Astronomy at the Open University 2020-2023

我们的研究项目，开放大学的天文学，涵盖了宇宙演化的广度，从第一批恒星和星系的形成，到现在银河系中最靠近太阳的恒星形成区域的行星的诞生。我们通过观察、实验室实验、计算机模拟和数学建模来进行这项研究。我们使用专门设计的实验室和仪器，以及望远镜和航天器上的仪器来进行观测和测量。我们的团队位于米尔顿凯恩斯的公开大学物理科学学院。那我们到底想知道什么？我们有7个独立的项目，涵盖了所有天文尺度上的各种各样的事情，从寻找和了解围绕太阳附近恒星运行的行星，到利用“引力透镜”效应引起的放大效应来探测超高红移星系。后者是最遥远的可观测天体，形成于宇宙非常年轻的时候。我们研究从星系中心的吸积黑洞喷出的高能粒子的喷流，并利用我们的观察推断出喷流是如何影响它们的宿主星系和周围环境的。我们还研究了单个星系的喷流是如何随着宇宙的历史而变化的。同样，我们研究宇宙历史上尘埃和恒星的形成。在我们的银河系中，我们特别关注那些质量最大的恒星，它们的质量大约是太阳的100倍。按照天文学的标准，它们非常明亮，寿命很短——也就是说，它们只有几亿年或几亿年，而不是像太阳和其他“正常”低质量恒星那样的数十亿年。质量最大的恒星会从外层喷射出大量物质，我们观察到这对银河系邻近区域的影响。我们使用超级wasp在寻找行星凌日明亮恒星时产生的大量数据档案来测量恒星本身的可变性。利用公民科学项目https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ajnorton/superwasp-variable-stars，我们对变星进行分类，并利用结果来识别罕见类型变星的新例子，例如，即将合并形成“红新星”的红色恒星。我们正在寻找轨道离主星很近的岩质行星，即一年只有10个地球日或更短的行星。这很有趣，因为来自附近恒星的强烈加热导致岩石融化或变成气体，所以恒星最终被来自行星表面的富含金属的气体所笼罩。这给了我们一个独特的机会来测量这些行星岩石表面的成分。在实验室里，我们测量冰——水，也测量一氧化碳、二氧化碳和更复杂的分子，如甲醇。由于星际空间非常寒冷，这些分子以冰的形式存在，即所谓的天体物理冰。通过在实验室中重新创造它们，我们可以解释望远镜对它们的观察，并弄清楚宇宙中第一个复杂的有机分子是如何形成的。这让我们可以为下一个伟大的NASA/ESA太空天文台的发射做准备：詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜。最后，我们还参与了欧空局ARIEL太空望远镜的需求规划，该望远镜将测量围绕其他恒星运行的行星的成分。

Our research programme, Astronomy at The Open University, covers the breadth of cosmic evolution, from formation of the first stars and galaxies to the birth of planets now in the star-forming regions of the Milky Way Galaxy closest to the Sun. We do this research by observation, laboratory experiments, computer simulations and mathematical 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 School of Physical Sciences at The OU in Milton Keynes.So what are we trying to find out? We have 7 separate projects covering a variety of things on all astronomical size-scales, from searching for and learning about planets orbiting the Sun's near-neighbour stars to using the magnification caused by the "gravitational lensing" effect to detect ultra-high redshift galaxies. These latter, most distant observable objects were formed when the Universe was very young. We study the jets of energetic particles which are ejected from the accreting black holes at the centres of galaxies, and use our observations to deduce how the jets affect their host galaxies and surroundings. We also work out how the jets in an individual galaxy change over the history of the Universe. Similarly, we study the formation of dust and stars throughout the Universe's history. Within our own Galaxy we pay particular attention to the most massive stars, which have masses roughly 100 times that of the Sun. They are extremely luminous and short-lived by astronomical standards - i.e. 10s or 100s of millions of years, rather than billions of years like the Sun and other "normal" lower mass stars. The most massive stars eject a lot of the material from their outer layers, we observe how this affects the neighbouring regions of the Galaxy. We use huge archives of data generated in the SuperWASP search for planets transiting bright stars to measure the variability of stars themselves. Using the citizen science project https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ajnorton/superwasp-variable-stars we classify variable stars, and use the results to identify new examples of rare types of variable stars, for example red stars on the point of merging to form a "red nova". We are looking for rocky planets which orbit very close to their host stars - i.e. planets whose year is only about 10 Earth-days or less. These are interesting because the intense heating from the nearby star causes the rock to melt or change into gas, so the star ends up shrouded in metal-rich gas originating on the planets' surface. This gives us a unique opportunity to measure the composition of the rocky surfaces of these planets. In the laboratory we take measurements of ices - of water, but also carbon-monoxide, carbon-dioxide, and more complicated molecules like methanol. Because interstellar space is so cold, these molecules exist in ice form there, as so-called astrophysical ices. By re-creating them in the lab we can interpret telescope observations of them and work out how the first complex organic molecules formed in the Universe. This allows us to prepare for the launch of the next great NASA/ESA space observatory: the James Webb Space Telescope. Finally we are involved in planning the requirements for ESA's ARIEL space telescope, which will measure the compositions of planets orbiting other stars.