Astrophysics Group News http://www.ucl.ac.uk/star/test-newsviewer/rss Ralph Bartholomew 2011-09-07T14:01:37Z 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 Dr Giovanna Tinetti awarded the IOP Moseley Medal http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/pj_07_11 Dr Giovanna Tinetti from the Astrophysics Group has been awarded the Institute of Physics (IOP) Moseley Medal "For her work, pioneering the use of infrared, primary transit spectroscopy to characterise the molecular composition of extra solar planets." News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-07-12T10:25:28Z Herschel Detects a Massive Dust Reservoir in Supernova 1987A http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_07_11 ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory is helping unravel the mystery of the origin of cosmic dust. Thanks to the resolution and sensitivity of Herschel, astronomers have been able to detect cosmic dust from a supernova, adding weight to the theory that these cosmic fireworks are responsible for its creation. The origin of the dust is important because it plays a crucial role in the formation of stars, particularly billions of years ago when star formation was at its peak. Galaxies like our own Milky Way are not simply collections of stars, but also contain clouds of gas and dust, crucial to the formation of new stars. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-07-08T09:18:15Z ULO captures the eruption of a new supernova Messier 51 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/idh_06_11  A new supernova was seen to erupt in Messier 51, the 'Whirlpool Galaxy', on 2011 May 31, and was widely announced on June 2. This image, with the supernova indicated, was taken at the University of London Observatory (ULO) on June 3 by Dr Steve Fossey and Bob Winter using a C14 telescope. At magnitude 14, the supernova is unusually bright – 'only' about 4000 times fainter than can be seen with the unaided eye. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-06-10T13:54:06Z Watch: When art meets astronomy http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/kp_04_11 Artist and UCL alumna Katie Paterson, the first artist-in-residence at the UCL Astrophysics Group, is exhibiting work inspired by the programme in several international galleries. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-04-11T08:18:28Z BBC Radio 4 programme: The Herschel Space Telescope http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/bs_03_11 BBC Radio 4 are rebroadcasting a programme about the Herschel Space Telescope. Originally broadcast in November 2009, Prof. Bruce Swinyard and co-workers feature in this programme which follows the engineers and astronomers who worked on the biggest telescope ever sent to space. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2011-03-08T11:21:21Z Artist in Residence joins Astrophysics Group http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_10_10 The Astrophysics Group has been awarded a grant from the Leverhulme Trust, enabling artist Katie Paterson (b.1981, Glasgow) to join the Group as their first Artist in Residence, for the academic year 2010-11. News and Events admin Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2010-10-05T09:43:37Z Warm water vapour in the sooty outflow from a luminous carbon star http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_09_10 Astronomers at UCL, using the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, have observed water vapour being formed somewhere it was previously thought to be impossible: in the atmosphere of a red giant carbon star. News and Events admin Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2010-09-16T10:45:17Z Planck satellite confirms the existance of a new super-cluster of galaxies. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gs_09_10 By joining forces with the other ESA mission XMM, the Planck satellite has confirmed the existance of a new super-cluster of galaxies. News and Events admin Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2010-09-16T09:05:08Z Upper Bound of 0.28 eV on Neutrino Masses from the Largest Photometric Redshift Survey http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_07_10 Neutrino particles were originally thought to be massless, however particle physicists have since realised they must have some small, but currently unknown, mass. In this publication, Dr Shaun Thomas, Dr Filipe Abdalla and Prof. Ofer Lahav. evidence that the mass of the neutrino particle is less than 0.28 electron volts- a billionth of a hydrogen atom. This is arguably the lowest and most robust upper bound predicted to date. News and Events admin 2010-10-19T18:46:49Z First Light for Remotely-Conducted Observations at ULO http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ulo_07_10 The Observatory is developing the capability of operating suitable telescopes from off-site, a process initially made possible by a CIF grant allowing purchase of equipment enabling a dome to track the motion of the telescope it houses. Over the summer months a concerted and continuing effort has been made by Observatory staff to tackle remaining mechanical and software challenges, with undergraduate involvement made possible through bursaries provided by the Nuffield Trust and the Royal Astronomical Society. News and Events admin 2010-10-19T18:46:48Z First full-sky image from the Planck telescope http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gs_07_10 This picture is the first full-sky image from Europe's Planck telescope which was sent into space last year to survey the "oldest light" in the cosmos. News and Events admin 2010-10-19T18:46:48Z