Astrophysics Research Centre @ QUB

@AstroQUB

The Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast

Queen's University Belfast Joined June 2011

270 Following 1.4K Followers 800 Posts

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Astrophysics Research Centre @ QUB @AstroQUB Nov 29, 2021

We are delighted to share that Professor Mihalis Mathioudakis, Director of Research here at ARC, has been awarded the 2021 Institute of Physics Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin Medal and Prize.

Congratulations Mihalis!

qub.ac.uk/sites/StaffGat…

Astrophysics Research Centre @ QUB @AstroQUB Dec 9, 2024

This week @QUBMathsPhys are delighted to host Dr Thomas Rimmele, Director of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, as part of the Sir Harrie Massey Colloquia.

Presenting an overview of DKIST and its instruments, and examples of first science results.
Info:go.qub.ac.uk/Slkbc

Astrophysics Research Centre @ QUB @AstroQUB Oct 29, 2024

A huge congratulations to Ken (@TheGenghisKen) and David (@thespacedoctor)!

Their expertise power the ATLAS, Pan-STARRS, and PESSTO surveys, with Ken’s databases storing billions of sky detections and David's software aiding rapid source classification and observation.

Institute of Physics @PhysicsNews Oct 29, 2024

Congratulations to Ken Smith and David Young of @QUBelfast for being awarded the Technician Award as part of the IOP Awards for internationally recognised technical expertise, exceptional software skills and dedication to astrophysics, enabling world-leading discoveries and the formation of a European supernova community. 👏 #IOPAwards24

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Astrophysics Research Centre @ QUB @AstroQUB Oct 9, 2024

Astronomers have observed the death of a star torn apart by a supermassive black hole, which then used the stellar wreckage to disrupt a second star!

Congratulations to lead author @mattnicholl56 and all members of ARC who contributed to the study published in @Nature today.

The image shows a disk of stellar material around a black hole, with a neighbouring star colliding and flying through it. The black hole halfway down the right edge appears as a jet-black semicircle capped by pale blue light. The disk obscures its lower half, which is viewed edge-on as a swirling band of yellow, orange, and red gas stretching diagonally from the middle right to the lower left.

Near the lower left, the disk's outer edge overlaps with a bright blue sphere, representing a neighbouring star crashing through the debris. The disk is the remnants of a destroyed star, with electric blue and white waves marking the hottest gas. As the star passes, it leaves a trail of gas and emits X-rays, detected by Chandra.

An inset in the upper left shows a close-up of the source in X-ray (purple) and optical light (white and beige).

Image credit: NASA

Astrophysics Research Centre @ QUB @AstroQUB Oct 7, 2024

The next stage of our Planetary-Defence mission is here, as HERA takes off to gather critical, new data and insights about how to deflect asteroids that may be bound for Earth.

ARC member Prof. Alan Fitzsimmons is at the European Space Operations Centre in Germany for the launch

Image shows an artist's impression of the Hera 'CubeSats' and their rocky target destination pillars. Credit: ESA

A photo of a rocketship container branded with the European Space Agency and Hera mission logos in a storage room