Astrophysics and Cosmology Research at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics 2023-2026
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.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time - signals which go 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.
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.
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.
Pulsars and Time Domain Astrophysics: The focus of this group is astrophysical signatures that are changing with time - signals which go 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.
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.
Organisations
Publications
Fuskeland U
(2023)
Tensor-to-scalar ratio forecasts for extended LiteBIRD frequency configurations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Frye B
(2024)
The JWST Discovery of the Triply Imaged Type Ia "Supernova H0pe" and Observations of the Galaxy Cluster PLCK G165.7+67.0
in The Astrophysical Journal
Frye B
(2023)
The JWST PEARLS View of the El Gordo Galaxy Cluster and of the Structure It Magnifies
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fisher R
(2024)
Radio pulse profile evolution of magnetar Swift J1818.0-1607
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Fijma S
(2024)
A new method for short-duration transient detection in radio images: searching for transient sources in MeerKAT data of NGC 5068
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Ferreira L
(2023)
The JWST Hubble Sequence: The Rest-frame Optical Evolution of Galaxy Structure at 1.5 < z < 6.5
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fernández-Torreiro M
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - X. Spatial variations of Anomalous Microwave Emission along the Galactic plane
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Falxa M
(2023)
Searching for continuous Gravitational Waves in the second data release of the International Pulsar Timing Array
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duncan K
(2023)
JWST's PEARLS: TN J1338-1942 - I. Extreme jet-triggered star formation in a z = 4.11 luminous radio galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dullo B
(2023)
LeMMINGs. VI. Connecting nuclear activity to bulge properties of active and inactive galaxies: radio scaling relations and galaxy environment
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Driessen L
(2024)
FRB 20210405I: a nearby Fast Radio Burst localized to sub-arcsecond precision with MeerKAT
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dodge O
(2024)
Mass estimates from optical modelling of the new TRAPUM redback PSR J1910-5320
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Diego J
(2023)
JWST's PEARLS: A new lens model for ACT-CL J0102-4915, "El Gordo," and the first red supergiant star at cosmological distances discovered by JWST
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Diego J
(2023)
JWST's PEARLS: Mothra, a new kaiju star at z = 2.091 extremely magnified by MACS0416, and implications for dark matter models
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
De Ruiter I
(2023)
Low-frequency radio observations of recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi with MeerKAT and LOFAR
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De la Hoz E
(2023)
QUIJOTE scientific results - VIII. Diffuse polarized foregrounds from component separation with QUIJOTE-MFI
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Deane R
(2024)
The VLBA CANDELS GOODS-North Survey. I - Survey Design, Processing, Data Products, and Source Counts
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dal Ponte M
(2023)
Ultracool dwarfs candidates based on 6 yr of the Dark Energy Survey data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
D'Onofrio L
(2023)
Search for gravitational wave signals from known pulsars in LIGO-Virgo O3 data using the 5 n -vector ensemble method
in Physical Review D
Cyr B
(2024)
Disentangling the primordial nature of stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds with CMB spectral distortions
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cyr B
(2023)
Constraints on the spectral signatures of superconducting cosmic strings
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Curtis-Lake E
(2023)
Spectroscopic confirmation of four metal-poor galaxies at z = 10.3-13.2
in Nature Astronomy
Cunnington S
(2023)
The foreground transfer function for H i intensity mapping signal reconstruction: MeerKLASS and precision cosmology applications
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cunnington S
(2024)
Accurate Fourier-space statistics for line intensity mapping: Cartesian grid sampling without aliased power
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Cotton W
(2024)
The MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society