Andrew Yee
September 20th 05, 04:16 PM
Imperial College London
London, U.K.
For further information contact:
Abigail Smith
Imperial College London Press Office
Tel: 020 7594 6701
For immediate release: Tuesday 20 September 2005
New star survey sheds light on the evolution of galaxies
The first survey of the entire northern Milky Way for forty years is
shedding fresh light on the life-cycle of stars in our astronomical
backyard.
The survey, which publishes its initial findings today in the Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, uses the latest high resolution
instruments to seek out stars and nebulae in the early and late phases of
their evolution, stages that are rarely observed because they are so
short-lived.
Lead researcher Professor Janet Drew, of the Department of Physics at
Imperial College London, says: "These are crucial evolutionary stages in
the growth and death of planetary systems, and many of the major unsolved
problems in stellar evolution are to do with the fact that we have had
relatively few examples to work with.
"The last time the northern Milky Way was searched in a concerted way was
the 1960s, using much smaller telescopes and now obsolete detection
methods. This new survey has the potential to greatly expand our
understanding of how our own Solar System came to be and what it will
become."
The UK, Dutch and Spanish team is using the 2.5 metre Isaac Newton
Telescope (INT) to detect stars and bodies of gas that emit strongly at
the wavelength of red light called H alpha. H alpha is emitted by excited
atoms of hydrogen, allowing scientists to pick out both young, potential
planet-building systems and old objects that will soon become compact
white dwarfs or supernova explosions.
These are particularly important in understanding the evolution of
galaxies, since youthful stars help to shape the growth of planetary
systems while those in old age recycle energy and chemically enriched
matter back into the galactic environment as they collapse.
The new survey reaches beyond the sun's orbit around the centre of the
Milky Way to a radius of 30 kiloparsecs (kpc) around 90,000 light years.
Currently almost nothing is known about the star populations beyond a
distance of about 15 kpc.
Professor Drew adds: "At the moment, very little is known about the far
reaches of the Milky Way's disc there's still uncertainty in its spiral
arm structure, and we don't really know where the stars run out. Recent
technical developments, which have boosted both the efficiency of
large-scale astronomical surveys and their quality in a major way, mean we
now have the opportunity to survey the galaxy we live in at hugely
improved sensitivity."
The team expects to complete its observations in late 2006 with a total of
around 80 million objects catalogued. Current images can be viewed at
http://astro.ic.ac.uk/Research/Halpha/North/gallery.shtml
Notes to editors:
The INT Photometric H Alpha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS),
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 362, Issue 3, pp
753-776.
Janet E Drew[1], R Greimel[2], M J Irwin[3], A Aungwerojwit[4], M J
Barlow[5], R L M Corradi[2], J J Drake[6], B T Gansicke[4], P Groot[7], A
Hales[5], E C Hopewell[1], J Irwin[3], C Knigge[8], P Leisy[9,2], D J
Lennon[2], A Mampaso[9], M R W Masheder[10], M Matsuura[11], L
Morales-Rueda[7], R A H Morris[10], Q A Parker[12,13], S Phillips[10], P
Rodriguez-Gil[4,9], G Roelofs[7], I Skillen[2], J L Sokoloski[6], D
Steehgs[6], Y C Unruh[1], K Viironen[9], J S Vink[1], N A Walton[3], A
Witham[8], N Wright[5], A A Zijlstra[11] and A Zurita[14]
[1] Imperial College London
[2] Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
[3] Cambridge University
[4] University of Warwick
[5] University College London
[6] Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
[7] Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
[8] University of Southampton
[9] Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
[10] Bristol University
[11] University of Manchester
[12] Macquarie University
[13] Anglo-Australian Observatory
[14] La Universidad de Granada
About Imperial College London
Consistently rated in the top three UK university institutions, Imperial
College London is a world leading science-based university whose
reputation for excellence in teaching and research attracts students
(11,000) and staff (6,000) of the highest international quality.
Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science,
medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that
enhance the quality of life and the environment -- underpinned by a
dynamic enterprise culture.
Website: www.imperial.ac.uk
London, U.K.
For further information contact:
Abigail Smith
Imperial College London Press Office
Tel: 020 7594 6701
For immediate release: Tuesday 20 September 2005
New star survey sheds light on the evolution of galaxies
The first survey of the entire northern Milky Way for forty years is
shedding fresh light on the life-cycle of stars in our astronomical
backyard.
The survey, which publishes its initial findings today in the Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, uses the latest high resolution
instruments to seek out stars and nebulae in the early and late phases of
their evolution, stages that are rarely observed because they are so
short-lived.
Lead researcher Professor Janet Drew, of the Department of Physics at
Imperial College London, says: "These are crucial evolutionary stages in
the growth and death of planetary systems, and many of the major unsolved
problems in stellar evolution are to do with the fact that we have had
relatively few examples to work with.
"The last time the northern Milky Way was searched in a concerted way was
the 1960s, using much smaller telescopes and now obsolete detection
methods. This new survey has the potential to greatly expand our
understanding of how our own Solar System came to be and what it will
become."
The UK, Dutch and Spanish team is using the 2.5 metre Isaac Newton
Telescope (INT) to detect stars and bodies of gas that emit strongly at
the wavelength of red light called H alpha. H alpha is emitted by excited
atoms of hydrogen, allowing scientists to pick out both young, potential
planet-building systems and old objects that will soon become compact
white dwarfs or supernova explosions.
These are particularly important in understanding the evolution of
galaxies, since youthful stars help to shape the growth of planetary
systems while those in old age recycle energy and chemically enriched
matter back into the galactic environment as they collapse.
The new survey reaches beyond the sun's orbit around the centre of the
Milky Way to a radius of 30 kiloparsecs (kpc) around 90,000 light years.
Currently almost nothing is known about the star populations beyond a
distance of about 15 kpc.
Professor Drew adds: "At the moment, very little is known about the far
reaches of the Milky Way's disc there's still uncertainty in its spiral
arm structure, and we don't really know where the stars run out. Recent
technical developments, which have boosted both the efficiency of
large-scale astronomical surveys and their quality in a major way, mean we
now have the opportunity to survey the galaxy we live in at hugely
improved sensitivity."
The team expects to complete its observations in late 2006 with a total of
around 80 million objects catalogued. Current images can be viewed at
http://astro.ic.ac.uk/Research/Halpha/North/gallery.shtml
Notes to editors:
The INT Photometric H Alpha Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (IPHAS),
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 362, Issue 3, pp
753-776.
Janet E Drew[1], R Greimel[2], M J Irwin[3], A Aungwerojwit[4], M J
Barlow[5], R L M Corradi[2], J J Drake[6], B T Gansicke[4], P Groot[7], A
Hales[5], E C Hopewell[1], J Irwin[3], C Knigge[8], P Leisy[9,2], D J
Lennon[2], A Mampaso[9], M R W Masheder[10], M Matsuura[11], L
Morales-Rueda[7], R A H Morris[10], Q A Parker[12,13], S Phillips[10], P
Rodriguez-Gil[4,9], G Roelofs[7], I Skillen[2], J L Sokoloski[6], D
Steehgs[6], Y C Unruh[1], K Viironen[9], J S Vink[1], N A Walton[3], A
Witham[8], N Wright[5], A A Zijlstra[11] and A Zurita[14]
[1] Imperial College London
[2] Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
[3] Cambridge University
[4] University of Warwick
[5] University College London
[6] Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
[7] Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
[8] University of Southampton
[9] Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
[10] Bristol University
[11] University of Manchester
[12] Macquarie University
[13] Anglo-Australian Observatory
[14] La Universidad de Granada
About Imperial College London
Consistently rated in the top three UK university institutions, Imperial
College London is a world leading science-based university whose
reputation for excellence in teaching and research attracts students
(11,000) and staff (6,000) of the highest international quality.
Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science,
medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that
enhance the quality of life and the environment -- underpinned by a
dynamic enterprise culture.
Website: www.imperial.ac.uk