Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation

Big turnout for night of science and stargazing

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This story has been adapted from a news item that appeared on the University of Portsmouth website.

800 stargazers visited Portsmouth Historic Dockyard two weeks ago to learn about the wonders of the universe and take a tour around the night sky.

Those who turned out for the sixth annual Stargazing at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard event had the chance to chat to cosmologists from the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, listen to fascinating talks and take part in fun activities.

Researchers explain the expansion of the universe using fairy lights and elastic bands at the 2018 Stargazing at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard event.

Researchers explain the expansion of the universe using fairy lights and elastic bands at the 2018 Stargazing at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard event. Credit: Pierandrea Guarnieri.

Among the highlights was the chance to “stroll in the cosmos” using a virtual reality headset to experience the universe as it was billions of years ago.

Other popular attractions included a demonstration of the accelerated expansion of the universe using elastic and fairy lights, the chance to classify galaxies online on the Galaxy Zoo citizen science website, sky tours and telescope demonstrations from local amateur astronomers and a constellation trail around HMS Warrior’s main gun deck.

As in previous years, the event was held across two sites at the Historic Dockyard – Action Stations and HMS Warrior 1860. In addition to a variety of hands-on activities provided by the ICG, visitors also had the chance to find out about satellites with Airbus Defence and Space, build a rocket with Action Stations, see where dark skies are in the region with the South Downs National Park, learn about amateur astronomy with Hampshire Astronomical Group, and discover the link between stargazing and navigation with the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Attendees participating in activities at the 2018 Stargazing at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard event.

Attendees participating in activities at the 2018 Stargazing at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard event. Credit: Pierandrea Guarnieri.

Dr Jen Gupta, astrophysicist and outreach officer at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, said: “Once again the event proved to be really popular and we’re really pleased with how it went. It’s wonderful to see people of all ages engaging with astronomy, showing a fascination with the science of the universe and what they can see in the night sky.”

Photos from the event have been posted on the ICG facebook page. To be the first to know about future public events from the ICG, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter, or sign up to our new mailing list.

BritGrav18 is coming to Portsmouth [18-19 April 2018]

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BritGrav18 @ Portsmouth

The 18th BritGrav meeting will be hosted by Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) at University of Portsmouth. The meeting will span two days, Wednesday 18 April and Thursday 19 April 2018.

The aim is to bring together young researchers working on all aspects of gravitational physics. Following the BritGrav tradition, the meeting will consist of short talks with priority will be given to PhD students and postdocs. Limited funding is provided by the IOP Gravitational Physics Group, to support travel for students.

Deadline for financial support application and abstract submission is 7 March 2018.

At the end of the meeting, we will award The Best Student Talk Prize, sponsored by Classical and Quantum Gravity.

For more information and registration please see the meeting website at https://sites.google.com/port.ac.uk/britgrav18.

Local organisers: Marco Bruni, Emir Gumrukcuoglu, Kazuya Koyama, Andy Lundgren, Chris Pattison, Holly Purslow, David Wands, Bill Wright.

RAS Eddington Prize awarded to Prof Claudia Maraston

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We are delighted to announce that Prof Claudia Maraston has been awarded the 2018 Eddington Medal for Astronomy by the Royal Astronomical Society for ‘investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics’.

Claudia has published theoretical models for the expected energy emission and mass of galaxies including innovative prescriptions of stellar evolution, which raised strong interest and a vivid debate, and stimulated further work from international groups.

Previous recipients of the award include Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose. Claudia is only the second female scientist to receive the award since its inception in 1953.

 

Black hole research could aid understanding of how small galaxies evolve

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This news item is slightly edited from a University of Portsmouth press release, and a Sloan Digital Sky Survey press release. 

Research led led by ICG researcher Samantha Penny has found evidence that supermassive black holes prevent stars forming in some smaller galaxies, extending out understanding of how dwarf galaxies evolve.

The results, presented at the 231st meeting of the American Astronomical Society, are particularly important because dwarf galaxies (those composed of a few million to several billion stars) are the most numerous galaxies in the Universe, far outnumbering bigger like the Milky Way.  The physical processes affecting these small systems gives a more typical picture of the galaxy evolution.

In any galaxy stars are born when clouds of gas collapse under the force of their own gravity. But stars don’t keep being born forever- star formation in galaxies can shut off. The reason for this differs between galaxies, but sometimes, the galaxy’s own central black hole is the culprit.

Supermassive black holes can regulate their host galaxy’s ability to form new stars through a heating process. The black hole drives energy through powerful winds. When this wind hits the giant molecular clouds in which stars would form, it heats the gas, preventing its collapse into new stars.

Previous research has shown that this process can prevent star formation in larger galaxies containing hundreds of billions of stars – but it was believed a different process could be responsible for dwarf galaxies ceasing to produce stars. Scientists previously thought that the larger galaxies could have been interacting gravitationally with the dwarf systems and pulling the star-making gas away.

The researchers showed that a number of the dwarf galaxies under observation were still hosting gas which should result in star formation, but wasn’t. This led the team to the supermassive black hole discovery. To their great surprise, Penny and her team found these supermassive black holes in about ten percent of the dwarf galaxies they saw in the MaNGA survey.

Size comparison between a dwarf galaxy and a Milky Way galaxy. The inset image shows winds generated by the central black hole, that are preventing new star formation.

One of the dwarf galaxies that the team found to contain a red geyser. Its red colour shows it is no longer forming new stars. For size comparison, the dwarf galaxy is shown next to a galaxy similar to the Milky Way. The dwarf galaxy contains about 3 billion stars, while the spiral galaxy contains about 300 billion. The inset (top right) shows a larger image of the dwarf galaxy overlain with some of the MaNGA data for this galaxy, which revealed the winds from the supermassive black hole. Darker purple regions show gas heated by winds from the galaxy’s central black hole. These winds are what stops the galaxy from forming new stars. Image Credit: Samantha Penny (Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth) and the SDSS collaboration.

This research was made possible by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey’s Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) instrument. Whereas most prior surveys had looked at each galaxy as a single entity, MaNGA uses more than 1,000 optical fibres to make detailed maps of seventeen galaxies at a time, seeing each galaxy in detail all the way from its centre to its outskirts.

Using MaNGA,  the team were able to map the processes acting on the dwarf galaxies through the star systems’ heated gas, which could be detected. The heated gas revealed the presence of a central supermassive black hole, or active galactic nucleus (AGN), and through MaNGA the team were able to observe the effect that the AGN had on their host dwarf galaxies.

While active black holes had been seen in dwarf galaxies before, their effect on their host galaxy had never been observed.  MaNGA allowed us to map the effects of the central supermassive black hole across a whole galaxy. This discovery shows that even isolated dwarf galaxies can stop forming stars if they host an active supermassive black hole.

That’s not what’s written in textbooks, and these results potentially impact how we understand galaxy evolution. This discovery would not have been possible without the data from the MaNGA survey- both in its incredible detail and in its ability to see so many galaxies in such a short time.

Celebrating Prof David Matravers at 80

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ICG today celebrated the Prof David Matravers’ 80th birthday with talks from Prof Roy Maartens (University of Portsmouth and the University of the Western Cape) and Dr Karim Malik (Queen Mary, University of London) about David and his work.

David Matravers is the founding father of cosmology research at Portsmouth. He came to Portsmouth as head of the School of Mathematical Sciences in 1990 shortly before the polytechnic became a university, and began a research group in relativity and cosmology. That research group eventually became the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation in 2002, building a worldwide reputation for research in astrophysics and cosmology.

David Matravers (front) and (from left to right) David Wands, Roy Maartens, Karim Malik and Bob Nichol

Roy Maartens (the founding director of the ICG) spoke about David’s work on establishing the key properties necessary to prove the homogeneity and isotropy of the Universe, while Karim Malik (a Portsmouth PhD graduate) spoke about his work with David studying cosmological perturbations and the generation of vorticity.

David Matravers (front) with Roy Maartens (left) and Karim Malik (gazing into the distance)

ICG stars in the SEPnet Public Engagement Awards

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On Wednesday 29th of November, ICG researchers enjoyed a very successful night at the annual SEPnet Public Engagement Awards

The awards, and the evening ceremony, are a great opportunity to showcase the amazing work we all do in promoting our research and engaging with the public. Often this work requires much dedication and hard-work, and these awards are part of our recognition of the key roles such people play in our departments.

ICG achieved success in three of the six categories on the night!

Innovation Project Award
Winner – Tactile Universe, ICG Portsmouth

The winning team of Coleman Krawczyk, Nic Bonne, Karen Masters and Raffles, with Dominic Galliano (SEPnet Outreach Director) on the right. Team member Jen Gupta is not shown.

Achievement Award
Winner – Karen Masters, ICG Portsmouth

Karen Masters receiving her award from Dominic Galliano

Newcomer Award
Highly Commended – Lucy Newnham, ICG Portsmouth

Well done all, and more to come next year!

Portsmouth astronomers offer cosmic fun at Night Sky Live

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Reproduced from the University of Portsmouth website:

Astronomers from the University of Portsmouth will be on hand to answer a galaxy of cosmic questions at Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium this weekend.

Scientists from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) will offer their expertise at Night Sky Live – a two-day festival focusing on galaxies, stars, planets and other celestial bodies.

The Institute has partnered with the Science Centre to offer fun family events this Saturday and Sunday.  Dr Jen Gupta, of ICG, will present interactive shows on the science of the night sky and shed more light on the planets in our solar system and other wonders of the universe.

Experts from the ICG will also run hands-on space and night sky activities, including a chance to check out their Tactile Universe – a project to engage blind and visually impaired people with astrophysics research by using 3D images of galaxies.

“Night Sky Live is a great opportunity for members of the public to learn about space in a fun, laid-back setting,’ said Dr Gupta. “At the ICG, we love the opportunity to share our cosmology research with people of all ages and introduce them to complex subjects in a way that is interactive, engaging and easy to understand.”

The event also offers stargazing talks and planetarium shows. There is the chance to find the North Star and learn more about astro-navigation, create your own planisphere and constellation and hunt for the Solar System’s ninth planet.

Night Sky Live runs at the Science Centre in Telegraph Way, Winchester between 10am and 9pm on Saturday and 10am and 8.30pm on Sunday. Events run at various times. For general ticket prices and tickets for Dr Gupta’s live shows and the Planetarium shows, and for event times and further details, visit the centre website here.

Euclid:UK meeting comes to ICG Portsmouth (Dec 18-19)

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The annual meeting of the Euclid:UK consortium comes to ICG Portsmouth this year. The meeting will be located in the Portland Building (near the ICG) over December 18th and 19th 2017. More details of the meeting and how to register can be found on the meeting webpage https://eucliduk.net/uk-meeting-2017/

Everyone in the UK community is free to join us (no registration fee) but please register by November 30th for catering purposes.

The meeting will have an emphasis on early career scientist working on research relevant for the Euclid mission, so we encourage PhD students and early postdocs to attend. The meeting will include very brief updates on the Euclid mission but will mainly focus on science. All participants are expected to give talks.

 

Highly cited ICG papers

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ICG researchers continue to publish highly cited papers. Between 2010 and 2014, Kazuya Koyama, Claudia Maraston, Will Percival and Daniel Thomas have all published first-author papers that are now within the top 1% of highly cited astronomy papers during this period (using statistics from the Astrophysics Data System).

For example, Claudia Maraston’s paper on “Star formation rates and masses of z ~ 2 galaxies from multicolour photometry” is ranked 340 out of 90901 articles (published between 2010 to 2014) by Web of Science, which puts it among the top 0.4% of papers over this time.

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