Jet impact in galaxy groups and clusters via LOFAR extragalactic surveys
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Physical Sciences
Abstract
Extragalactic jets are powered by matter falling onto supermassive black holes in galaxy centres, and act as cosmic engines transporting energy out into the wider galaxy and beyond into intergalactic space. The role of these jets in galaxy formation is an important unsolved problem in understanding how our Universe evolved to its current state. This project makes use of new low-frequency radio surveys from the Low-frequency Array (LOFAR), which are providing detailed images of jet structures for very large samples of jets in the local and distant Universe. The statistical power of these new datasets will allow many long-standing questions about extragalactic jets and their environments to be answered. By combining LOFAR surveys with information from other wavelengths (e.g. X-ray, infrared and optical observations) we aim to solve long-standing problems that limit our ability to measure how much energy the jets transport, and to develop ways of determining where the energy from jets at high redshifts ends up (and therefore how it affects the process of how galaxies and groups/clusters of galaxies evolve).
Planned Impact
The research in this proposal will inform public engagement activities as part of the OU's extensive public activities, which typically reach audiences that include (a) the science-inclined general public (b) new public audiences who have previously only had limited engagement with STEM (c) teachers of science at school and college level (d) young people, e.g. ages 10-14 and (e) older influencers of young people, such as parents, family, and group leaders. The Open University is a world leader in science public engagement, and astronomy features prominently in the OU's public engagement and broadcasting strategy. The OU has had a Partnership with the BBC for over 40 years and co-produces up to 25 peak time TV and radio series a year. We can commission across all BBC Television and Radio channels, the World Service, World News as well as other UK Public Service Broadcasters, digital and international channels. Co-productions cover a variety of formats. Broadcast commissions generate assets for teaching in learning directly from the programmes, from specially commissioned additional content or from related archive content. A round-up of the OU's broadcast contributions is at http://www.open.edu/openlearn/tv-radio-events . Our audience appreciation figures (AIs) are excellent, often in the upper seventies or above. Between 150 million and 300 million views and listens of OU-produced programmes take place each year in the UK. Between 150,000 and 300,000 viewers embark on a learning journey with the OU to receive more information on the programme topics, via our specially produced promotional items, or to engage with our interactive learning materials. Our objective is explicitly to encourage our audiences into informal and formal learning. All programmes have a call-to-action that encourages viewers to embark on a learning journey to find out more about the topics they have watched by ordering a free print item or visiting the OpenLearn website. Members of the Astronomy Research Discipline have been extremely active in many broadcasting projects as on-air contributors and as consultants, promoting and engaging the public in STFC-funded research including their own. It is a long-standing OU priority for our broadcasting to feature OU research. These are unrivalled and exceptional opportunities to highlight STFC science on a national scale. We are also regular contributors to prime-time radio and television, recently including BBC Radio 4 Start The Week, Radio 4 Inside Science, BBC News 24, BBC2 Sky At Night, ITV. The OU is also one of the leading worldwide providers of free online educational resources. We were one of the first universities on iTunes U and have recorded 70.2 million downloads to date. We average ~50,000 downloads per week, and recorded 1.4 million unique visitors last year alone. We also have four YouTube channels, which in total have 31.0 million video views as of 31 Dec 2015. In 2015 alone we had 5.8 million views (25.8% from the UK) from 2.8 million unique visitors. Our open educational resource platform OpenLearn supplies educational resources linked to BBC programmes, and has had 40.9 million downloads to date, and 4.9 million unique browser visits in 2015 alone, 53% of whom were outside the UK. We routinely use these platforms for public engagement and outreach of our research, benefitting especially from the prominence given to our online platforms in the calls to action in our BBC and Channel 4 broadcasting. We will actively seek opportunities to use these platforms to engage the public in our research in this grant.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Judith Croston (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Kondapally R.
(2020)
The LOFAR Two Metre Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1 -- III. Host-galaxy identifications and value added catalogues
in arXiv e-prints
Shimwell T
(2022)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey V. Second data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Williams W
(2019)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey III. First data release: Optical/infrared identifications and value-added catalogue
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mostert R
(2021)
Unveiling the rarest morphologies of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey radio source population with self-organised maps
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Croston J
(2019)
The environments of radio-loud AGN from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS)
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gürkan G
(2019)
LoTSS/HETDEX: Optical quasars I. Low-frequency radio properties of optically selected quasars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hardcastle M
(2019)
Radio-loud AGN in the first LoTSS data release The lifetimes and environmental impact of jet-driven sources
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kondapally R
(2021)
The LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1 III. Host-galaxy identifications and value added catalogues
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mahatma V
(2019)
LoTSS DR1: Double-double radio galaxies in the HETDEX field
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Jurlin N
(2020)
The life cycle of radio galaxies in the LOFAR Lockman Hole field
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Shimwell T
(2019)
The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey II. First data release
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Simionescu A
(2021)
Voyage through the hidden physics of the cosmic web
in Experimental Astronomy
Lukic V
(2019)
Morphological classification of radio galaxies: capsule networks versus convolutional neural networks
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Duffy R
(2018)
The X-ray ribs within the cocoon shock of Cygnus A
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mingo B
(2022)
Accretion mode versus radio morphology in the LOFAR Deep Fields
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mahatma V
(2018)
Remnant radio-loud AGN in the Herschel-ATLAS field
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Webster B
(2021)
A population of galaxy-scale jets discovered using LOFAR
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Webster B
(2021)
Investigating the spectra and physical nature of galaxy scale jets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Barkus B
(2022)
The application of ridgelines in extended radio source cross-identification
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Van Eck C
(2020)
Low-frequency observations of the Giant Radio Galaxy NGC 6251
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Croston J
(2018)
Particle content, radio-galaxy morphology, and jet power: all radio-loud AGN are not equal
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mahatma V
(2020)
Investigating the spectral age problem with powerful radio galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Konar C
(2019)
Mode of accretion in episodic radio galaxies and the dynamics of their outer relic lobes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
De Vos K
(2021)
Clusters' far-reaching influence on narrow-angle tail radio galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Description | This award has led to advances in our understanding of how black holes and galaxies evolve together - more specifically we have learnt about the composition of and energy transported by powerful jets from supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxies, and the impact they have on their surroundings. |
Exploitation Route | The analysis codes and public catalogues we have generated are being used by other researchers for further projects relating to galaxy evolution, high-energy astrophysics, and planning for future radio and X-ray telescopes and space missions. |
Sectors | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
Description | Astronomy at the Open University 2020-2023 |
Amount | £810,666 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/T000295/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2020 |
End | 03/2023 |
Description | Support for Athena science advisory activities |
Amount | £30,061 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/V00140X/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2020 |
End | 03/2023 |
Title | Catalogue of HETDEX associations and IDs |
Description | A catalogue of optical host galaxies and associated extended radio sources from the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Many tens of science (astronomy) publications and student research projects are making use of this catalogue. |
URL | https://lofar-surveys.org/dr1_release.html |
Title | Catalogue of environments for LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey Data Release 1 |
Description | A catalogue of optical group/cluster environments for the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey Data Release 1, obtained by cross-matching with two published SDSS cluster datasets. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Catalogue is being used by other researchers and/or students |
URL | https://lofar-surveys.org/dr1_release.html |
Title | Catalogue of morphological classifications for the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey Data Release 1 |
Description | A catalogue of morphologically classifications for radio galaxies in the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey first data release. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The catalogue is being used by a number of other research groups and students for a variety of projects. |
URL | https://lofar-surveys.org/dr1_release.html |
Title | LoMorph galaxy classification code |
Description | Morphological classification code for radio astronomy surveys, as detailed in Mingo et al. (2019) MNRAS 488 2701. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | Applied to LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey, as detailed in Mingo et al. (2019) MNRAS 488 2701. |
URL | https://github.com/bmingo/LoMorph |
Description | Astronomy society talk (Letchworth) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Public talk to a local astronomy society about the research funded under this grant |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Institute of Physics public lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Public lecture "Tracing the lives of black holes: new views of the low-frequency sky" describing my research group's work funded through this grant, as part of a pan-European team, to carry out the largest radio survey to date. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |