Imperial College Astrophysics & Space Physics Consolidated Grant April 2013 - March 2016

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Astronomical research at Imperial College London covers topics from the atmosphere of the Sun and its planets to the Dark Energy that dominates the evolution of the Universe. The research exploits Imperial's leading roles in European space missions, including the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission which will rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 and accompany it as it moves toward the Sun and becomes fully active through the Herschel and Planck satellites studying the formation and evolution of the Universe. Detailed research projects probe the Sun's influence on the Earth, the magnetic field of Saturn, the formation of galaxies and planets, the geometry and topology of the Universe as a whole, and the theoretical understanding of the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars. This combination of observational and theoretical work is complemented by world-beating instrumentation in measuring the tiny but critical magnetic fields in interplanetary space, and laboratory research to determine the properties of atoms and molecules so that astronomical observations may be accurately interpreted in terms of the physics occurring at such remote environments. Our research embraces use of advanced statistical techniques to analyse and combine complex datasets and find new classes of objects.