Astronomy at St Andrews 2021 - 2024

Lead Research Organisation: University of St Andrews
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

The St Andrews astronomy group is interested in questions of origins: where do galaxies, stars and planets come from, and what fundamental physics explains their formation? How widespread is life and how did it arise on Earth and on other worlds? We are world leaders in solving intricate mathematical problems, and we use novel methods such as observations at very high precision and simulations with super computers. We are joined by other groups across Scotland via the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), and internationally, in searching for hot and cool Earth-sized planets, homing in on habitable worlds where life could exist, and developing ways to detect life on those distant worlds.

Our investigations span a wide range of size scales, from discovering planetary systems around stars a few light years away to measuring the force of gravity acting on the whole universe. We discover hot extra-solar planets by using robotic wide-angle cameras and NASA's TESS space telescope to monitor thousands of stars and find those that briefly dim each time an orbiting planet passes in front of its parent star. We measure accurate
sizes for these planets by observing the transit light curves using ESA's CHEOPS space telescope, and determine the planet masses
using the high-precision HARPS spectrographs to measure how much the orbiting planet wobbles its host star.
We discover cooler and smaller more Earth-like planets by using a global network of robotic telescopes to watch gravitational lenses, exploiting Einstein's prediction that a planet drifting across the sightline to a distant background star bends its light. We learn about how planets form by studying the light from the gas and dust grains that accumulate to form planets, comparing with our computer simulations to understand the chemistry may lead to formation of biological molecules.

Young stars have strong magnetic fields that interact with orbiting planets and their own magnetic fields. We study the signatures of this
interaction to understand how planets form and evolve. We investigate the physics of mineral clouds and lightning in the atmospheres of cool brown dwarf stars and extrasolar planets, processes that may play a role in the origin of life. We compare observations and computer simulations to study how stars form in galaxies and how feedback from young stars drives a dynamic, bubbling interstellar medium, the dusty gas from which new stars are born. We include energetic supernova explosions when massive stars die and the ionising radiation from massive stars that heats the gas in the galaxy to temperatures above than 10,000 degrees Centigrade.

On galaxy and cosmological scales, we measure how gas and stars move within galaxies to study how galaxies form their characteristic shapes of flat discs, spiral arms and central bulges, and how these change as galaxies collide and merge to grow larger elliptical galaxies. We study the supermassive black holes that lurk in galaxy cores, to understand how they form and grow, and how their huge output of energy and radiation affects the host galaxy evolution. We study how gravity works both within galaxies and across the wider universe. Stars orbit in galaxies so fast that there appears to be too little mass to hold galaxies together, and our expanding universe appears to be accelerating. We understand gravity well enough to send space probes to other planets, but to understand these larger scale puzzles we investigate alternatives to current ideas of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, comparing our predictions with observations to test how gravity works.

Planned Impact

Our research creates two major kinds of impact, engagement with the public as well as knowledge exchange with industrial and interdisciplinary partners. A range of initiatives have been developed over the past few years, outlined in detail in the 'Pathways to Impact' section in the application document. Our activities are coordinated through a developing public engagement strategy supported by the School of Physics & Astronomy and the University of St Andrews.

In terms of public engagement, our work includes engagement with local schools, in particular those in deprived areas in Fife, participating in university-wide successful outreach programs, as well as presence at exhibitions and festivals. Our research work is widely and frequently presented in the national and world-wide media, both as news reports and features in major newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV stations. Members of our group have published several popular science books in recent years.

Four particular initiatives will be highlighted in the following. The university observatory, supervised by Scholz, is a key attraction for the public and hosts numerous events and open nights every year. In particular, the historic, and yet still active James Gregory Telescope, Scotland's largest telescope, attracts about 1000 visitors every year, with an ever-growing social-media presence.

The prominent project Shine, launched in 2015 and led by Weijmans, supported through an STFC Leadership Fellowship in Public Engagement, links science, arts, and music through a multi-faceted program. It includes among others the creation of new science-themed music as well as exhibits by local artist Tim Fitzpatrick.

The Scottish Sloan Digital Sky Survey Planets for Education project, led by Tojeiro, teaches astrophysical concepts to secondary school children, using the Sloan observing plates as hands-on material. Apart from school visits, this program delivers workshops for teachers. The project will expand in the following years.

Our mobile planetarium, run entirely by PhD students, visits local schools to enhance education in astronomy -- this is a long-standing initiative with a successful track record spanning more than 20 years.

In terms of Knowledge Exchange, we highlight here two particular initiatives:

First, we have a long standing collaboration with Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on photodynamic therapy for the treatment of skin cancer, using Monte Carlo simulations of light propagation through human tissue. Recently this has been extended to other projects including PDT for brain cancer, determining DNA damage due to tanning salons, in silico testing of new ultraviolet light sources for treating chronic skin conditions, and the effects of sunscreen on the build up of Vitamin D in skin.

Second, our local 0.94m James Gregory Telescope is used to discover space debris in geosynchronous and Molniya orbits, in collaboration with SpaceInsight, a company providing observations and tracking of man-made near-Earth objects, and supported by the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency, and the Defense Science & Technology Laboratory. Building on this collaboration, we are currently installing a new remotely controlled telescope on the grounds of the observatory in St Andrews, supported by an STFC Impact Accelerator Grant.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title Mobile pavillion art exhibition collaboration 
Description Dr Katy Chub presented her work to a group of artists, and discussed her research more in depth over a series of on-line session. The artists have now created videos relating to exoplanets for a public exhibition in Austria which will be launched in March 2023. 
Type Of Art Artistic/Creative Exhibition 
Year Produced 2023 
Impact This will be more clear after the exhibit has opened. 
URL https://www.steiermarkschau.at/
 
Title A CHEOPS-enhanced view of the HD3167 system 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'A CHEOPS-enhanced view of the HD3167 system.' (bibcode: 2022A&A...668A..31B) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/668/A31
 
Title CHEOPS phase curve of WASP-189 b 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The atmosphere and architecture of WASP-189 b probed by its CHEOPS phase curve.' (bibcode: 2022A&A...659A..74D) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/659/A74
 
Title Field linkage and magnetic helicity density (dataset) 
Description This is a file in .csv and .xlsx format of the data underpinning Table 1 in this paper (Lund et al 2020, MN) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/datasets/field-linkage-and-magnetic-helicity-density-datas...
 
Title HARPS-N radial velocities of HD 79211 & HD 79210 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomical Journal (AAS) with title 'Independent Validation of the Temperate Super-Earth HD 79211 b using HARPS-N.' (bibcode: 2023AJ....165...38D) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/AJ/165/38
 
Title HD 110067 photometric and spectroscopic data 
Description Data accompanying the discovery paper of a six-planet system transiting the bright star HD 110067, published in Nature (Luque et al. 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06692-3). 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/8211589
 
Title KELT-9b light curves 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The stable climate of KELT-9b.' (bibcode: 2022A&A...666A.118J) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/666/A118
 
Title Photometric and spectroscopic granulation signals 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'Connecting photometric and spectroscopic granulation signals with CHEOPS and ESPRESSO.' (bibcode: 2023A&A...670A..24S) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/670/A24
 
Title Products and Models for "Early Release Science of the Exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRCam" 
Description Associated Publication: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05590-4 OVERVIEW: Measuring the metallicity and carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio in exoplanet atmospheres is a fundamental step towards constraining the dominant chemical processes at work and, if in equilibrium, revealing planet formation histories. Transmission spectroscopy provides the necessary means by constraining the abundances of oxygen- and carbon-bearing species; however, this requires broad wavelength coverage, moderate spectral resolution, and high precision that, together, are not achievable with previous observatories. Now that JWST has commenced science operations, we are able to observe exoplanets at previously uncharted wavelengths and spectral resolutions. Here we report time-series observations of the transiting exoplanet WASP-39b using JWST's Near InfraRed Camera (NIRCam). The long-wavelength spectroscopic and short-wavelength photometric light curves span 2.0 - 4.0 µm, exhibit minimal systematics, and reveal well-defined molecular absorption features in the planet's spectrum. Specifically, we detect gaseous H2O in the atmosphere and place an upper limit on the abundance of CH4. The otherwise prominent CO2 feature at 2.8 µm is largely masked by H2O. The best-fit chemical equilibrium models favour an atmospheric metallicity of 1-100× solar (i.e., an enrichment of elements heavier than helium relative to the Sun) and a sub-stellar carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio. The inferred high metallicity and low C/O ratio may indicate significant accretion of solid materials during planet formation or disequilibrium processes in the upper atmosphere. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/7101283
 
Title Products and Models for "Early Release Science of the Exoplanet WASP-39b with JWST NIRSpec PRISM" 
Description Associated publication: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05677-y OVERVIEW: Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanets has revealed signatures of water vapor, aerosols, and alkali metals in a few dozen exoplanet atmospheres. However, these previous inferences with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes were hindered by the observations' relatively narrow wavelength range and spectral resolving power, which precluded the unambiguous identification of other chemical species-in particular the primary carbon-bearing molecules. Here we report a broad-wavelength 0.5-5.5 µm atmospheric transmission spectrum of WASP-39 b, a 1200 K, roughly Saturn-mass, Jupiter-radius exoplanet, measured with JWST NIRSpec's PRISM mode as part of the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team program. We robustly detect multiple chemical species at high significance, including Na (19s), H2O (33s), CO2 (28s), and CO (7s). The non-detection of CH4, combined with a strong CO2 feature, favours atmospheric models with a super-solar atmospheric metallicity. An unanticipated absorption feature at 4 µm is best explained by SO2 (2.7s), which could be a tracer of atmospheric photochemistry. These observations demonstrate JWST's sensitivity to a rich diversity of exoplanet compositions and chemical processes. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://zenodo.org/record/7388032
 
Title Quaoar's stellar occultation observed by CHEOPS 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'A stellar occultation by the transneptunian object (50000) Quaoar observed by CHEOPS.' (bibcode: 2022A&A...664L..15M) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/664/L15
 
Title The impact of two non-transiting planets and stellar activity on mass determinations for the super-Earth CoRoT-7b (code) 
Description CoRoT-7 is an active star, whose orbiting planets and their masses have been under debate since their initial detection. In the previous studies, CoRoT-7 was found to have two planets, CoRoT-7b and CoRoT-7c with orbital periods 0.85 and 3.69 days, and a potential third planet with a period~9 days. The existence of the third planet has been questioned as potentially being an activity-induced artefact. Mass of the transiting planet CoRoT-7b has been estimated to have widely different values owing to the activity level of the parent star, the consequent RV 'jitter', and the methods used to rectify this ambiguity. Here we present an analysis of the HARPS archival RV (RV) data of CoRoT-7 using a new wavelength-domain technique, SCALPELS, to correct for the stellar activity-induced spectral line-shape changes. Simultaneous modelling of stellar activity and orbital motions, identified using the l1- periodogram, shows that SCALPELS effectively reduce the contribution of stellar variability to the RV signal and enhance the detectability of exoplanets around active stars. Using KIMA nested-sampling package, we modelled the system incorporating a Gaussian Process together with SCALPELS. The resultant posterior distributions favoured a three-planet system comprising two non-transiting planets, CoRoT-7c and CoRoT-7d with orbital periods 3.697 ± 0.005 and 8.966 ± 1.546 days, in addition to the known transiting planet. The transiting planet CoRoT-7b is found to be a rocky super-Earth with a mass of Mb=6.06 ± 0.65 M?. The determined masses of Mc=13.29 ± 0.69 M? and Md=17.14 ± 2.55 M? suggest the non-transiting planets CoRoT-7c and CoRoT-7d to be structurally similar to Uranus and Neptune. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/datasets/the-impact-of-two-nontransiting-planets-and-ste...
 
Title Tracing the chemistry of high-energy processes in planetary atmospheres (thesis data) 
Description This dataset contains data produced during my PhD thesis. The results are described in Chapter 2 of the thesis. Underlying data for the results presented in chapter 3 are published in individual repositories (see thesis for more details) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/datasets/tracing-the-chemistry-of-highenergy-processes-i...
 
Title Young sub-Neptunes orbiting TOI-2076 light curves 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'Uncovering the true periods of the young sub-Neptunes orbiting TOI-2076.' (bibcode: 2022A&A...664A.156O) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/664/A156
 
Description 'Are giant galaxy clusters defying standard cosmology?' including interview of Indranil Banik 
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 Article in PhysicsWorld.com, which includes quotes from interview with Indranil Banik. Published in September 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://physicsworld.com/a/are-giant-galaxy-clusters-defying-standard-cosmology/
 
Description 'Do we live in a Giant Void? It could solve the puzzle of the Universe's expansion' by Indranil Banik 
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 Article for the Conversation, published in November 2023. As of reporting (March 2024), there have been about 230,000 views with an Altmetric score of 772.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://theconversation.com/do-we-live-in-a-giant-void-it-could-solve-the-puzzle-of-the-universes-ex...
 
Description Crooked star clusters may be a sign that Einstein's gravity is wrong 
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 Dr Indranil Banik was interviewed about his research for this New Scientist article.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.newscientist.com/article/2344907-crooked-star-clusters-may-be-a-sign-that-einsteins-grav...
 
Description Dark matter: Is it time we gave up looking for it? 
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 Dr Indranik Banik was interviewed about his research for this article.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/dark-matter-is-it-time-we-gave-up-looking-for-it/
 
Description Dark matter: our review suggests it's time to ditch it in favour of a new theory of gravity 
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 Article for The Conversation by Dr Indranil Banik about his research, reached over 200K readers. Article led to BBC interview.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://theconversation.com/dark-matter-our-review-suggests-its-time-to-ditch-it-in-favour-of-a-new-...
 
Description New planets found in unique system with CHEOPS 
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 Press release on the work of Prof Andrew Cameron and Dr Thomas Wilson, issued by University of St Andrews.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/new-planets-found-in-unique-system-with-cheops/
 
Description New spin on galaxy rotation saves controversial gravity theory 
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 Press Release issued by University of St Andrews based on Dr Indranil Banik's work.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/new-spin-on-galaxy-rotation-saves-controversial-gravity-theory...
 
Description Open Night 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Open Night on 9 March 2024 at University Observatory in St Andrews. Over 200 people visited to see the telescopes, ask astronomy questions, and visit an art-astronomy installation. Volunteers included Nicholas Boardman, Indranil Banik, and Anne-Marie Weijmans
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Outreach Talk for Cambridge Astronomical Society by Moira Jardine 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Prof Moira Jardine gave a talk about her research to students in the Cambridge Astronomical Society, on 25 October 2022.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://cuastronomy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2022M.jpg
 
Description Outreach Talk for Dundee Astronomical Society by Indranik Banik 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Outreach talk for Dundee Astronomical Society by Dr Indranil Banik on 11 November 2022. Recording available here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=evqTh9JaIDg. Title: Going beyond Einstein to solve the crisis in cosmology. Audience from Dundee area.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.dundeeastro.com/Friday_Meetings.html
 
Description Outreach Talk for Dunkeld Cafe Scientifique by Indranik Banik 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Outreach talk by Dr Indranil Banik on 15 November 2022. Title: Going beyond Einstein to solve the crisis in cosmology. Organisers were Dave and Jenny Pike from Pitlochrie.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Outreach Talk for Edinburgh Astronomical Society by Indranik Banik 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Outreach talk by Dr Indranil Banik for Edinburgh Astronomical Society, on 5 December 2022. Title: Going beyond Einstein to solve the crisis in cosmology.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.astronomyedinburgh.org/event/going-beyond-einstein-to-understand-the-universe/
 
Description Outreach Talk for Edinburgh astronomy society by Thomas Wilson 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Outreach talk by Dr Thomas Wilson about his research for the Edinburgh Astronomical Society. Audience from Edinburgh region.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.astronomyedinburgh.org/event/the-life-of-a-planetary-system/
 
Description Outreach Talk for Moray astronomy society by Thomas Wilson 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Outreach talk for Moray Astronomical Society by Dr Thomas Wilson about his research. Audience from the Moray region.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://sigma-astro.co.uk/years-gone-by/2022-programme/
 
Description Outreach Talk for SISCO by Moira Jardine 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact SISCO is St Andrews interdisciplinary science conference, talk was on 18 February 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.facebook.com/events/754394802970458/?ref=newsfeed
 
Description Outreach Talk for St Andrews Astronomical Society by Moira Jardine 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Prof Moira Jardine gave a talk about her research to students of the St Andrews astronomical Society, on 22 September 2022.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Rare planet found in space telescope photobomb 
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 Press release issued by University of St Andrews, on work by Prof Andrew Cameron and Dr Thomas Wilson.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/rare-planet-found-in-space-telescope-photobomb/
 
Description Shredded dwarf galaxies may lack dark matter to hold them together 
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 Interview of Dr Indranil Banik for New Scientist article.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.newscientist.com/article/2332963-shredded-dwarf-galaxies-may-lack-dark-matter-to-hold-th...
 
Description Study finds no dark matter halos in the dwarf galaxies of one of Earth's nearest clusters 
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 Press Release issued by the University of St Andrews, includes work by Dr Hongsheng Zhao and Dr Indranil Banik.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/study-finds-no-dark-matter-halos-in-the-dwarf-galaxies-of-one-...