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
Kong S
(2022)
Filament formation via collision-induced magnetic reconnection - formation of a star cluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cunnington S
(2023)
H i intensity mapping with MeerKAT: power spectrum detection in cross-correlation with WiggleZ galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pereira M
(2020)
µ? masses: weak-lensing calibration of the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 redMaPPer clusters using stellar masses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oswald L
(2023)
Pulsar polarization: a broad-band population view with the Parkes Ultra-Wideband receiver
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sobey C
(2021)
A polarization census of bright pulsars using the ultrawideband receiver on the Parkes radio telescope
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Morello V
(2020)
Optimal periodicity searching: revisiting the fast folding algorithm for large-scale pulsar surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vleeschower L
(2022)
Discoveries and timing of pulsars in NGC 6440
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rosell A
(2022)
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 results: galaxy sample for BAO measurement
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Badole S
(2021)
Erratum: 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
Platts E
(2021)
An analysis of the time-frequency structure of several bursts from FRB 121102 detected with MeerKAT
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shim H
(2022)
Multiwavelength properties of 850-µm selected sources from the North Ecliptic Pole SCUBA-2 survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pearce F
(2021)
Redshift evolution of the hot intracluster gas metallicity in the C-EAGLE cluster simulations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chalumeau A
(2022)
Noise analysis in the European Pulsar Timing Array data release 2 and its implications on the gravitational-wave background search
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Zucca P
(2020)
LOFAR 144-MHz follow-up observations of GW170817
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dhillon V
(2022)
Multicolour optical light curves of the companion star to the millisecond pulsar PSR J2051-0827
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Wesson R
(2024)
JWST observations of the Ring Nebula (NGC 6720): I. Imaging of the rings, globules, and arcs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ramírez-Galeano L
(2022)
Why most molecular clouds are gravitationally dominated
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hartley W
(2020)
The impact of spectroscopic incompleteness in direct calibration of redshift distributions for weak lensing surveys
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Njeri A
(2023)
SPARCS-North Wide-field VLBI Survey: exploring the resolved µJy extragalactic radio source population with EVN + e-MERLIN
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chen Z
(2023)
Towards optimal foreground mitigation strategies for interferometric H i intensity mapping in the low-redshift Universe
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rajwade K
(2020)
Possible periodic activity in the repeating FRB 121102
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cheng T
(2021)
Galaxy morphological classification catalogue of the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 data with convolutional neural networks
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cullen F
(2023)
The ultraviolet continuum slopes ( ß ) of galaxies at z ? 8-16 from JWST and ground-based near-infrared imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Rotti A
(2022)
Non-Gaussianity constraints with anisotropic µ distortion measurements from Planck
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McCallum N
(2022)
Fast map-based simulations of systematics in CMB surveys including effects of the scanning strategy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mall G
(2022)
Modelling annual scintillation arc variations in PSR J1643-1224 using the Large European Array for Pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Harrison I
(2020)
SuperCLASS - III. Weak lensing from radio and optical observations in Data Release 1
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Tan S
(2023)
Morphologies and Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae in the Galactic bulge from VLT, HST and Pan-STARRS imaging
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gorce A
(2023)
Impact of instrument and data characteristics in the interferometric reconstruction of the 21 cm power spectrum
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Reardon D
(2021)
The Parkes pulsar timing array second data release: timing analysis
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Stewart J
(2022)
Oscillatory reconnection and waves driven by merging magnetic flux ropes in solar flares
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Miles M
(2022)
Mode changing in J1909 - 3744: the most precisely timed pulsar
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Poidevin F
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - VII. Galactic AME sources in the QUIJOTE-MFI northern hemisphere wide survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McKee J
(2020)
A precise mass measurement of PSR J2045 + 3633
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shimajiri Y
(2020)
The accretion history of high-mass stars: an ArTéMiS pilot study of infrared dark clouds
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bezuidenhout M
(2022)
MeerTRAP: 12 Galactic fast transients detected in a real-time, commensal MeerKAT survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Casassus S
(2021)
Resolved spectral variations of the centimetre-wavelength continuum from the ? Oph W photodissociation region
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Chibueze J
(2022)
A MeerKAT, e-MERLIN, H.E.S.S., and Swift search for persistent and transient emission associated with three localized FRBs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Caleb M
(2022)
Radio and X-ray observations of giant pulses from XTE J1810 - 197
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gompertz B
(2020)
Searching for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave merger events with the prototype Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO-4)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Oswald L
(2021)
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT - V. Scattering analysis of single-component pulsars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Steeghs D
(2022)
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO): prototype performance and prospects for transient science
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Shaw B
(2021)
The slow rise and recovery of the 2019 Crab pulsar glitch
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Perrott Y
(2023)
Sub-kpc radio jets in the brightest central galaxy of the cool-core galaxy cluster RXJ1720.1+2638
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Casadio C
(2021)
SMILE: Search for MIlli-LEnses
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Clark CJ
(2023)
Neutron star mass estimates from gamma-ray eclipses in spider millisecond pulsar binaries.
in Nature astronomy
Bright J
(2020)
An extremely powerful long-lived superluminal ejection from the black hole MAXI J1820+070
in Nature Astronomy
Lawrence A
(2022)
The case for space environmentalism
in Nature Astronomy
Sweijen F
(2022)
Deep sub-arcsecond wide-field imaging of the Lockman Hole field at 144 MHz
in Nature Astronomy
De Marco O
(2022)
The messy death of a multiple star system and the resulting planetary nebula as observed by JWST
in Nature Astronomy