We review properties of theories for the variation of the gravitation and fine structure 'constants'. We highlight some general features of the cosmological models that exist in these theories with reference to recent quasar data that are consistent with time-variation in the fine structure 'constant' since a redshift of 3.5. The behaviour of a simple class of varying-alpha cosmologies is outlined in the light of all the observational constraints.
As the newest research area in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, the Astronomy Group is focused on Observational Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology, specifically high redshift galaxies, resolved stellar populations, supernovae, and Antarctic telescopes.
The Bolshoi simulation is the most accurate cosmological simulation of the evolution of the large-scale structure of the universe yet made ("bolshoi" is the Russian word for "great" or "grand"). The first two of a series of research papers describing Bolshoi and its implications have been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. The first data release of Bolshoi outputs, including output from Bolshoi and also the BigBolshoi or MultiDark simulation of a volume 64 times bigger than Bolshoi, has just been made publicly available to the world's astronomers and astrophysicists.
"The Illustris project is a large cosmological simulation of galaxy formation, completed in late 2013, using a state of the art numerical code and a comprehensive physical model. Building on several years of effort by members of the collaboration, the Illustris simulation represents an unprecedented combination of high resolution, total volume, and physical fidelity."
Halo and Galaxy Formation Histories from the Millennium Simulation
Public release of a VO-oriented and SQL-queryable database for studying the evolution of galaxies in the ΛCDM cosmogony
Exoplanets are planets outside of the solar system. They are also referred to as extrasolar planets. Starting in 1992 with the first discovery, astronomers have located about ..
Cosmos Portal is a gateway on the Web to astronomy and space science. We invite astronomy professionals to publish articles, blogs, news items, image galleries, videos, class notes, lectures, powerpoint presentations, links to other high quality websites or other educational material.
This web page is designed to give everyone an idea of what our universe actually looks like. There are nine main maps on this web page, each one approximately ten times the scale of the previous one. The first map shows the nearest stars and then the other maps slowly expand out until we have reached the scale of the entire visible universe.
" the starting point for access to data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). This page provides a brief summary of the facilities and data products to guide Pan-STARRS archive users. More complete information is provided on linked pages (see below)."
"Watch the International Space Station pass overhead from several thousand worldwide locations. It is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up.
Visible to the naked eye, it looks like a fast-moving plane only much higher and traveling thousands of miles an hour faster!"
Planetary Resources is establishing a new paradigm for resource discovery and utilization that will bring the solar system into humanity's sphere of influence. Our technical principals boast extensive experience in all phases of robotic space missions, from designing and building, to testing and operating.
SETILive is taking the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) directly to you by presenting radio frequency signals LIVE from the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array (ATA) while it's pointed at stars that, based on Kepler exoplanet discoveries, have the best chances of being home to an alien civilization. We'll also be putting you "in the loop" where if enough of you see a potential extraterrestrial (ET) signal in the same data, then within minutes, the ATA will be interrupted and sent back to take a second look. The data you see will be from frequencies where human-made Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) crowds them and we believe the human eye will have a better chance than SETI's computer algorithms to find ET signals there.