Podcasts about computational cosmology

Physicists studying a distant galaxy using a telescopic technique called gravitational lensing, or telescopic magnification, have discovered over 40 previously unknown stars. The discovery, published in Nature Astronomy, shows how these stars were behaving eight billion years ago, giving a glimpse into the population of stars at 'cosmic noon' - the Middle Ages of the Universe. The research was led by the Centre for Frontier Science at Chiba University, in Japan, and involved over 45 international partners. In the UK this was led by Durham University's Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy and involved the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Manchester University. New telescopic magnification trick to discover over 40 new stars The international team used observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and gravitational lensing to study a galaxy known as the Dragon Arc, located behind a massive cluster of galaxies called Abell 370. In gravitational lensing a foreground galaxy cluster bends the light from a more distant object and magnifies it, allowing scientists to study the distant object (here the Dragon Arc galaxy). Due to its gravitational lensing effect, Abell 370 stretches the Dragon Arc's signature spiral into an elongated shape - like a hall of mirrors of cosmic proportions. Using this technique, and high-resolution images from the JWST, taken across a full year, the team was able to identify 44 previously unknown stars in the Dragon Arc. They observed that the brightness of these individual stars changed over the course of the study due to variations in the gravitational lensing landscape. The findings show what this galaxy is made of in a way not previously achieved. They also tell us more about dark matter - a mysterious substance that binds together galaxies, creating the environment for stars, planets and life to exist. Dr David Lagattuta from the Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy at Durham University said: "When the team made this discovery, we knew that, given the size of the dots seen in the JWST images, the most logical explanation was that these were individual stars, seen for the first time, which is a hugely exciting discovery. "We know these are stars that have not been seen before by comparing them to previous image of the Dragon Arc which do not show these bright dots. "Other possibilities such as these findings being a cluster of stars or exploding supernovae simply did not fit the data. "It would be a huge coincidence to find so many supernovae all in the same galaxy and all exploding at the same time. Supernovae also tend to suppress star formation, but spectroscopy tells us the Dragon Arc is still actively forming stars. "We also reasoned that these objects had to be individual stars, rather than star clusters, since the size of what we're seeing (after accounting for the extreme lensing magnification) is much too small to fit in the tens of hundreds of bright stars in a star cluster at once. Many of the stars identified through this study are 'red supergiants', a type of star that has typically been very difficult to identify outside of the Milky Way. This is because they are covered in a layer of cosmic 'dust' making them almost invisible to telescopes. The JWST enabled the research team to peer through this dust more easily, revealing the hidden stars inside. Professor Mathilde Jauzac from the Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy and the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University said: "This is the first time, that we are aware of, that so many stars have been discovered in one cluster. This finding enables us to see what the galaxy is made of in ways not possible before. "This provides a fascinating and unique view into the behaviour of stars at the critical 'cosmic noon', the Middle Ages of the Universe. "We know that in the early stages of the Universe there is lots of gas and early 'protostars' and then by nine to 10 billion years ago star formation peaks and everythin...

A NASA study using a series of supercomputer simulations reveals a potential new solution to a longstanding Martian mystery: How did Mars get its moons? The first step, the findings say, may have involved the destruction of an asteroid.  The research team, led by Jacob Kegerreis, a postdoctoral research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, found that an asteroid passing near Mars could have been disrupted – a nice way of saying “ripped apart” – by the Red Planet's strong gravitational pull. The team's simulations show the resulting rocky fragments being strewn into a variety of orbits around Mars. More than half the fragments would have escaped the Mars system, but others would've stayed in orbit. Tugged by the gravity of both Mars and the Sun, in the simulations some of the remaining asteroid pieces are set on paths to collide with one another, every encounter further grinding them down and spreading more debris.  Many collisions later, smaller chunks and debris from the former asteroid could have settled into a disk encircling the planet. Over time, some of this material is likely to have clumped together, possibly forming Mars' two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. To assess whether this was a realistic chain of events, the research team explored hundreds of different close encounter simulations, varying the asteroid's size, spin, speed, and distance at its closest approach to the planet. The team used their high-performance, open-source computing code, called SWIFT, and the advanced computing systems at Durham University in the United Kingdom to study in detail both the initial disruption and, using another code, the subsequent orbits of the debris. In a paper published Nov. 20 in the journal Icarus, the researchers report that, in many of the scenarios, enough asteroid fragments survive and collide in orbit to serve as raw material to form the moons.  “It's exciting to explore a new option for the making of Phobos and Deimos – the only moons in our solar system that orbit a rocky planet besides Earth's,” said Kegerreis. “Furthermore, this new model makes different predictions about the moons' properties that can be tested against the standard ideas for this key event in Mars' history.” Two hypotheses for the formation of the Martian moons have led the pack. One proposes that passing asteroids were captured whole by Mars' gravity, which could explain the moons' somewhat asteroid-like appearance. The other says that a giant impact on the planet blasted out enough material – a mix of Mars and impactor debris – to form a disk and, ultimately, the moons. Scientists believe a similar process formed Earth's Moon. The latter explanation better accounts for the paths the moons travel today – in near-circular orbits that closely align with Mars' equator. However, a giant impact ejects material into a disk that, mostly, stays close to the planet. And Mars' moons, especially Deimos, sit quite far away from the planet and probably formed out there, too.  “Our idea allows for a more efficient distribution of moon-making material to the outer regions of the disk,” said Jack Lissauer, a research scientist at Ames and co-author on the paper. “That means a much smaller ‘parent' asteroid could still deliver enough material to send the moons' building blocks to the right place.” Jacob Kegerreis Postdoctoral research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center Testing different ideas for the formation of Mars' moons is the primary goal of the upcoming Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) sample return mission led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). The spacecraft will survey both moons to determine their origin and collect samples of Phobos to bring to Earth for study. A NASA instrument on board, called MEGANE – short for Mars-moon Exploration with GAmma rays and Neutrons – will identify the chemical elements Phobos is made of and help select sites for the sample collection. Some of the samples will be collected by a pneumatic sampler also provided by NASA as a technology demonstration contribution to the mission. Understanding what the moons are made of is one clue that could help distinguish between the moons having an asteroid origin or a planet-plus-impactor source. Before scientists can get their hands on a piece of Phobos to analyze, Kegerreis and his team will pick up where they left off demonstrating the formation of a disk that has enough material to make Phobos and Deimos.  “Next, we hope to build on this proof-of-concept project to simulate and study in greater detail the full timeline of formation,” said Vincent Eke, associate professor at the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University and a co-author on the paper. “This will allow us to examine the structure of the disk itself and make more detailed predictions for what the MMX mission could find.”   For Kegerreis, this work is exciting because it also expands our understanding of how moons might be born – even if it turns out that Mars' own formed by a different route. The simulations offer a fascinating exploration, he says, of the possible outcomes of encounters between objects like asteroids and planets. These events were common in the early solar system, and simulations could help researchers reconstruct the story of how our cosmic backyard evolved.  It's exciting to explore a new option for the making of Phobos and Deimos – the only moons in our solar system that orbit a rocky planet besides Earth's.

Dr. Andreia Carrillo is a postdoctoral research associate at the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, where she works as a galactic archaeologist. She studies the formation of our own Galaxy, the Milky Way, using data from real stars and from simulated universes.  We talked about what a galactic archaeologist does, what makes humanity want to look up at the stars so much, the state of astronomy and astrophysics in the Philippines, the ups and downs of being a Pinay scientist, the global presence of scientists from the Philippines, and more.  How to contact Dr. Andreia: Email: andreia.carrillo@durham.ac.uk

Andreea Font is a Reader at Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) at Liverpool John Moores University and a member of the Computational Cosmology group at ARI. Andreea is back again to discuss more about dark matter and ways of understanding it while also different theories about its existence and role in the universe. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/out-of-the-blank/support

This episode features Heystek Grobler, Andreea Font and Stephen Kane all with various expertise in space studies and through the episode we talk on various aspects of the future and space. Heystek Grobler is an Electronics Engineer and Masters Student affiliated with the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO). He Specializes in the field of Digital Signal Processing and has Research Interests in Spectroscopy and Radiometry. Andreea Font is a Reader at Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) at Liverpool John Moores University and a member of the Computational Cosmology group at ARI. Andreea's research interests are in the area of formation and evolution of galaxies and on the nature of dark matter. Stephen Kane is a professor of astronomy and planetary astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside who specializes in exoplanetary science. He is a leading expert on the topic of planetary habitability and the habitable zone of planetary systems. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/out-of-the-blank-podcast/support

This episode features Andreea Font and Heystek Grobler and looks deeper into many concepts of space and time. Looking deeper into the formation of the galaxy to the power of dark matter and the future of space habitation. Andreea Font is a Reader at Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) at Liverpool John Moores University and a member of the Computational Cosmology group at ARI. Andreea's research interests are in the area of formation and evolution of galaxies and on the nature of dark matter. Heystek Grobler is an Electronics Engineer and Masters Student affiliated with the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO). He Specializes in the field of Digital Signal Processing and has Research Interests in Spectroscopy and Radiometry. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/out-of-the-blank-podcast/support

Andreea Font is a Reader at Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) at Liverpool John Moores University and a member of the Computational Cosmology group at ARI. Andreea's research interests are in the area of formation and evolution of galaxies and on the nature of dark matter. A lot of her research focuses on modelling the properties of our own Galaxy, the Milky Way and of other 'Milky Way analogues'. To this end, recently constructed a suite of Milky Way-type simulations called ARTEMIS, which enabled the ability to compare theoretical models. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/out-of-the-blank-podcast/support

The Discussion: Jeni cares so little for our listeners that she didn’t even bother to show up this month (except for the interview section) and with no discipline Paul’s defacing valuable space artefacts and the emails to the show take a plunge south. The News: The news section gets a revamp with a quick round up of the space exploration and astronomy news, covering: The United Kingdom’s new spaceports Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission to return asteroid samples New optics on ESO's Very Large Telescope 10 more moons discovered on Jupiter and volcanoes on Io The latest data from ESA’s Planck mission A rare extra solar neutrino discovery The Interview: Jeni talks to Josh Borrow from Durham University’s Institute of Computational Cosmology about their simulations of the universe using supercomputers - and how you can make and control your own universe (yes, for reals!) at galaxymakers.org The Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the eventual fate of the dying star Betelgeuse: When Betelgeuse goes kabloom, what’s the best estimate of what will be left, neutron star, pulsar, magnetar or black hole? From Martin Bradshaw in Accrington UK,

Professor Carlos Frenk is a cosmologist and one of the originators of the Cold Dark Matter theory for the formation of galaxies and the structure of the universe. He has worked at Durham University since 1985, where he was appointed the inaugural Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics in 2001 and has been Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology since 2002. Born in Mexico in 1951, he is the son of a German Jewish immigrant father and a Mexican mother with Spanish roots. After completing his physics degree in Mexico, he came to Cambridge University in the mid-1970s to do a PhD in Astronomy. His first postgraduate job took him to the University of California where he worked on a computer simulation of the universe with three fellow cosmologists, disproving the idea that the universe contains hot dark matter and establishing the theory of cold dark matter instead.Professor Frenk's papers have received more than 100,000 citations, making him one of the most frequently cited authors in the field of space science and astronomy. He has won a number of prizes for his work, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was awarded a CBE in 2017.Presenter: Kirsty Young Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Professor Carlos Frenk is a cosmologist and one of the originators of the Cold Dark Matter theory for the formation of galaxies and the structure of the universe. He has worked at Durham University since 1985, where he was appointed the inaugural Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics in 2001 and has been Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology since 2002. Born in Mexico in 1951, he is the son of a German Jewish immigrant father and a Mexican mother with Spanish roots. After completing his physics degree in Mexico, he came to Cambridge University in the mid-1970s to do a PhD in Astronomy. His first postgraduate job took him to the University of California where he worked on a computer simulation of the universe with three fellow cosmologists, disproving the idea that the universe contains hot dark matter and establishing the theory of cold dark matter instead. Professor Frenk's papers have received more than 100,000 citations, making him one of the most frequently cited authors in the field of space science and astronomy. He has won a number of prizes for his work, including the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was awarded a CBE in 2017. Presenter: Kirsty Young Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Carlos Frenk, Eugenia Cheng, Jim Al-Khalili and Louisa Preston debate time and space with presenter Rana Mitter and an audience at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead.We can measure time passing but what actually is it? What do scientists mean when they suggest that time is an illusion. Can time exist in a black hole? Is everyone's experience of time subjective? What is the connection between time and space? How does maths help us understand the universe?Professor Carlos Frenk is founding Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University and the winner of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2014.Dr Eugenia Cheng is Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Sheffield. She is trilingual, a concert-level classical pianist and the author of Beyond Infinity: An Expedition To The Outer Limits Of The Mathematical Universe.Jim Al-Khalili is Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey and presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific and TV documentaries. His books include Paradox: the Nine Greatest Enigmas in Science, Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines and Quantum: a Guide for the Perplexed.Dr Louisa Preston is a UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellow. An astrobiologist, planetary geologist and author, she is based at Birkbeck, University of London. Her first book is Goldilocks and the Water Bears: the Search for Life in the Universe.Producer: Torquil MacLeod

This week I chat with Hal Finkel of Argonne National Lab about computational cosmology, cosmic inflation, and. . .computers taking over the world. Special thanks to the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Program Review for hosting this recording session. Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.RealspacePodcast.com Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PaulMattSutter Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PaulMattSutter Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/PaulMattSutter Big Thanks to my top Patreon supporters this month: Justin Gealta, Jerry, Tim Feaver, Helge Bjorkhaug, Alan McClintock, Tim Rattray, Ray Sutter, MIchael Clanton, Bill Smith, Lars Hammer, David Ciaverella, Silvan Wespi, and David Berger! Theme song "Live Long and Podcast" by Nick Bain, Into The Machine Recordings (http://intothemachine.bandcamp.com) 2015, all rights reserved.

Jim al-Khalili was sitting in a physics lecture at the University of Surrey when he suddenly understood the power of equations to describe and predict the physical world. He recalls that sadly his enthusiasm was lost on many of his fellow students. Jim wants to persuade the listeners that equations have a beauty. In conversation with fellow scientists he reveals the surprising emotions they feel when describing the behaviour of matter in the universe in mathematical terms. For Carlos Frenk, professor of Computational Cosmology at Durham University, one of the most beautiful equations is the one that is at the heart of Einstein's theory of general relativity. A century ago, Einstein wrote down his now famous field equations that linked the shape of the universe to the matter in it. Jim and Graham Farmelo, the author of a biography of Paul Dirac called The Strangest Man, discuss why the Dirac equation is not as well known as Einstein's but, in their opinion, should be. Dr Patricia Fara of Cambridge University, and Vice-President of the British Society for the History of Science, explains that although mathematics goes back centuries it was only in the 17th Century that it was applied to the real world. Jeff Forshaw, Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, talks about when he first realised the power of equations and about why, surprisngly, maths is so effective at describing the real world. Science writer Philip Ball questions whether the beauty that scientists see in equations is really the same as we see in art. And physics A Level students in Dr White's class at Hammersmith Academy in London reveal that they already appreciate equations. (Photo: Jim al-Khalili)

Science progresses by breaking the rules of the past. New observations need new theories to explain them. Einstein's Theory of Relativity made sense of observations that Newton's Laws of Motion could not. But how can we distinguish between the brilliant ideas that change our view of the world and those that are plain wrong? And does that make science too cautious to try out new ideas?Joining Free Thinking presenter Rana Mitter are:Professor Carlos Frenk, founding Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University and winner of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2014Jim al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey and presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific and TV documentaries. His books include Paradox: The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Science, Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines and Quantum: A Guide For The PerplexedDr Katy Price from Queen Mary, University of London, author of Loving Faster Than Light: Romance and Readers in Einstein's UniverseDr Tom Shakespeare from the University of East Anglia, who co-founded the Café Scientifique network, which now has hundreds of affiliates in UK and worldwide.Recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Carlos Frenk, Ogden Professor of Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham, studies the universe, but not by spending nights looking out at the dark skies through telescopes. Rather he creates the cosmos on computers. He is also one of the Gang of Four of astrophysics who thirty years ago came up with one of the most important theories in their field. They worked out that the universe is full of cold dark matter. In 2011 Carlos Frenk and his colleagues were awarded the Gruber prize, one of the leading accolades in astronomy, for their theory. Carlos Frenk discusses this mysterious missing mass, which is still mysterious and missing, with Jim al-Khalili. They talk about modelling the universe inside computers, and how Carlos persuaded his university to hire the architect Daniel Liebskind to design a building for creative thinking about the cosmos.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss dark matter, the mysterious and invisible substance which is believed to make up most of the Universe. In 1932 the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort noticed that the speed at which galaxies moved was at odds with the amount of material they appeared to contain. He hypothesized that much of this 'missing' matter was simply invisible to telescopes. Today astronomers and particle physicists are still fascinated by the search for dark matter and the question of what it is. With Carolin Crawford Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge and Gresham Professor of Astronomy Carlos Frenk Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics and Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham Anne Green Reader in Physics at the University of Nottingham Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss dark matter, the mysterious and invisible substance which is believed to make up most of the Universe. In 1932 the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort noticed that the speed at which galaxies moved was at odds with the amount of material they appeared to contain. He hypothesized that much of this 'missing' matter was simply invisible to telescopes. Today astronomers and particle physicists are still fascinated by the search for dark matter and the question of what it is. With Carolin Crawford Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge and Gresham Professor of Astronomy Carlos Frenk Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics and Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham Anne Green Reader in Physics at the University of Nottingham Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the age of the Universe.Since the 18th century, when scientists first realised that the Universe had existed for more than a few thousand years, cosmologists have debated its likely age. The discovery that the Universe was expanding allowed the first informed estimates of its age to be made by the great astronomer Edwin Hubble in the early decades of the twentieth century. Hubble's estimate of the rate at which the Universe is expanding, the so-called Hubble Constant, has been progressively improved. Today cosmologists have a variety of other methods for ageing the Universe, most recently the detailed measurements of cosmic microwave background radiation - the afterglow of the Big Bang - made in the last decade. And all these methods seem to agree on one thing: the Universe has existed for around 13.75 billion years.With:Martin ReesAstronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of CambridgeCarolin CrawfordMember of the Institute of Astronomy and Fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of CambridgeCarlos FrenkDirector of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham.Producer: Thomas Morris.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the age of the Universe.Since the 18th century, when scientists first realised that the Universe had existed for more than a few thousand years, cosmologists have debated its likely age. The discovery that the Universe was expanding allowed the first informed estimates of its age to be made by the great astronomer Edwin Hubble in the early decades of the twentieth century. Hubble's estimate of the rate at which the Universe is expanding, the so-called Hubble Constant, has been progressively improved. Today cosmologists have a variety of other methods for ageing the Universe, most recently the detailed measurements of cosmic microwave background radiation - the afterglow of the Big Bang - made in the last decade. And all these methods seem to agree on one thing: the Universe has existed for around 13.75 billion years.With:Martin ReesAstronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of CambridgeCarolin CrawfordMember of the Institute of Astronomy and Fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of CambridgeCarlos FrenkDirector of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham.Producer: Thomas Morris.