Astronomical Research in Edinburgh

There are around 90 active astronomical researchers at ROE, as well as large numbers of programmers, engineers, and technicians; the total number of people on site is about 200.

IfA and ATC staff share a single canteen, library, computer network, seminar and coffee-talk series, so the effect is of a single large research institute. Research-active staff can be grouped as follows:

• 16 teaching staff in IfA: Philip Best, Beth Biller, Jim Dunlop, Annette Ferguson, Catherine Heymans Rob Ivison Sadegh Khochfar, Andrew Liddle, Andy Lawrence, Bob Mann, Ross McLure, Avery Meiksin, John Peacock, Jorge Penarrubia, Ken Rice, Andy Taylor

• Staff elsewhere in the University who undertake astronomy-related research: Douglas Heggie and Max Ruffert, Maths; Phil Woods, Nuclear Physics; Arjun Berera and Alex Murphy, Particle Astrophysics.

• STFC, Royal Society, or SUPA research fellows: Michele Cirasuolo, Nic Ross

• STFC consolidated grant or EU funded PDRAs: Edouard Bernard, Mariangela Bonavita, Nathan Bourne, Rebecca Bowler, Victoria Bruce, Fernando Buitrago, Yanchuan Cai, Ami Choi, Marina Cortês, Emma Curtis-Lake, Pratika Dayal, Chris Duncan, Loretta Dunne, Carlos Ferreira-Lopes, Agnes Ferte, Bryan Gillis, Alex Hall, Lucas Lombriser, Eric Lopez, Steve Maddox, Chelsea MacLeod, Esther Marmol-Queralto, Alex Mead, Michal Michalowski, José Sabater Montes, Alice Mortlock Ivan Oteo, Britton Smith Eric Tittley, Jesus Torrado, Zhiyu Zhang

• PDRA funded by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851: Luke Butcher,

• Project funded staff in wide-field astronomy who have time for personal research: Nick Cross, Nigel Hambly, Peredur Williams.

• ATC scientists who have some time available for personal research (Alistair Glasse, Gillian Wright, Wayne Holland, Chris Evans, Michele Cirasuolo).

• PhD students - typically 30 at any one time.

A wide variety of research is undertaken, but the main active areas at present are:

Cosmology

• Large-scale structure in the Universe from:
  • Optical, IRAS, radio and X-ray selected samples of galaxies and quasars.
  • Cosmic Microwave Background data.
  • Gravitational lensing.
  • Theoretical and numerical studies
• Optimised analysis methods for redshift surveys and CMB data.
• The intergalactic medium with emphasis on the reionisation epoch and metal enrichment.
• Galaxy formation.
• Processes occurring in the early universe.
• Dark matter and dark energy.

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and related objects

• Optical and X-ray AGN variability.
• Multiwavelength spectral energy distributions of AGN.
• Observational studies of obscured AGN and their role in the X-ray and FIR backgrounds.
• Studies of AGN host galaxies and their environment.
• Ultraluminous IRAS galaxies.
• High-redshift sub-mm sources.
• Theoretical and observational studies of relativistic jets and particle acceleration.

Nearby Galaxies

• Structure, content and evolution of galaxies in the Local Universe (including the Milky Way), with emphasis on their faint components (stellar halos, thick disks and outer disks).
• Galaxy formation as probed by the local fossil record.
• Resolved and unresolved stellar populations.
• Large-scale star formation and the interstellar medium in nearby galaxies.
• Chemical abundances and chemical evolution.

Stellar astronomy

• Surveys for low mass stars and brown dwarfs, and follow-up study of brown dwarf candidates.
• The stellar luminosity function.
• Parallax and proper motion studies including study of local kinematics from long plate series.
• White dwarf samples from colour and proper motion.
• The white dwarf luminosity function and the age of the disc.
• Halo white dwarfs and the dark matter.
• Infrared properties of variable stars as standard candles.
• Symbiotic stars.
• Wolf-Rayet and other mass-losing stars.
• Star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds.

Star Formation

• Observational and theoretical studies of the interstellar medium, especially shocks and proto-stellar outflows, and their role in star formation.
• Chemistry of the interstellar medium.
• Star formation in external galaxies.
• Sub-mm studies of Class 0 protostars and starless cores.
• Theoretical study of star formation in the early universe.

Planet Formation

• Disc and planet formation in protostars.
• Discs around pre-main sequence stars.

Computational Astrophysics

The IfA is host to the Edinburgh Centre for Computational Astrophysics (ECCA) in affiliation with members from the Applied Mathematics group within the School of Mathematics. Areas of interest include cosmological structure formation, star and planet formation, the merger of neutron stars and black holes as precursors to gamma-ray bursts, and the gravitational dynamics of globular star clusters.

All email addresses are username@roe.ac.uk

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all material is copyright © The University of Edinburgh

The Royal Observatory Edinburgh comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh, the Higgs Centre for Innovation and the ROE Visitor Centre.