Galactic Astrophysics & Astrochemistry Group

Welcome to the home page of the Galactic Astrophysics & Astrochemistry Group, part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Manchester. The group combines staff from the astrochemistry group at UMIST, and staff working on star formation and evolved stars/planetary nebulae at the Jodrell Bank Observatory. We are located in the new Alan Turing Building along Upper Brook Street, in the centre of Manchester.

The research interests of our group are primarily concerned with the physical and chemical state, evolution and dynamics of the interstellar medium. More specific interests include astrochemistry, dust, star formation, masers, molecular clouds, AGB stars, planetary nebulae and mm/sub-mm astronomy. We are also actively involved in ALMA and are a partner in the e-MERLIN project. Our vision statement summarises the research goals of the group:

"We research the interface between stars and interstellar matter which drives the life cycle of galaxies, by studying the physical and chemical processes of interstellar and circumstellar matter and integrating observations, astrochemical and hydrodynamical modellings, and making use of laboratory measurements and instrumentation development"

Research News and Highlights

Astrochemistry.net. Search for a chemical species to discover its formation/destruction reactions, physical properties, whether or not it has been detected in space and much more. Examples of chemical models for AGB photosphere and dark cloud conditions are also available. News updates for all things astrochemical are also posted on this site.

The Molecular Universe web-site for our new FP6 Marie Curie Research Training Network. The Molecular Universe is a highly interdisciplinary network of European researchers in 21 institutes in 9 countries studying the physics and chemistry of molecules in space.

UDFA 2006 - the new UMIST Database for Astrochemistry by Woodall, Agundez, Markwick-Kemper and Millar. Available as a csv file so you can easily make an Access or MySQL database. Dust in the Wind of Black Holes: Space dust (the building material for making planets) was manufactured in the winds of black holes in our early universe.
Deuterium in Interstellar Space Tom Millar's A&G article describes how fractionation theory has confirmed the importance of interstellar grains in cosmic chemistry. Old Star's Rebirth Gives Astronomers Surprises: The rebirth of V4334 Sgr, Sakurai's Object. Also see Born-again stars reveal how the earth was created.
Mikako Matsuura and Albert Zijlstra's work on NGC6032, the Bug Nebula. The image shows walls of compressed gas, laced with trailing strands and bubbling outflows, and a dark, dusty torus surrounding the inner nebula. The heart of the Cosmic Ant Astronomers discover a disk around the star inside the Ant Nebula, resembling a stellar version of Saturn's rings.

Webpage Update

Files which may be of use to staff and students can be found here.

This page has been accessed times since 01 January 1999.   Last updated 18 September 2009 by David Tideswell