Studies of our Milky Way and galaxies beyond

Outreach talk presented at the University of Hertfordshire's annual court meeting.
(Credit: the introduction is strongly inspired by Jill Tarter's talks.)

Transcript

1. Studies of our Milky Way and galaxies beyond Dr Geert Barentsen & Prof Martin Hardcastle
2. You are here.
3. Here.
4. Here.
5. Here.
6. UH Centre for Astrophysics Research
7. Ceci n`est pas une galaxie.
8. 300 billion stars How were they formed? Are they like our Sun? When will they die?
9. The light of a massive star
10. The light of a Sun-like star
11. The light of a low-mass star
12. INT (Spain) VST (Chile) UKIRT (Hawaii) VISTA (Chile) JCMT (Hawaii) Herschel (Space) Prof Janet Drew Dr Phil Lucas Dr Mark Thompson We are mapping our galaxy using world-class facilities
13. INT Photometric H-Alpha Survey (IPHAS) www.iphas.org VST Photometric H-Alpha Survey (VPHAS) www.vphasplus.org
14. Roque de los Muchachos Observatory La Palma, Canary Islands (2.4 km altitude) INT
16. 32 Megapixel detector => Used to make 91 000 images
17. VST European Southern Observatory (ESO) Atacama Desert, Chile (2.6 km altitude)
18. 256 Megapixel detector
19. A single image ...
20. g’ r’ u’ i’ Hα Filters are placed in front of the detector to look at specific wavelengths of light
21. NGC 3293 VPHAS u’
22. NGC 3293 VPHAS H-alpha
23. NGC 3293 / NGC 3324 Credit: Hywel Farnhill
24. Key facts • We are mapping our galaxy in 5 wavelengths. • Unprecedented resolution (600 gigapixel). • Unprecedented sensitivity (> 1 million human eyes). • International collaboration led by researchers at the University of Hertfordshire, funded by external grants. • Local students can participate as part of their course (i.e. BSc, MSc or PhD research projects.)
25. Stars
26. Very hot star Our team discovered 160 newly forming stars in this region => one of 48 peer-reviewed scientific publications so far.
27. Discovery of the “Necklace Nebula”: a star in the last phase of its life.
28. NGC 2244 (3°×2°) IPHAS H-alpha Credit: Nick Wright
29. NGC 2237 (30’×20’) IPHAS H-alpha Credit: Nick Wright
30. IC 1396 (30’×20’) IPHAS Ha+r+i Credit: Nick Wright
31. Galactic cartography
32. Next step: the GAIA mission - to be launched in October this year; - will measure the distance to 1 billion stars; - significant involvement of UK industry. Credit: European Space Agency
33. Ceci est une galaxie!