Hertfordshire Astronomy

天体物理研究中心通过广泛的计算机建模、理论研究和仪器开发，开展了从X射线到无线电的各种波长范围的观测方案。我们的研究范围从宇宙中最高能量过程的理论模型到发明我们自己的仪器来探测太阳系外的行星。在这两个极端之间，我们进行了迄今为止规模最大的多波长调查，以了解恒星、星系及其演化的性质。我们的研究利用了所有主要欧洲和国际天文观测站的观测资料，包括光学、无线电和亚毫米波长的地面观测站，以及波长从远红外到伽马射线的空间观测站。我们还使用计算机模拟来更好地了解在我们的观测中检测到的物理过程。以下是我们在每个领域的研究的简要描述。我们对附近的恒星进行搜索以发现行星。我们特别瞄准了低质量的M星，因为它们是宇宙中的主要恒星类型，还没有被搜索过。我们专注于通过多普勒摆动和寻找周期性地遮盖其母恒星的行星来进行探测。在授予期间，我们预计将在最近恒星的宜居带首次探测到地球质量的行星。我们还发现、跟踪和模拟了温度与行星温度重叠的最冷棕矮星的性质。这些研究的目的是阐明褐矮星的种群，并确定它们的形成模式如何与它们不同质量的同胞的形成模式相适应，即。更重的(恒星)或更轻的(行星)。银河系是我们的家园。气体形式的物质是恒星和行星系统形成的原材料。在恒星寿命结束时，其中一些物质仍被锁在恒星残留物中，但大部分物质在超风后期和超新星爆发时被送回。由于注入气体的热能和机械能，这个循环负责气体介质的化学浓缩，并对其动力学很重要。通过使用大范围的成像测量，我们的研究着眼于银河系及其卫星中的这种气体。我们对银河系的调查将跨越光学领域到亚毫米领域，追踪灭绝、分子云、它们的尘埃特性和相关的恒星形成。因此，我们研究了恒星形成、尘埃和分子云性质之间的关系。在邻近的宇宙中，可以评估恒星如何在不同的环境中形成和演化，从小矮星系到像我们自己的星系的最外围区域。我们的研究重点是星系的气体含量，这为恒星的形成提供了材料，并将其与恒星数量和恒星在整个局部星系中的形成位置联系起来。通过了解触发恒星形成及其在近宇宙中的演化的过程，我们可以开始将这种理解应用于最早的星系和遥远宇宙中的恒星的形成。新一代勘测正在绘制最遥远的星系，并使我们能够研究恒星形成过程和超大质量黑洞的增长之间的联系。我们还使用详细的X射线和射电观测来测量从超大质量黑洞喷出的喷流注入遥远的星系和星系团的能量，影响恒星形成和气体性质，并在它们的进化史上发挥长期作用。为了获得恒星形成和星系演化的完整图景，了解这些相对论喷流的粒子组成、磁场特性、动力学和能量学是必不可少的。

The Centre for Astrophysics Research carries out observational programmes spanning the wavelength range from X-ray up to the radio - supporting this by extensive computer modelling, theoretical studies and instrument development. Our research ranges from theoretical modelling of the highest energy process in the Universe through to inventing our own instruments to detect planets outside our Solar System. In between these extremes, we carry out the largest multi-wavelength surveys conducted to date to understand the properties of stars, galaxies and their evolution. Our research makes use of observations from all of the main European and international astronomical observatories, including ground-based observatories at optical, radio and submillimetre wavelengths, and space observatories at wavelengths ranging from the far infrared to gamma rays. We also use computer simulations to obtain a better understanding of the physical processes detected in our observations. Below is a brief description of our research in each of these areas.We perform searches of nearby stars to discover planets. We especially target low mass M stars since they are the dominant type of star in the Universe and have not yet been searched. We focus on detection through Doppler wobble and by looking for planets periodically eclipsing their parent star. During the period of the grant we expect to make the first detections of Earth-mass planets in the habitable zones of the closest stars. We also discover, follow-up and model the properties of the coolest brown dwarfs whose temperatures overlap with those of planets. These studies aim to clarify the population of brown dwarfs and to establish how their modes of formation fit in with those of their brethren of different masses, ie. heavier (stars) or lighter (planets).The Milky Way is our home galaxy. The material in the form of gas is the raw material for the formation of stars and planetary systems. At the end of stellar lives some of this material remains locked up in stellar remnants but much of it is returned in late superwind phases and supernova explosions. This cycle is responsible for the chemical enrichment of the gaseous medium and is important for its dynamics, because of the thermal and mechanical energy injected into the gas. By using large area mainly imaging surveys, our research looks at this gas in the Milky Way and its satellites. Our surveys of the Milky Way will span the optical to sub-mm domains tracing extinction, molecular clouds, their dust properties and associated star formation. We thus study the relationship between star formation, dust and molecular cloud properties.In the nearby Universe it is possible to appraise how stars form and evolve in different environments, from small dwarf galaxies to the very outer regions of galaxies like our own. Our research focuses on the gas content of galaxies, which provides the material for star formation, and links this to stellar populations and the locations of star formation in the full range of local galaxies. By understanding the processes that trigger star formation and its evolution in the nearby Universe, we can begin to apply this understanding to the very earliest galaxies and the formation of stars in the distant Universe.A new generation of surveys is mapping out the most distant galaxies, and allows us to investigate what links the processes of star formation and the growth of supermassive black holes. We also use detailed X-ray and radio observations to measure the energy injected by jets ejected from supermassive black holes into distant galaxies and clusters of galaxies, affecting star formation and gas properties, and having a long-term role in their evolutionary history. Understanding the particle composition, magnetic field properties, dynamics and energetics of these relativistic jets is essential in order to get a complete picture of star formation and of galaxy evolution.