Lancaster University: Observational Astrophysics PATT grant

天体物理学是研究天体及其所处的宇宙的物理性质的学科。兰开斯特的天体物理学小组最近(于2015年)在物理系内成立，补充了现有的天体粒子宇宙学以及空间和行星物理学小组。这个新团队的研究主要是观测性的，解决了天体物理学中一些最重要的公开问题，大致围绕着理解星系的形成和演化以及宇宙本身的性质。该小组对星系的研究包括对相对较近的星系和星团内的恒星数量进行详细测量(“星系考古学”)，一直到寻找可观测到的最远的星系。通过这些研究，我们可以探索宇宙中形成的最早的系统。对宇宙性质的相关研究包括测量宇宙学参数，如宇宙的膨胀率和几何形状，以及其组成部分的相对分数和性质，包括普通物质、神秘的暗物质和暗能量。这项研究涉及使用世界上最强大的望远镜，如哈勃太空望远镜和欧洲南方天文台的设施，包括ALMA和VLT进行最先进的观测。与此同时，该小组还参与了几个新望远镜和仪器的科学规划，这些望远镜和仪器将在未来5-10年内上线，这将给天体物理学的研究带来革命性的变化。其中包括将安装在Vista望远镜上的4MOST光谱仪，大型天气观测望远镜(直径8米)，40米欧洲极大望远镜和欧空局的欧几里得任务(宇宙学的宽视场望远镜)，欧空局的耀斑任务，以及直径6米的詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜。兰开斯特的主要研究课题是：恒星、球状星团和星系的化学丰度；附近星系的动力学和形态；星系的形成和演化；发射线星系；极高红移星系；宇宙的电离；宇宙的恒星形成历史；超新星作为宇宙学；宇宙学参数；暗物质和暗能量；-未来望远镜和仪器的科学规划。在这项建议中，我们正在申请新的帕特拨款，以支持我们新的观测天体物理学小组。这笔拨款将用于支付兰开斯特所有研究人员在PATT批准的望远镜上观察运行的旅费和生活费。

Astrophysics is the study of the physical nature of celestial objects and the Universe in which they live. The Astrophysics group at Lancaster has been set up recently (in 2015) within the Physics Department, complementing the existing Astro-particle Cosmology and Space and Planetary Physics groups. The new group's research is primarily observational and tackles some of the most important open questions in Astrophysics, broadly centred around understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies and the properties of the Universe itself. The group's research on galaxies includes detailed measurement of the stellar populations within relatively nearby galaxies and star clusters ("galactic archaeology") through to searches for the most distant galaxies observable. Through these studies we can probe the earliest systems that formed in the Universe. Related research on the properties of the Universe includes measuring cosmological parameters such as the expansion rate and geometry of the Universe, and the relative fractions and properties of its constituents, including ordinary matter and the mysterious dark matter and dark energy.This research involves making state-of-the-art observations using the world's most powerful telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the facilities of the European Southern Observatory, including ALMA and VLT. At the same time the group is involved in the scientific planning for several new telescopes and instruments that will come online in the next 5-10 years and that will revolutionise research in astrophysics. These include the 4MOST spectrograph to be mounted on the VISTA telescope, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (an 8m diameter survey telescope), the 40m European Extremely Large Telescope and in space ESA's Euclid mission (a wide-field survey telescope for cosmology), ESA's FLARE mission, and the 6m diameter James Webb Space Telescope.The main topics of research at Lancaster are:- chemical abundances of stars, globular clusters and galaxies; dynamics and morphologies of near-by galaxies;- galaxy formation and evolution; emission-line galaxies; very high-redshift galaxies; reionisation of the universe; the star formation history of the Universe;- supernovae as cosmological probes; cosmological parameters; dark matter and dark energy;- scientific planning for future telescopes and instruments.In this proposal we are applying for a new PATT grant to support our new Observational Astrophysics group. The grant will cover the travel and subsistence costs of all researchers at Lancaster for observing runs at PATT approved telescopes.