Astrophysics Group News http://www.ucl.ac.uk/star/test-newsviewer/rss Ralph Bartholomew 2011-09-07T14:01:37Z RAS Michael Penston Thesis Prize for 2012: Runner-up prize awarded to Dr Stephen Feeney http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/sf_16_05_13 Dr Stephen Feeney has been awarded the runner-up prize for the Michael Penston Thesis Prize 2012. This Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) prize is awarded to the best doctoral thesis in Astronomy and Astrophysics; Stephen's thesis was entitled ‘Novel Algorithms for Early Universe Cosmology'. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-05-17T13:24:14Z ESA selects instruments to be flown on its icy moons mission http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/na_25_02_13  The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer mission (JUICE) will study Jupiter and its large, ice/ocean-bearing moons. JUICE is planned to launch in 2022 and arrive in 2030. Dr Nick Achilleos (Astrophysics) is part of the J-MAG Consortium, an international team of investigators who have successfully proposed one of the 11 scientific experiments to be flown on board this mission. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-02-28T11:21:21Z Betelgeuse braces for a collision http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_2_01_13 However you pronounce its name*, the star Betelgeuse is hard to miss on a clear winter's night. Representing the top left shoulder of Orion the Hunter it blazes a bright red colour. At over 600 light years away Betelgeuse is not particularly close, but it shines 100,000 times as brightly as our Sun.  News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-01-23T09:54:58Z Dust Factory in the Crab Nebula revealed by the Herschel Space Observatory http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mm_14_12_12 Herschel has produced an intricate view of the remains of a star that died in a stellar explosion a millennium ago. It has provided further proof that the interstellar dust which lies throughout our Galaxy is created when massive stars reach the end of their lives. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-12-17T15:20:54Z A new artificial material approach for flat THz frequency lenses http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gs_30_10_12 UCL and Cardiff University collaborators have pioneered a prototype for a new microwave optical device. Designed, built and tested by the collaboration, this device could provide a practical solution for many manufacturing concepts which have previously been limited to theoretical speculation. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-11-01T12:21:25Z Comet-like mineralogy of olivine crystals in an extrasolar proto-Kuiper belt http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_08_10_12 Some planetary systems harbour debris disks containing planetesimals such as asteroids and comets. Collisions between such bodies produce small dust particles, the spectral features of which reveal their composition and, hence, that of their parent bodies. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-10-08T15:12:57Z A magnified young galaxy from about 500 million years after the Big Bang http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_20_09_12 An international team of astronomers have discovered the possibly most distant galaxy ever observed. The faint galaxy, found in deep observations taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, could only be detected since it is magnified by the gravitational field of a massive galaxy cluster located between us and the galaxy. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-09-20T14:10:56Z Dark energy camera records first images http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_19_09_12 Eight billion years ago, rays of light from distant galaxies began their long journey to Earth. On 12 September, that ancient starlight found its way to a mountaintop in Chile, where the newly-constructed Dark Energy Camera, the most powerful sky-mapping machine ever created, captured and recorded it for the first time. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-09-19T16:01:11Z  ESA's Euclid Cosmology Mission http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_25_06_12 The European Space Agency (ESA) have formally adopted the Euclid Cosmology mission, this is largest collaboration of astronomers in the world, with UCL Astrophysics and MSSL members of staff playing a major roles. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-06-25T09:09:32Z Gruber Cosmology Prize 2012 awarded to Charles L. Bennett and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Science Team http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/hp2_22_06_12 The 2012 Gruber cosmology prize has been awarded to Charles L. Bennett and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) team. Dr Hiranya Peiris ( Astrophysics ; WMAP Science Team member 2001-2006) is a co-recipient of the prize. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-06-22T13:03:48Z Robust Constraint on Cosmic Textures from the Cosmic Microwave Background http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/hp_22_06_12 Theories of the primordial Universe predict the existence of knots in the fabric of space - known as cosmic textures – which could be identified by looking at light from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the relic radiation left over from the Big Bang. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-06-22T09:46:23Z First instrument for the JWST completed and handed over to NASA http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_10_05_12 After more than ten years of work by over 200 engineers, the Mid InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), a camera so sensitive it could see a candle on one of Jupiter’s moons, has been declared ready for delivery by the European Space Agency and NASA. The MIRI Optical System, an instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that will eventually take up a position four times further away from the Earth than the Moon. It will now be shipped to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where it will be integrated with the other three instruments and the telescope. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-05-10T11:28:48Z RAS Keith Runcorn Prize for 2011 awarded to Dr David Kipping http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/dk_23_04_12 Dr David Kipping is the 2011 recipient of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Keith Runcorn Prize for the best doctoral thesis in Geophysics. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-04-25T13:24:59Z Herschel sees dusty disc of crushed comets http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_12_04_12 Astronomers using ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory have studied a ring of dust around the nearby star Fomalhaut and have deduced that it is created by the collision of thousands of comets every day. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-04-12T14:39:55Z Listen: Searching through the stars for new planets http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gt_08_03_12 Dr Giovanna Tinetti , PhD student Ingo Waldmann and Prof. Jonathan Tennyson FRS   talk to Adam Smith at the Pod Academy about their work on exoplanets and NASA’s Kepler mission News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-03-12T10:28:56Z First direct evidence of cavitating Langmuir turbulence occurring naturally in any space or astrophysical plasma http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/pg_09_03_12 Radar observations of the Earth's aurora reveal, for the first time ever, the natural and spontaneous formation of warm, low density 'bubbles' of plasma in the ionosphere: the hallmark of strong Langmuir turbulence. This process has previously been observed only in an artificial context: the driving effects of high-frequency radio waves emitted by powerful transmitters used in ionospheric modification experiments.  News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-03-09T11:14:18Z Watch: Prof. Ofer Lahav discusses Dark Energy with The Economist http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_17_02_12 Prof. Ofer Lahav (Astrophysics) is head of the Dark Energy Survey science programme. In this interview for The Economist, he discusses the rapidly expanding universe and the future of dark-energy research. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-02-23T12:27:01Z Planck steps closer to the cosmic blueprint http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gs_17_02_12 ESA’s Planck mission has revealed that our Galaxy contains previously undiscovered islands of cold gas and a mysterious haze of microwaves. These results give scientists new treasure to mine and take them closer to revealing the blueprint of cosmic structure. The new results are being presented this week at an international conference in Bologna, Italy, where astronomers from around the world are discussing the mission’s intermediate results. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-02-17T12:55:30Z Faculty Postgraduate Prize Winners 2011 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/pg_prizes_11 Many congratulations to David Kipping, winner of the 2011 Faculty Postgraduate Research Prize, and to Marian Breuer, winner of the 2011 Faculty Postgraduate Taught Prize. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-02-08T11:18:35Z Stargazing Live http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gt_25.01.12 Dr Giovanna Tinetti ( Astrophysics Group ) talks about the exoplanet Kepler-22b, and how we can look for signs of life on distant planets. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-01-25T12:34:14Z Dr Hiranya Peiris recipient of 2012 RAS Fowler Prize for Early Achievement in Astronomy http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/hp_17.01.12 Dr Hiranya Peiris , a member of the Astrophysics group , has been awarded the 2012 Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Fowler Prize for Early Achievement in Astronomy. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-01-17T15:28:04Z ERC Advanced Grant Award for Prof. Ofer Lahav http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_17.01.12 Professor Ofer Lahav , a member of the Astrophysics group , is one of five UCL members of staff to have been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant Award. The project will look at ‘Testing the Dark Energy Paradigm and Measuring Neutrino Mass with the Dark Energy Survey'. It is due to commence on 1 May 2012 and is worth 2.4M Euro. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-01-17T15:00:21Z A large Scale Helical Magnetic Field in OMC-1 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/fp_09_12_11 The role that magnetic fields play in star formation is still a matter of debate. The observed star formation rate is slower than expected from free-fall gravitational collapse. Supersonic turbulence and strong magnetic fields are the two main candidates proposed to regulate star formation, but it remains unclear from observations which mechanism dominates over the other one in supporting the cloud against collapse.  News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-12-09T11:52:41Z The sky at night http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gt_11_10_11 Dr Giovanna Tinetti talks to Sir Patrick Moore for the BBC tv programme 'The Sky at Night' about the search for a planet like Earth and alien life. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-10-11T10:27:54Z First observational test of the ‘multiverse’ http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/hp_08_11 The theory that our universe is contained inside a bubble, and that multiple alternative universes exist inside their own bubbles – making up the 'multiverse' – is, for the first time, being tested by physicists. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-08-09T09:23:14Z