news

Professor Marian Scott of the School of Mathematics and Statistics is one of the co-authors of a new briefing paper from the COP26 Universities Network. Although the UK is at the forefront of developing and harnessing technology to turn Earth Observation (EO) data into actionable information, more education and training is needed to maximise its potential and help the world to meet challenging climate targets.

Scientists have long questioned why the bursts of hot gas from the Sun do not cool down as fast as expected, and now a UCL-led team of researchers have used a supercomputer to find out why. The team will now compare their simulations with 'real' data from the European Space Agency's flagship Solar Orbiter mission, with the hope that it will confirm their predictions and provide a conclusive answer.

A five-year mission to create an unprecedented 3D map of the universe using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), designed and built in part by UCL physicists, formally starts today. DESI will capture and study light from tens of millions of galaxies and other distant objects with the aim of unravelling the mysteries of "dark energy", which is believed to be driving the accelerating expansion of the universe.

Durham's researchers are helping to build some of the world's most powerful new telescopes to further our exploration of space. Our astronomers and cosmologists are also involved major international projects that will hunt two of the universe's most mysterious ingredients - dark matter and dark energy - and investigate how the universe formed.

You can't physically crash a planet into another planet in a lab to see what happens or look quite far enough back in time to see how the universe might have formed. So what do you do? At Durham we use supercomputer technology to simulate the universe as we seek to unravel its mysteries. How do galaxies form? What are dark matter and dark energy? And what will be the ultimate fate of the universe? COSMA supercomputer The COSMA supercomputer - with the memory of about 25,000 high-powered laptops - allows researchers to answer these big cosmological questions.

Our Astronomy and Cosmology research is having an impact on life here on Earth. Our researchers are using their skills to help newborn babies, stop the spread of Covid-19 and protect coffee plants. Newborn babies Drawing on their experience of dealing with huge amounts of astronomical data, our researchers have worked with the NHS to establish the standard for recognising vital signs in healthy newborn babies.

Astronomers have identified the molecule methanol in the 'warm zones' of a protoplanetary disk circling a star about 360 light years from Earth. The finding is significant because although methanol - CH3OH - is one of the simpler complex carbon-based molecules, it is a precursor chemical involved in the creation of more complex substances such as amino acids and proteins, the building blocks of life.

We're at the forefront of research that is furthering our understanding of the universe and the exploration of space. Durham's research spans from black holes to dark matter, planet formation to galaxy evolution and the Cosmic Web that binds the universe together. We also work on building some the biggest and best new telescopes.

Miniature solar flares nicknamed "campfires", recently discovered near the surface of the Sun, are about 1,000 to 5,000 km tall and between 1-1.5 million degrees hot, finds a new study co-authored by UCL researchers. The study compared data from Solar Orbiter, the Sun-observing mission by ESA and NASA, with observations from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory to triangulate the height of the campfires.

Studying the violent collisions of black holes and neutron stars may soon provide a new measurement of the Universe's expansion rate, helping to resolve a long-standing dispute, suggests a new simulation study led by researchers at UCL. Our two current best ways of estimating the Universe's rate of expansion - measuring the brightness and speed of pulsating and exploding stars, and looking at fluctuations in radiation from the early Universe - give very different answers, suggesting our theory of the Universe may be wrong.

From supermassive black holes to the hunt for dark matter, Durham's scientists are at the forefront of investigations into the evolution of the universe. Our astronomers and cosmologists are world-leaders working with fellow researchers across the planet to further our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it.

The University of Cambridge is creating a new research initiative, bringing together physicists, chemists, biologists, mathematicians, and earth scientists to answer fundamental questions on the origin and nature of life in the Universe.

Durham's astronomers are playing a key role in the biggest scientific programme to be carried out on the new successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Our scientists will use NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to hunt for dark matter and investigate early galaxy formation. The JWST is the largest, most powerful space telescope ever built and is scheduled for launch in October 2021 before beginning operations in 2022.

The "wobble", or rate of precession, of the muon particle in a magnetic field is different from what our best theoretical model of the subatomic world would predict, according to an experiment involving UCL researchers that strengthens evidence for new, unknown physics. The Muon g-2 experiment, carried out at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in the United States, measured with unprecedented precision the rate at which the muon "wobbled" (precessed) as it circulated a 15-metre magnetic ring at nearly the speed of light.

Bath space scientists have found a new way to probe the internal structure of neutron stars, giving clues about the makeup of matter at an atomic level. Last updated on Tuesday 27 April 2021 Space scientists at the University of Bath and Texas A&M University-Commerce have found a new way to probe the internal structure of neutron stars, giving nuclear physicists a novel tool for studying the structures that make up matter at an atomic level.

A new image of the supermassive M87 black hole has been unveiled by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration involving UCL researchers, giving a closer look at how the black hole interacts with the matter surrounding it. The EHT team released the first image of a black hole in 2019, revealing a bright ring-like structure with a dark central region described as the black hole's shadow.

A new image of the supermassive M87 black hole has been unveiled by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration involving UCL researchers, giving a closer look at how the black hole interacts with the matter surrounding it. The EHT team released the first image of a black hole in 2019, revealing a bright ring-like structure with a dark central region described as the black hole's shadow.

PhD candidate Quentin Changeat and Dr Billy Edwards (both UCL Physics & Astronomy) explain how we examine the atmospheres of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) as well as what the benefits of understanding these distant planets could be. Until the early 2000s, the only known planets were located in our own neighbourhood, the Solar System.

Researchers at UCL have solved a major piece of the puzzle that makes up the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism, a hand-powered mechanical device that was used to predict astronomical events. Known to many as the world's first analogue computer, the Antikythera Mechanism is the most complex piece of engineering to have survived from the ancient world.

For the first time, scientists using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence of volcanic activity reforming the atmosphere on a rocky planet around a distant star. The planet, GJ 1132 b, has a similar density, size, and age to Earth. It is a window onto the geology of another world Paul Rimmer The planet GJ 1132 b appears to have begun life as a gaseous world with a thick blanket of atmosphere.