News
- Claudia Maraston | Sitting on the dock of the UniverseClaudia Maraston | Sitting on the dock of the Universe Join RAS women Fellow astronomers and space scientists, including our own Claudia Marston, who will give short talks on what inspires them about being a scientist. This is part of the IAU’s campaign for celebrating the Day of Women and Girls in Astronomy. For more details
- Podcast: The Hubble space TelescopePodcast: The Hubble Space Telexcope Astrophysicist Dr Or Graur discusses the Hubble Space Telescope in this 15 minute podcast. Read more…
- Cosmologists win award for making astronomy accessible to vision-impaired childrenCosmologists win award for making astronomy accessible to vision-impaired children The Tactile Universe enables children to experience the wonders of the Universe through a multi-sensory learning experience. Read more…
- Helping blind people to hear the UniverseHelping blind people to hear the Universe Audio Universe is a sound-based educational astronomy show to make learning about the Universe a more immersive and inclusive experience. Read more…
- New source of gravitational waves discoveredNew source of gravitational waves discovered Gravitational wave experts from the University have observed the merger of a neutron star and black hole Read more…
- Five-year quest to map Universe and unravel mysteries of ‘dark energy’Five-year quest to map Universe and unravel mysteries of ‘dark energy’ Astrophysicists from the University will work with an international team to capture and study the light from tens of millions of galaxies. Read more…
- Cosmologist to help map the earliest structures of the UniverseCosmologist to help map the earliest structures of the Universe Professor Claudia Maraston will have the honour of joining one of the first missions on the James Webb Space Telescope. Read more…
- SEPnet Public Engagement Awards 2021On 25th March we attended the virtual South East Physics Network (SEPnet) Public Engagement Awards. It was a great hour in which we celebrated all the great public engagement work that has been done over the last few years at the 10 universities in the network. A big congratulations to our own Outreach and ...
- Virtual Pompey Stargazing 2021Virtual Pompey Stargazing 2021 A week of free, online astronomy events from Monday 25 to Sunday 31 January Read more…
- Project to help vision impaired people engage with astronomy wins awardProject to help vision impaired people engage with astronomy wins award The Tactile Universe makes astronomy research accessible to the blind and vision impaired community. Read more…
- Bumper crop of black holes in new gravitational wave paperBumper crop of black holes in new gravitational wave paper Only a few years ago, scientists the world over celebrated as the first-ever gravitational waves were detected – confirming a long-held scientific theory and opening up an entirely new field of research. Read more
- Major EU grant to unravel the mysteries of the UniverseMajor EU grant to unravel the mysteries of the Universe An astrophysicist has won a career-changing grant, which will put him at the forefront of international cosmological research. Read more
- Ripples from deep in the Cosmos reveal most massive black hole detected yetRipples from deep in the Cosmos reveal most massive black hole detected yet The results were contributed to by experts from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. Read more
- Astrophysicists fill in 11 billion years of Universe history.Astrophysicists fill in 11 billion years of Universe history The results were contributed to by experts from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. Read more
- Astronomers find mystery object in mass gapAstronomers find mystery object in mass gap University gravitational wave group play key role in international research. Read more
- New test of dark energy and expansion from cosmic structuresNew test of dark energy and expansion from cosmic structures New analysis of large-scale structure of Universe by Portsmouth researchers finds direct evidence of dark energy, independent of the cosmic microwave background and supernovae. Read more
- Travel back in time and explore space with new virtual reality appTravel back in time and explore space with new virtual reality app A new virtual reality app that allows users to travel back in time and see the universe before the sun was even born Read more
- Portsmouth cosmologists recognised for contribution to major new space missionPortsmouth cosmologists recognised for contribution to major new space mission Major new space mission aims to understand why the expansion of the Universe is accelerating Read more
- Fellowship awarded to find out why Universe is expanding so fastFellowship awarded to find out why Universe is expanding so fast Dr Thomas Collett will research the warping of spacetime around massive galaxies and measure the expansion rate of the Universe Read more
- Astrophysicist awarded fellowship for gravitational-wave researchAstrophysicist awarded fellowship for gravitational-wave research A University of Portsmouth astrophysicist has been awarded a prestigious fellowship, which supports early career researchers and innovators who show outstanding potential. Read more
- Holes in the Universe sharpen cosmic measurementsHoles in the Universe sharpen cosmic measurements
- The Hunt for Enormous Early StarsThe Hunt for Enormous Early Stars
- Special issue “Modified Gravity” in International Journal of Modern Physics DThe special issue “Modified Gravity: Progresses and outlook of theories, numerical techniques and observational tests” edited by Baojiu Li and Kazuya Koyama has been published in the International Journal of Modern Physics D. IJMPD has generously offered to make the articles freely accessible until the end of February 2019, at https://www.worldscientific.com/toc/ijmpd/27/15. The DOIs for the ...
- 30th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics in Portsmouth this DecemberWe are pleased to announce that the 30th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics will take place from Sunday 15th to Friday 20th December 2019 in Portsmouth, UK. The Texas meetings have covered topics such as black holes, gravitational waves, neutron stars, cosmic rays, dark matter and the early Universe since the first symposium, held in Dallas in 1963. The Symposium will include both invited ...
- Researchers make vital contribution to new gravitational wave discoveriesResearchers make vital contribution to new gravitational wave discoveries
- South Coast Cosmology @ ICGThe ICG will be hosting the next South Coast Cosmology meeting on 16th January 2019 in Lecture Theatre 3, Richmond Building (see https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/maps-and-directions for travel information, Richmond is labelled 6 on the map). Registration is via this online form. Participants are welcome to submit abstracts for talks, and we especially encourage PhD students to do so ...
- ICG Cosmologists provide new measurement of cosmic controversyResearchers from the University of Portsmouth have come up with a new measurement of one of the most debated topics in cosmology. Three cosmologists from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation analysed new data to provide one of the most accurate measurements of the Hubble Constant to date. Blanco telescope and star trails (Reidar Hahn, Fermilab) The ...
- ICG researchers in BeijingICG researchers in Beijing Several ICG researchers attended the 4th CosKASI-ICG-NAOC-YITP workshop on Frontiers of Cosmology. This is the fourth workshop organised by the four institutes. This time, the workshop was held at National Astronomical Observatories of China in Beijing. There were around 60 participants including many Chinese students. The programme of the workshop can be found ...
- ICG research project featured in European Union research and innovation magazineICG researcher’s project supported by the European Research Council (ERC) has been highlighted in the EU research and innovation magazine “Horizon”: ‘Space telescope to test Einstein’s theories about gravity’ The ERC funded project “CosTesGrav” led by Prof. Koyama aims to develop cosmological tests of gravity and seek solutions to the origin of the observed accelerated expansion of ...
- A successfull time with summer student projectsThe hot weather could not melt the enthusiasm of our placement and internship students. In the week July 16-25 Samuel Richardson from UTC Portsmouth and Dominic Hanley from Oaklands catholic school have worked with ICG PhD student Pierandrea Guarnieri under the supervision of Profs. Maraston and Thomas, on determining the robustness of redshift determinations, in ...
- How we proved Einstein right on galactic scales – and what it means for dark energy and dark matterIn 1915 Albert Einstein proposed his general theory of relativity (GR) to explain how gravity works. Since then GR has passed a series of high precision tests within the solar system, but there have been no precise tests of GR on large astronomical scales.By combining data taken with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the European ...
- Helping visually impaired children to ‘feel’ the UniverseA University of Portsmouth project is helping blind and visually impaired children to ‘feel’ the Universe. The Tactile Universe has been developed by the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation to engage the blind and visually impaired community with astrophysics research. It involves a series of 3D printed images of galaxies that allow blind and visually impaired children to ‘see’ ...
- Helping visually impaired children to ‘feel’ the UniverseHelping visually impaired children to ‘feel’ the Universe Read more…
- Cosmic StrollToday, during the annual “Faculty of Technology Research and Innovation Conference” a new virtual reality app was presented, the Cosmic Stroll. The app is for free and is compatible with Android 7.0 and up (although support for version 6 is coming soon!). The Cosmic Stroll app will allow you to have a virtual walk in the real cosmos! ...
- Dancing the Universe workshopLast Wednesday we had the ‘Dancing the Universe’ workshop. 17 young people between the ages of 11 and 15 went to Priory school, Portsmouth, to learn about space and how to create space-themed dances. Dr. Violeta Gonzalez-Perez, from our institute, talked about Gravity, Galaxies and the Expansion of the Universe. Professional dancer Grace Hall, from ...
- Physics football raises £290 for charitiesUniversity of Portsmouth undergraduate physics students and lecturers and researchers from the Faculty of Science and the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation have raised £290 for charity in a staff vs students football match. The money raised has been donated to the mental health charity Mind and local charity Pompey in the Community. The two teams met at the ...
- BritGrav18 in PortsmouthBritGrav18 @ Portsmouth The Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) at the University of Portsmouth played host to the annual BritGrav meeting on Wednesday 18 April and Thursday 19 April 2018. More than 70 researchers from around the UK and Ireland enjoyed the talks and warm sunshine on the South Coast. The meeting brought together young researchers working on all aspects of gravitational physics, ...
- Donald Lynden-Bell: a tributeIt seems an obvious fact that galaxies formed through gravitational collapse. And we all know that quasars are powered by accretion onto supermassive black-holes. But perhaps not everyone knows whom we owe this knowledge to. Donald Lynden-Bell passed away in February 2018. Since the beginning of my studies I was intrigued by the notion of ...
- ICG students win EU travel fundingHedda Gressel and Natalie Hogg, both PhD students with Marco Bruni at ICG, have been awarded a grant by the EU-COST Action CANTATA (Cosmology and Astrophysics Network for Theoretical Advances and Training Actions), a COST Network that Marco has contributed to create. With this funding Hedda is visiting collaborators in Geneva (Switzerland) for a week, ...
- Big turnout for night of science and stargazingThis story has been adapted from a news item that appeared on the University of Portsmouth website. 800 stargazers visited Portsmouth Historic Dockyard two weeks ago to learn about the wonders of the universe and take a tour around the night sky. Those who turned out for the sixth annual Stargazing at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard event had ...
- BritGrav18 is coming to Portsmouth [18-19 April 2018]BritGrav18 @ Portsmouth The 18th BritGrav meeting will be hosted by Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) at University of Portsmouth. The meeting will span two days, Wednesday 18 April and Thursday 19 April 2018. The aim is to bring together young researchers working on all aspects of gravitational physics. Following the BritGrav tradition, the meeting will consist of ...
- RAS Eddington Prize awarded to Prof Claudia MarastonWe are delighted to announce that Prof Claudia Maraston has been awarded the 2018 Eddington Medal for Astronomy by the Royal Astronomical Society for ‘investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics’. Claudia has published theoretical models for the expected energy emission and mass of galaxies including innovative prescriptions of stellar evolution, which raised strong interest and ...
- Black hole research could aid understanding of how small galaxies evolveThis news item is slightly edited from a University of Portsmouth press release, and a Sloan Digital Sky Survey press release. Research led led by ICG researcher Samantha Penny has found evidence that supermassive black holes prevent stars forming in some smaller galaxies, extending out understanding of how dwarf galaxies evolve. The results, presented at the 231st meeting of the American ...
- Celebrating Prof David Matravers at 80ICG today celebrated the Prof David Matravers’ 80th birthday with talks from Prof Roy Maartens (University of Portsmouth and the University of the Western Cape) and Dr Karim Malik (Queen Mary, University of London) about David and his work. David Matravers is the founding father of cosmology research at Portsmouth. He came to Portsmouth as head of ...
- ICG stars in the SEPnet Public Engagement AwardsOn Wednesday 29th of November, ICG researchers enjoyed a very successful night at the annual SEPnet Public Engagement Awards The awards, and the evening ceremony, are a great opportunity to showcase the amazing work we all do in promoting our research and engaging with the public. Often this work requires much dedication and hard-work, and these ...
- Portsmouth astronomers offer cosmic fun at Night Sky LiveReproduced from the University of Portsmouth website: Astronomers from the University of Portsmouth will be on hand to answer a galaxy of cosmic questions at Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium this weekend. Scientists from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG) will offer their expertise at Night Sky Live – a two-day festival focusing on galaxies, ...
- Euclid:UK meeting comes to ICG Portsmouth (Dec 18-19)The annual meeting of the Euclid:UK consortium comes to ICG Portsmouth this year. The meeting will be located in the Portland Building (near the ICG) over December 18th and 19th 2017. More details of the meeting and how to register can be found on the meeting webpage https://eucliduk.net/uk-meeting-2017/ Everyone in the UK community is free to ...
- Highly cited ICG papersICG researchers continue to publish highly cited papers. Between 2010 and 2014, Kazuya Koyama, Claudia Maraston, Will Percival and Daniel Thomas have all published first-author papers that are now within the top 1% of highly cited astronomy papers during this period (using statistics from the Astrophysics Data System). For example, Claudia Maraston’s paper on “Star formation rates and ...
- South Coast Cosmology meeting 2017 in Portsmouth announcedSouth Coast Cosmology meeting 2017 in Portsmouth announced
- Andy Lundgren: New Reader in Gravitational WavesThis week, the ICG welcomes a new member of staff Andy Lundgren. As a new Reader in Gravitational Waves, Andy kick-starts our new initiative in gravitational wave science; helping to bolster the G in ICG! Andy joins us from the Albert Einstein Institute (AEI), Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik Hannover and leads the detection characterisation of LIGO. Here is ...