Prof Carole Haswell

This proposal will fund astronomy researchers at The Open University. We will study the very most distant known objects, using a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. This is a feature of general relativity which is very useful for our purposes: the warping of space-time by large masses at intermediate distances can magnify the images of objects right at the edge of the observable Universe, making them more visible. We are using a powerful collection of 66 radio telescopes in Chile - called ALMA - to study water in galaxies at redshifts between 2 and 5. By doing this we will learn about the formation of stars throughout the history of the Universe. This will give us new understanding of how the very biggest galaxies which we see in the present-day Universe formed. We are using another array of radio telescopes based in Europe called LOFAR to learn about jets of energetic particles which are accelerated out from the centre of galaxies. These jets are very long - longer than the size of a whole galaxy - and narrow structures which emit radio waves. LOFAR is extremely sensitive and is detecting jets which previous telescopes couldn't see. This is changing some of our understanding of what causes jets to have particular shapes and brightness patterns. Using a new European space telescope called Euclid we are going to study giant clumps of stars forming in distance galaxies. There will be huge numbers of images to look at, so we are going to use citizen science to generate a large number of identifications of what we are looking for. Then we will train artificial intelligence - i.e. computers working without supervision - to find all the similar examples. We will find examples of small rocky planets - roughly Earth-sized - orbiting stars in the Sun's local part of our Galaxy. The ones we are looking for are hot, in some cases so hot that their rocky surfaces are molten or turned into gas which escapes. These particular planets are useful because we can use the starlight filtered through the escaping gas to measure the chemical composition of their rocky surfaces. We will study ices - normal frozen water as well as ices made from carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ethanol - in the laboratory and with the James Webb Space Telescope. This will reveal the role ice plays in sticking grains together in the early stages of planet formation. Without this grains would bounce apart instead of growing to produce pebbles, and planets like the Earth would not be able to form.

Astronomy Consolidated Grant

Our research programme, Astronomy at the Open University, covers the breadth of cosmic evolution, from dark energy to the birth of planets. We do this research by observation, laboratory experiments, simulations and modelling. We use purpose-designed laboratories and instruments, and instruments on telescopes and spacecraft to make our observations and measurements. Our group is based in the Department of Physical Sciences at the OU. So what are we trying to find out? We have 8 separate projects, from exoplanets and stars to distant galaxies. We already know a lot about how the Solar System came about. The Sun and planets formed from a cloud of dust and gas about 4570 million years ago. The cloud collapsed to a spinning disk and dust and gas spiralled inwards. The core of the disk became hot, forming the Sun, while the leftover dust and gas formed the planets. Boulders gravitated together to make planets, but no-one knows how the dust grains became boulders. We are experimenting with colliding centimetre-sized particles in zero-gravity conditions to see if they stick together, to find the missing link in how planets form. We also look at processes that cause stars to change as they age. Only recently has it been recognised that so many stars are binary systems, where two or more stars are in close association and affect each others' motion. Such systems affect the way mass and energy is lost from a star, and how they are transferred into the interstellar medium. We will study how 'binarity' affects the behaviour of massive stars (>20 times the mass of the Sun) and low mass stars (< the mass of the Sun), and how star populations change as they age. Studying these effects is vital, because the environment of a star influences any planets that surround it. Many hundreds of planets have been discovered around other stars (exoplanets) and we are working to describe the range of properties of these planets, especially when they are located close to their central star. A star can even completely destroy a close-in exoplanet, which could be an important new source of dust in the nearby universe and even in distant galaxies in the early Universe. Also in the early Universe, we can use the way that galaxies warp space and time to learn about the dark matter that surrounds them, and the dark energy that drives them apart. What else do we do? We build and test instruments for ground-based telescopes and for space missions, striving to make them smaller and lighter, and explore how they can be used on Earth for medical or security purposes. One of the most important benefits of our research is that it helps to train and inspire students: the next generation of scientists and engineers. We also enjoy telling as many people as possible about our work, and what we have learned from it about our origins.

STFC DTG Quota 2015-16 AMS record for students starting on or after 01/10/2015

The aim of our programme in Astronomy & Planetary Science at the Open University (APSOU) is to carryout detailed investigations of the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars and planets with a special emphasis on our own Solar System through a combination of observation, simulation, laboratory analysis and theoretical modelling. Our research is divided into two broad areas, reflecting the historical research strengths. This research programme is well-matched to both nationally- and internationally-agreed research imperatives. In its final report, A Science Vision for European Astronomy2, Astronet’s Science Working Group identified four broad areas of strategic importance; our research covers major topics within each of these areas. APSOU projects also map onto two of the four Science Challenges that form STFC’s Road Map3 for science (‘How did the universe begin and how is it evolving?’ and ‘How do stars and planetary systems develop and is life unique to our planet?’). The present APSOU programme comprises 20 projects (labelled A to T), of which 6 are for consideration by the Astronomy Observation (AO) panel, 1 for Astronomy Theory (AT), and 13 for the Planetary Studies (PL) panel. The AO projects cover the breadth of the 7 themes recognised as UK strengths in the report of STFC’s Astronomy Advisory Panel (AAP), whilst the 13 PL projects are directed towards answering questions raised in two of the three themes identified as UK strengths in the roadmap of STFC’s Solar System Advisory Panel (SSAP)4.