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A consolidated grant for Sheffield Astrophysics 2018-2021

Lead Research Organisation: University of Sheffield
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

The aim of this proposal is to support a programme of internationally excellent research in astrophysics at Sheffield, building on our recent research achievements, and tied to the exploitation of leading international facilities supported by STFC and UKSA.

Planned Impact

The main ways in which our research makes an impact outside the academic community is via our knowledge exchange and outreach activities. To summarise:

1. Knowledge exchange. This is primarily based on the building of the ULTRACAM and HiPERCAM instruments, which has lead to the development of new new CCD detector, data acquisition and cooling systems, as well as stimulating a project to develop new techniques to use 3D printing build rigid, lightweight support structure for astronomical instruments.

2. Outreach. Over the last 5 years members of the Sheffield astrophsyics group have delivered 126 talks to schools and astronomical societies, have held 70 in-house workshops for school students, and been involved in 15 press releases, all based on their research activities.

Details are given in our Impact Plan that is included as an attachment.

Publications

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Schaffenroth V (2021) A quantitative in-depth analysis of the prototype sdB+BD system SDSS J08205+0008 revisited in the Gaia era in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Schootemeijer A (2021) A dearth of young and bright massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud in Astronomy & Astrophysics

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Sergison D (2020) Characterizing the i-band variability of YSOs over six orders of magnitude in time-scale in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Snaid S (2018) Flickering in AGB stars: probing the nature of accreting companions in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Stevance H (2018) Probing the rotational velocity of Galactic WO stars with spectropolarimetry in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Stevance H (2019) The 3D shape of Type IIb SN 2011hs in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Sun N (2020) Origins of Type Ibn SNe 2006jc/2015G in interacting binaries and implications for pre-SN eruptions in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Tadhunter C (2024) An ALMA CO(1-0) survey of the 2Jy sample: large and massive molecular discs in radio AGN host galaxies in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Tehrani K (2019) Weighing Melnick 34: the most massive binary system known in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Urbano-Mayorgas J (2019) The host galaxies of luminous type 2 AGNs at z ~ 0.3-0.4 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Wang ? L (2019) The Pre-He White Dwarf in the Post-mass Transfer Binary EL CVn in The Astronomical Journal

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Wild J (2020) Spectroscopic and photometric periods of six ultracompact accreting binaries in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Wright N (2020) The velocity structure of Cygnus OB2 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

 
Description The award was used to fund a wide range of research that led to substantial progress in (a) understanding the links between the evolution actively accreting black holes and their host galaxies via far-IR observations taken with the Herschel satellite; (b) the way in which the most massive stars explode at the ends of their lives and the environments in which they do so; (c) the time variability of a range of astrophysical objects, and in particular compact stellar remnants.
Exploitation Route The outcomes can and have been used to inform future research projects and applications for observing time
on highly-oversubscribed observing facilities.
Sectors Education

Other

 
Description The findings have been used to inform a variety of outreach activities, including talks to schools and amateur astronomy societies socities, as well as public lectures.
First Year Of Impact 2018
Sector Other
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

 
Title Parameters of 15 Cataclysmic Variables 
Description VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society with title ' The evolutionary status of Cataclysmic Variables: eclipse modelling of 15 systems.' (bibcode: 2019MNRAS.486.5535M) 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/486/5535