I am
an IMP2 researcher
at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC's) UK
Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC), arguably the world's leading
purveyor of astronomical instrumentation. The UK ATC is part of
the Royal Observatory Edinburgh on
Blackford Hill. I am also a Visiting Professor at the
Institute for Astronomy (IfA),
part of the University of Edinburgh, which shares the beautiful
Blackford Hill site. Together, the IfA and UK ATC have helped Scotland
become
a major
force in astrophysics, worldwide. I was previously an
Advanced
Fellow at the IfA and a lecturer
at University College London.I study the formation and evolution of galaxies, specialising in observations at far-infrared, submillimetre and radio wavelengths. I currently lead science projects with the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) near Socorro in New Mexico, and the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique's Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) near Grenoble in France and the Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT), near Pune in India.
My time is split between supervising PhD students, writing proposals to use or build telescopes, analysing data, and writing papers (all refereed, 1st author refereed) - the divine overlap between science and art. What I do is esoteric by most standards, but normal in astrophysics. I meddle mainly with faint smudges in far-flung regions of the Universe. The golden rule seems to be that I get interested in things that are ridiculously difficult to study and explain.
THE DARK SIDE OF GALAXY FORMATION
The submillimetre waveband gives access to redshifted far-infrared
emission from very dusty, active galaxies in the distant Universe - UV
photons from hot, young stars which have been absorbed by cool dust
particles and re-emitted at much longer wavelengths.The first sensitive submillimetre surveys of the distant Universe were completed in 1997. The first map, taken through the massive lensing cluster, Abell 370, is shown to the left. The map was made with the SCUBA bolometer array on the 15-m JCMT, Hawaii. The bright source at the bottom of the image (`Le Blob' to its friends, or L1/L2) was the first `SCUBA galaxy' - SMM J02399-0136 at z = 2.8.
We know now that these objects can be extremely complex, comprising at
least 3 major components (L1, L1N, L2SW) in the case
of SMM
J02399-0136: 
if we look in detail (see the Hubble Space
Telescope imaging on the right), we often find that the starburst
(L2SW in this case, identified via high-resolution radio imaging) is
faint (often invisible) in the UV/optical waveband, even in deep
post-SM4 HST imaging, with the optical light dominated by a BAL quasar
(labelled L1 here) which isn't responsible for much (if any) of the
submillimetre emission. Reddened or reflected starlight sometimes
leaks out on the periphery (L2 may be reflected light in this
particular case).
The far-infrared luminosity of a galaxy can be used to infer the rate at which it is forming stars (as most of the UV radiation comes from massive stars which don't live very long). The many 1000s of stars formed each year in most of these galaxies - together with the immense quantities of molecular gas that we infer via millimetric observations of carbon monoxide (CO) - indicate that we are probably seeing the formation of massive galaxies. Our surveys in this waveband have demonstrated that roughly half the star formation in the entire history of the Universe has occurred in highly obscured environments, invisible to surveys in the UV/optical.
Investigating the detailed properties of this population is a very active field of study. My research in this field is done in collaboration with various combinations of Ian Smail, Dave Frayer, Mark Swinbank, Thomas Greve, Padelis Papadopoulos, Andy Biggs, Edo Ibar, Loretta Dunne, Steve Eales, Scott Chapman, Andrew Blain, Dave Alexander, Jean-Paul Kneib, Glenn Morrison, Jim Dunlop, Jason Stevens, and a host of others.
PERSONAL STUFF
I'm married to a divine Mackem lass, and we have two adorable/demonic children - one of each (ambiguity intended). I hail from Blackburn, Lancashire, which has a fine history of one-downsmanship (a concept lost on some academics). I'm an avid fan of Blackburn Rovers, for my sins. When fit, I play footy in several lousy local teams, run, ski, potter in my garden or allotment, watch movies and spend 72/73rds of the year looking forward to Glastonbury.
Last Modified: 30th December 2011, after shamelessly ripping off the webpage of His Smailship.
Professor Rob Ivison /
rji [at] roe.ac.uk /
UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ
Tel: +44-131-668-8361 / Mobile: +44-7970-778691 / Secretary:
+44-131-668-8295 (vcb [at] roe.ac.uk) / Fax: +44-131-668-8464
