | I was asked to share my expertise on a radio interview on JWST for BBC world service. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | ESA led press release for Witstok et al. 2023 "Webb sees carbon-rich dust grains in the first billion years of cosmic time" |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | ESA led press release for Witstok et al. 2023 "Webb sees carbon-rich dust grains in the first billion years of cosmic time". https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_sees_carbon-rich_dust_grains_in_the_first_billion_years_of_cosmic_time#:~:text=Open-,Webb%20sees%20carbon%2Drich%20dust%20grains%20in%20the,billion%20years%20of%20cosmic%20time&text=For%20the%20first%20time%2C%20the,of%20the%20Universe%20%5B2%5D. Press release was picked up by science focused online outlets, e.g. Sky & Telescope, Science Alert, space.com et al. (total >60 outlets). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_sees_carbon-rich_dust_grains_in_the_... |
Description | Guest lecturer University of Amsterdam |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | I was invited to deliver a lecture, including student discussion, on the formation of the first stars and galaxies for an interdisciplinary undergraduate module on the topic of 'Big History' at the University of Amsterdam. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.uva.nl/en/programmes/open-programmes-iis/big-history-en/big-history-kopie.html?cb |
Description | Interview on dust in early galaxies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interview for French popular science magazine Epsiloon for an article on the build up of dust seen with JWST and ALMA. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Lecturer International Summer School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I was invited as a lecturer for a First Light Summer School in Sao Paulo, Brazil, attended by 100 undergraduate and graduate students in Physics in Astronomy in 2020. Lectures sparked discussion afterwards. By demand, a virtual return of the school was organised in 2021. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | http://www.firstlight.iag.usp.br/ |
Description | Popular Science magazine interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Interview for article in online popular science magazine about new discoveries with JWST. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.popsci.com/science/big-bang-galaxy-james-webb-space-telescope/ |
Description | press release 'Unveiling galaxies at Cosmic Dawn that were hiding behind the dust' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Press release associated with Fudamoto et al. (2021, Nature), www.waseda.jp/top/en/news/74857. Press release was translated in multiple languages and picked up with news outlets around the world, including The Independent, Al Jazeera and VICE. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | http://www.waseda.jp/top/en/news/74857 |
Description | press release most distant galaxies confirmed |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Press release received coverage in BBC online, TIME megazine, New York Times, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, independent, Daily express |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |