Hertfordshire Astronomy 2021-24
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Hertfordshire
Department Name: School of Physics, Astronomy and Maths
Abstract
The Centre for Astrophysics Research carries out observational programmes spanning the wavelength range from X-ray to radio -- supporting this by computer modelling and simulation. Our research ranges from observations of the most distant and extreme galaxies in the universe through to novel statistical analyses of observations seeking to detect planets outside our Solar System. In between these extremes, we seek to understand the properties of brown dwarfs and young stars, we carry out radio surveys of the Milky Way and of nearby galaxies, and we are pioneering wide-area surveys both of the northern radio sky and of the redshifts of the vast number of galaxies that the radio surveys will discover. Our research makes use of observations from all of the main European and international astronomical observatories, including ground-based observatories at optical, radio and submillimetre wavelengths, and space observatories at wavelengths ranging from the far infrared to X-rays. Computer simulations gives us a better understanding of the physical processes detected in our observations, and we need to apply advanced data-mining techniques to work with the very large datasets we are generating.
Planned Impact
We identify three classes of beneficiaries from this research:
1) academic beneficiaries
2) the general public and particularly teachers and pupils in schools locally, nationally and internationally through our outreach and public engagement programme.
3) industry, directly through collaborations / technology transfer, indirectly through our training of undergraduate and graduate students.
For academic beneficiaries see the relevant section of the proposal.
Our outreach and public engagement programme is very strongly driven by the cutting-edge research funded by the STFC grant. Elements of this include (i) public open evenings at the Bayfordbury observatory, which generally have a research-based theme; this reaches local people, particularly families, which is important as parents, along with teachers, are most influential in the career choice of young people. (ii) Observatory group visits from a very wide range of groups, again often including young people. (iii) International outreach through international development programmes in locations such as Thailand and sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, we access the wider public through national and international print media, websites, popular books, TV and radio appearances and so on.
We have close links with various commercial organizations, such as Airbus Defence and Space a few miles away in Stevenage, with whom we have in the past collaborated on project proposals, and GES Ltd, the commercial organization developing the Goonhilly Earth Station for various purposes including public engagement and radio astronomy use. These contacts necessarily rely on the cutting-edge science and technical skills supported by STFC.
1) academic beneficiaries
2) the general public and particularly teachers and pupils in schools locally, nationally and internationally through our outreach and public engagement programme.
3) industry, directly through collaborations / technology transfer, indirectly through our training of undergraduate and graduate students.
For academic beneficiaries see the relevant section of the proposal.
Our outreach and public engagement programme is very strongly driven by the cutting-edge research funded by the STFC grant. Elements of this include (i) public open evenings at the Bayfordbury observatory, which generally have a research-based theme; this reaches local people, particularly families, which is important as parents, along with teachers, are most influential in the career choice of young people. (ii) Observatory group visits from a very wide range of groups, again often including young people. (iii) International outreach through international development programmes in locations such as Thailand and sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, we access the wider public through national and international print media, websites, popular books, TV and radio appearances and so on.
We have close links with various commercial organizations, such as Airbus Defence and Space a few miles away in Stevenage, with whom we have in the past collaborated on project proposals, and GES Ltd, the commercial organization developing the Goonhilly Earth Station for various purposes including public engagement and radio astronomy use. These contacts necessarily rely on the cutting-edge science and technical skills supported by STFC.
Publications
Oei M
(2024)
Black hole jets on the scale of the Cosmic Web
Oei M
(2023)
Measuring the giant radio galaxy length distribution with the LoTSS
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Oei M
(2023)
An intergalactic medium temperature from a giant radio galaxy
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
O'Sullivan S
(2023)
The Faraday Rotation Measure Grid of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey: Data Release 2
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Neeleman M
(2023)
ALMA 400 pc Imaging of a z = 6.5 Massive Warped Disk Galaxy
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mulcahey C
(2022)
Star formation and AGN feedback in the local Universe: Combining LOFAR and MaNGA
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mostert R
(2023)
Finding AGN remnant candidates based on radio morphology with machine learning
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mostert R
(2022)
Radio source-component association for the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey with region-based convolutional neural networks
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Title | LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields DR1 |
Description | VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'The LOFAR Two Metre Sky Survey: Deep Fields Data Release 1. III. Host-galaxy identifications and value added catalogues.' (bibcode: 2021A&A...648A...3K) |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The data release for the LoTSS deep fields. Huge impact in terms of publications both by the team and the wider community. |
URL | https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/648/A3 |
Title | The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey -- V. Second data release |
Description | In this data release from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) we present 120-168MHz images covering 27% of the northern sky. Our coverage is split into two regions centred at approximately 12h45m +44$^\circ$30' and 1h00m +28$^\circ$00' and spanning 4178 and 1457 square degrees respectively. The images were derived from 3,451hrs (7.6PB) of LOFAR High Band Antenna data which were corrected for the direction-independent instrumental properties as well as direction-dependent ionospheric distortions during extensive, but fully automated, data processing. A catalogue of 4,396,228 radio sources is derived from our total intensity (Stokes I) maps, where the majority of these have never been detected at radio wavelengths before. At 6" resolution, our full bandwidth Stokes I continuum maps with a central frequency of 144MHz have: a median rms sensitivity of 83$µ$Jy/beam; a flux density scale accuracy of approximately 10%; an astrometric accuracy of 0.2"; and we estimate the point-source completeness to be 90% at a peak brightness of 0.8mJy/beam. By creating three 16MHz bandwidth images across the band we are able to measure the in-band spectral index of many sources, albeit with an error on the derived spectral index of +/-0.2 which is a consequence of our flux-density scale accuracy and small fractional bandwidth. Our circular polarisation (Stokes V) 20" resolution 120-168MHz continuum images have a median rms sensitivity of 95$µ$Jy/beam, and we estimate a Stokes I to Stokes V leakage of 0.056%. Our linear polarisation (Stokes Q and Stokes U) image cubes consist of 480 x 97.6 kHz wide planes and have a median rms sensitivity per plane of 10.8mJy/beam at 4' and 2.2mJy/beam at 20"; we estimate the Stokes I to Stokes Q/U leakage to be approximately 0.2%. Here we characterise and publicly release our Stokes I, Q, U and V images in addition to the calibrated uv-data. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Huge number of current and future publications both by the LoTSS consortium and by the general science community. |
URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.11733 |
Description | LOFAR Surveys KSP |
Organisation | Leiden University |
Department | Leiden Observatory |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Data analysis, radio astronomy expertise |
Collaborator Contribution | Observations, survey planning |
Impact | A number of publications on individual objects; survey publications, many led from Hertfordshire, are forthcoming. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | LOFAR Surveys KSP |
Organisation | Royal Observatory Edinburgh |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Data analysis, radio astronomy expertise |
Collaborator Contribution | Observations, survey planning |
Impact | A number of publications on individual objects; survey publications, many led from Hertfordshire, are forthcoming. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | LOFAR Surveys KSP |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Department of Physics |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Data analysis, radio astronomy expertise |
Collaborator Contribution | Observations, survey planning |
Impact | A number of publications on individual objects; survey publications, many led from Hertfordshire, are forthcoming. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | The WEAVE collaboration |
Organisation | University of Groningen |
Department | Kapteyn Astronomical Institute |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I lead the WEAVE-LOFAR Science team, which is the highest priority extragalactic survey that will be conducted with WEAVE. I was recently recognised as a Builder of the WEAVE facility, which has guaranteed publication rights, in recognition of my fundamental contribution to the WEAVE science case and infrastructure. |
Collaborator Contribution | My partners across the WEAVE consortium have built the instrument, and are in the process of installing it on the William Herschel Telescope. |
Impact | 2016sf2a.conf..271S |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | The WEAVE collaboration |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Astrophysics |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I lead the WEAVE-LOFAR Science team, which is the highest priority extragalactic survey that will be conducted with WEAVE. I was recently recognised as a Builder of the WEAVE facility, which has guaranteed publication rights, in recognition of my fundamental contribution to the WEAVE science case and infrastructure. |
Collaborator Contribution | My partners across the WEAVE consortium have built the instrument, and are in the process of installing it on the William Herschel Telescope. |
Impact | 2016sf2a.conf..271S |
Start Year | 2015 |