Astrophysics and Cosmology Research at the JBCA 2020-2023
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
This grant supports the research of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. Our research is a divided into 3 groups. There are too many specific proposals to describe in detail, do below we have given a brief layman's explanation of the work being carried out by the three groups.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time- things which come on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are a non-standard star type, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Cosmology: This is the study of the Universe as a whole. The main aim is to understand the processes by which the large scale feature of the Universe formed and to constrain the various different kinds of matter that existed within it. These include dark matter and dark energy which are thought to constitute more than 95% of the total. We do this by comparison to observations of weak and strong gravitational lensing which is the distortion of light predicted to be caused by massive objects in Einstein' Theory of General Relativity, the cosmic microwave background which is the faint emission of radiation created at the time when protons and electrons come together to form hydrogen and the emission given off by neutral hydrogen atoms in galaxies. The research we propose here involves both theory and observation as well as the development of the technology necessary to make the observations possible.
Sun, Stars and Galaxies: The researchers in this group study a wide range of astrophysical processes that are reasonable for the formation and evolution of the objects in the name of the group. Specific key areas that the group is interested in are the formation of stars much larger than the Sun and the subsequent evolution, the properties of the so-called interstellar medium (ISM) which comprises molecules not bound to stars and the magnetic fields that permeate space.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time- things which come on and off, often with some kind of regularity. These include Pulsars which are a non-standard star type, known as a neutron star, which is a dead star supported by the quantum pressure of neutrons. The radio emission from these objects pulses on an off with extraordinary regularity allowing them to acts cosmic clocks. The constantly measuring these clocks as the neutron stars spin and move through space, often impacted on by a companion star, allows the most precise constraints on the nature of gravity outside the solar system. Other phenomena studied by this group include Nova explosions, other variable stars, and variability induced by the lensing effects of one star passing in front of another, called microlensing.
Planned Impact
The range of research we undertake and the world-class facilities within and in close association with JBCA (the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, e-MERLIN, the Lovell Telescope, the ALMA ARC and the SKA HQ) will provide key pathways to increasing our already strong impact on UK and global industry, the next generation of scientists and engineers, and the general public. The University's investment in the Jodrell Bank site combined with significant external funding (e.g. from Heritage Lottery Fund) will enable us to expand its use as an iconic venue for public and industrial engagement. The programme described here formed a key part of the School's submission for REF2014, helping it to be ranked highest in the REF for physics impact with 83% at 4* and 17% at 3*. Our outreach \& public engagement programme is extremely strong and continues to grow, particularly through its work with the University's award-winning Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre and the BBC. With the recent decision on SKA HQ location and our strong research work in this area, there is also growing impact in both outreach and industrial engagement in this area.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 215000 Twitter and 18000 Facebook followers
- Stargazing live, Pulsar Hunters, Science Programmes presented by Danielle George
- JB Discovery centre with 190000 visitors per year
- Award winning Bluedot Festivals
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, AEON, Critical Software, MMI, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Our "Pathways to Impact" statement in the case for support outlines things that we have done in recent times under the headings of "Outreach and Public Engagement" and "Industrial and economic impact". We list some highlights below.
- Jodcast: Podcast run by students with 7000 regular listeners.
- 215000 Twitter and 18000 Facebook followers
- Stargazing live, Pulsar Hunters, Science Programmes presented by Danielle George
- JB Discovery centre with 190000 visitors per year
- Award winning Bluedot Festivals
- Industry contracts for SKA work including CISCO, AASL, NPL, AEON, Critical Software, MMI, GEANT
- Newton programme for Radio Astronomy in Africa.
Organisations
Publications
Wilkins S
(2023)
First Light And Reionization Epoch Simulations (FLARES) VII: The star formation and metal enrichment histories of galaxies in the early Universe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen W
(2023)
MeerKAT discovery of 13 new pulsars in Omega Centauri
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hewitt D
(2020)
A MeerKAT survey of nearby nova-like cataclysmic variables
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bowler R
(2022)
The discovery of rest-frame UV colour gradients and a diversity of dust morphologies in bright z ? 7 Lyman-break galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mata Sánchez D
(2023)
A black widow population dissection through HiPERCAM multiband light-curve modelling
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wu J
(2020)
The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey - XVI. Discovery and timing of 40 pulsars from the southern Galactic plane
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vives-Arias H
(2020)
VLA and ALMA observations of the lensed radio-quiet quasar SDSS J0924+0219: a molecular structure in a 3 µJy radio source
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dyks J
(2021)
Circular polarization in radio pulsar PSR B1451-68: coherent mode transitions and intrabeam interference
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Healy-Kalesh M
(2023)
On the observability of recurrent nova super-remnants
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cheng T
(2023)
Lessons learned from the two largest Galaxy morphological classification catalogues built by convolutional neural networks
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tang H
(2022)
Radio Galaxy Zoo: giant radio galaxy classification using multidomain deep learning
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shahbaz T
(2023)
A rapid optical and X-ray timing study of the neutron star X-ray binary Swift J1858.6-0814
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Manning S
(2020)
SuperCLASS - II. Photometric redshifts and characteristics of spatially resolved µ Jy radio sources
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Herbonnet R
(2020)
CCCP and MENeaCS: (updated) weak-lensing masses for 100 galaxy clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kennedy M
(2022)
Measuring the mass of the black widow PSR J1555-2908
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lorimer D
(2021)
Timing observations of three Galactic millisecond pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Driver S
(2022)
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): Data Release 4 and the z < 0.1 total and z < 0.08 morphological galaxy stellar mass functions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tan S
(2024)
A catalogue of planetary nebulae chemical abundances in the Galactic bulge
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Andrianjafy J
(2023)
Image plane detection of FRB121102 with the MeerKAT radio telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Darwish M
(2020)
OH maser towards IRAS 06056+2131: polarization parameters and evolution status
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ridolfi A
(2021)
Eight new millisecond pulsars from the first MeerKAT globular cluster census
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kumamoto H
(2021)
Flux density variability of 286 radio pulsars from a decade of monitoring
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shaw B
(2022)
Long-term rotational and emission variability of 17 radio pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Keane E
(2020)
Limits on absorption from a 332-MHz survey for fast radio bursts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Koprowski M
(2020)
An ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 cosmology legacy survey UKIDSS/UDS field: Dust attenuation in high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Agar C
(2021)
A broad-band radio study of PSR J0250+5854: the slowest spinning radio pulsar known
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wilensky M
(2023)
Bayesian jackknife tests with a small number of subsets: application to HERA 21 cm power spectrum upper limits
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lower M
(2021)
The impact of glitches on young pulsar rotational evolution
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Adams N
(2023)
Discovery and properties of ultra-high redshift galaxies (9 < z < 12) in the JWST ERO SMACS 0723 Field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Singha J
(2021)
A real-time automated glitch detection pipeline at Ooty Radio Telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lee E
(2022)
A multisimulation study of relativistic SZ temperature scalings in galaxy clusters and groups
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hajduk M
(2020)
The cooling-down central star of the planetary nebula SwSt 1: a late thermal pulse in a massive post-AGB star?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sabin L
(2021)
First deep images catalogue of extended IPHAS PNe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Johnston S
(2023)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - XI. Application of the rotating vector model
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCallum N
(2021)
Spin characterization of systematics in CMB surveys - a comprehensive formalism
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Voronkov M
(2020)
Erratum: Excited-state hydroxyl maser catalogue from the methanol multibeam survey - I. Positions and variability
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ghasemi-Nodehi M
(2022)
Evolution of thermal and non-thermal radio continuum emission on kpc scales - predictions for SKA
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McBride V
(2020)
Imbalance learning for variable star classification
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wolz L
(2022)
H i constraints from the cross-correlation of eBOSS galaxies and Green Bank Telescope intensity maps
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Deason A
(2021)
Stellar splashback: the edge of the intracluster light
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Main R
(2023)
The Thousand Pulsar Array programme on MeerKAT - X. Scintillation arcs of 107 pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen A
(2023)
Constraining the baryonic feedback with cosmic shear using the DES Year-3 small-scale measurements
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Liu K
(2022)
Detection of quasi-periodic micro-structure in three millisecond pulsars with the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tudorache M
(2022)
MIGHTEE - H i . The relation between the H i gas in galaxies and the cosmic web
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Akhazhanov A
(2022)
Finding quadruply imaged quasars with machine learning - I. Methods
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Main R
(2020)
Measuring interstellar delays of PSR J0613-0200 over 7 yr, using the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Posselt B
(2021)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - VI. Pulse widths of a large and diverse sample of radio pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Page K
(2022)
The 2021 outburst of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi observed in X-rays by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory : a comparative study
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Specht D
(2020)
MaBµlS-2: high-precision microlensing modelling for the large-scale survey era
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fuller G
(2020)
Methanol and water maser observations separate disc and outflow sources in IRAS 19410+2336
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society