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
Chen R
(2022)
Measuring Cosmological Parameters with Type Ia Supernovae in redMaGiC Galaxies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Griffiths A
(2022)
Emission Line Galaxies in the SHARDS Hubble Frontier Fields. II. Limits on Lyman-continuum Escape Fractions of Lensed Emission Line Galaxies at Redshifts 2 < z < 3.5
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ferreira L
(2022)
A Simulation-driven Deep Learning Approach for Separating Mergers and Star-forming Galaxies: The Formation Histories of Clumpy Galaxies in All of the CANDELS Fields
in The Astrophysical Journal
Singh S
(2022)
The GMRT High Resolution Southern Sky Survey for Pulsars and Transients. III. Searching for Long-period Pulsars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wahl H
(2022)
The NANOGrav 12.5 yr Data Set: Polarimetry and Faraday Rotation Measures from Observations of Millisecond Pulsars with the Green Bank Telescope
in The Astrophysical Journal
Peirson A
(2022)
New Tests of Milli-lensing in the Blazar PKS 1413 + 135
in The Astrophysical Journal
Whitney A
(2021)
Galaxy Evolution in All Five CANDELS Fields and IllustrisTNG: Morphological, Structural, and the Major Merger Evolution to z ~ 3
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott R
(2022)
Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kong S
(2021)
The CARMA-NRO Orion Survey: Filament Formation via Collision-induced Magnetic Reconnection-the Stick in Orion A
in The Astrophysical Journal
Chung D
(2022)
COMAP Early Science. V. Constraints and Forecasts at z ~ 3
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abazajian K
(2022)
CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kilpatrick C
(2021)
The Gravity Collective: A Search for the Electromagnetic Counterpart to the Neutron Star-Black Hole Merger GW190814
in The Astrophysical Journal
Doi Y
(2020)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: Magnetic Fields Associated with a Network of Filaments in NGC 1333
in The Astrophysical Journal
Panopoulou G
(2021)
Revisiting the Distance to Radio Loops I and IV Using Gaia and Radio/Optical Polarization Data
in The Astrophysical Journal
Vanzella E
(2023)
JWST/NIRCam Probes Young Star Clusters in the Reionization Era Sunrise Arc
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gordovskyy M
(2020)
Forward Modeling of Particle Acceleration and Transport in an Individual Solar Flare
in The Astrophysical Journal
Schmiedeke A
(2021)
Dissecting the Supercritical Filaments Embedded in the 0.5 pc Subsonic Region of Barnard 5
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hwang J
(2022)
The JCMT BISTRO Survey: A Spiral Magnetic Field in a Hub-filament Structure, Monoceros R2
in The Astrophysical Journal
Lykou F
(2023)
A New Study on a Type Iax Stellar Remnant and its Probable Association with SN 1181
in The Astrophysical Journal
Singh S
(2023)
The GMRT High Resolution Southern Sky Survey for Pulsars and Transients. IV. Discovery of Four New Pulsars with an FFA Search
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ding H
(2020)
Very Long Baseline Astrometry of PSR J1012+5307 and its Implications on Alternative Theories of Gravity
in The Astrophysical Journal
Wang Z
(2021)
Discovery of ASKAP J173608.2-321635 as a Highly Polarized Transient Point Source with the Australian SKA Pathfinder
in The Astrophysical Journal
Whitney A
(2020)
Surface Brightness Evolution of Galaxies in the CANDELS GOODS Fields up to z ~ 6: High-z Galaxies Are Unique or Remain Undetected
in The Astrophysical Journal
Swiggum J
(2023)
The Green Bank North Celestial Cap Survey. VII. 12 New Pulsar Timing Solutions
in The Astrophysical Journal
McEwen A
(2020)
The Green Bank North Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey. V. Pulsar Census and Survey Sensitivity
in The Astrophysical Journal
Arzoumanian Z
(2020)
Multimessenger Gravitational-wave Searches with Pulsar Timing Arrays: Application to 3C 66B Using the NANOGrav 11-year Data Set
in The Astrophysical Journal
Vallisneri M
(2020)
Modeling the Uncertainties of Solar System Ephemerides for Robust Gravitational-wave Searches with Pulsar-timing Arrays
in The Astrophysical Journal
Conselice C
(2022)
A Direct Measurement of Galaxy Major and Minor Merger Rates and Stellar Mass Accretion Histories at Z < 3 Using Galaxy Pairs in the REFINE Survey
in The Astrophysical Journal
Kudale S
(2020)
Study of Eclipses for Redback Pulsar J1227-4853
in The Astrophysical Journal
Curylo M
(2023)
Wide-band Timing of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array UWL Data
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ding H
(2020)
Erratum: "Very Long Baseline Astrometry of PSR J1012+5307 and its Implications on Alternative Theories of Gravity" (2020, ApJ, 896, 85)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Agazie G
(2021)
The Green Bank Northern Celestial Cap Pulsar Survey. VI. Discovery and Timing of PSR J1759+5036: A Double Neutron Star Binary Pulsar
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hensley B
(2022)
The Simons Observatory: Galactic Science Goals and Forecasts
in The Astrophysical Journal
Ray P
(2022)
Discovery, Timing, and Multiwavelength Observations of the Black Widow Millisecond Pulsar PSR J1555-2908
in The Astrophysical Journal
Parent E
(2022)
Study of 72 Pulsars Discovered in the PALFA Survey: Timing Analysis, Glitch Activity, Emission Variability, and a Pulsar in an Eccentric Binary
in The Astrophysical Journal
Yao J
(2022)
Interstellar Scintillation and Polarization of PSR B0656+14 in the Monogem Ring
in The Astrophysical Journal
Tahani M
(2023)
JCMT BISTRO Observations: Magnetic Field Morphology of Bubbles Associated with NGC 6334
in The Astrophysical Journal
Diaz-Rodriguez A
(2022)
The Physical Properties of the SVS 13 Protobinary System: Two Circumstellar Disks and a Spiraling Circumbinary Disk in the Making
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sharma S
(2022)
Wide-band Timing of GMRT-discovered Millisecond Pulsars
in The Astrophysical Journal
Pineda J
(2020)
A SOFIA Survey of [C ii] in the Galaxy M51. II. [C ii] and CO Kinematics across the Spiral Arms
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sahu K
(2022)
An Isolated Stellar-mass Black Hole Detected through Astrometric Microlensing*
in The Astrophysical Journal
Readhead A
(2021)
The Relativistic Jet Orientation and Host Galaxy of the Peculiar Blazar PKS 1413+135
in The Astrophysical Journal
Barnes A
(2023)
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Multiwavelength View of Feedback-driven Bubbles (the Phantom Voids) across NGC 628
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Zhang L
(2022)
Radio Detection of an Elusive Millisecond Pulsar in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Williams T
(2022)
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Spurring on Star Formation: JWST Reveals Localized Star Formation in a Spiral Arm Spur of NGC 628
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Pascale M
(2022)
Unscrambling the Lensed Galaxies in JWST Images behind SMACS 0723
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Dharmawardena T
(2020)
Betelgeuse Fainter in the Submillimeter Too: An Analysis of JCMT and APEX Monitoring during the Recent Optical Minimum
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Yan H
(2022)
JWST's PEARLS: Bright 1.5-2.0 µm Dropouts in the Spitzer/IRAC Dark Field
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Meidt S
(2023)
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Interstellar Medium Structure on the Turbulent Jeans Scale in Four Disk Galaxies Observed by JWST and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Tan S
(2023)
When the Stars Align: A 5s Concordance of Planetary Nebulae Major Axes in the Center of Our Galaxy
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters