Our research

The broad aim of the Southampton Astronomy group is to understand all aspects of accretion onto, and emission from, compact objects of all sizes, galactic and extragalactic, and to understand how the compact objects interact with their environments. Most compact objects are characterised by the emission of high energy photons and hence X-ray and γ-ray observations are central to much of the group's programme. We are interested in the comparison between galactic and extragalactic black hole systems, how their emission properties scale with mass, and the formation and evolution of these objects. We are interested in both isotropic (disc) and anisotropic (jet) emission, and with the relationship between those two components. Besides building up an empirical understanding, based on observation, we wish to build up our theoretical strength so as to obtain a deeper understanding of the physical processes involved.

Below is a short summary of research interests of the permanent members of our group. Click on the pictures for contact details. Information about the research interests of all current group members is available from their personal web pages. Please refer to the staff page for appropriate links.

Instrumentation and data analysis for high energy astrophysics. I am a co-investigator for the IBIS imaging telescope on the European Space Agency's INTEGRAL space telescope mission, operating successfully since its launch in 2001. Tony Bird
A. J. Bird
(Seconded to South African Astronomical Observatory) Observational High Energy Astrophysics. Phil Charles
P. A. Charles
X-ray Binary systems (XRBs). In particular our group is studying High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXRBs) in the Magellanic Clouds companion galaxies to the Milky Way. Malcolm Coe
M. J. Coe

High energy astrophysics, particularly through the gamma-ray window.

Specific science interests relate to the study of Active Galactic Nuclei (Quasars, Seyferts, Blazars etc.) and galactic compact objects such as neutron stars and black hole systems. Technological interests in the field of gamma-ray instrumentation, including detector systems and coded aperture devices for space astronomy as well as their ground-based applications in the nuclear, industrial and medical fields.

 Tony Dean
A. J. Dean
Accretion onto relativistic objects, specifically the role of relativistic jets. Analogies between such jets from galactic binary systems and AGN and GRBs. Low frequency radio astronomy (LOFAR). Rob Fender
R. P. Fender
Accretion phenomena and associated outflows, cataclysmic variables (CVs), close binaries, globular clusters, active galactic nuclei, galactic plane surveys, ultraluminous x-ray sources. Christian Knigge
C. Knigge
Populations of X-ray binaries and other compact objects in galaxies, especially understanding the role of globular clusters in producing X-ray binaries; disk-jet connection in X-ray binaries and AGN; novel time series analysis techniques and applications to X-ray binaries; AGN surveys. Tom Maccarone
T. Maccarone
High energy extragalactic astronomy, particularly in X-ray Cosmology and X-ray temporal and spectral variability of Active Galaxies, including both relativistically beamed (blazar) and unbeamed (Seyfert) galaxies. Ian McHardy
I. M. McHardy
My research interests centre around accreting black holes, from stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binary systems to supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxies. I am very interested in how and why the light from these systems varies, especially their X-ray variability, which can reveal the physical conditions in extreme gravity closest to the black hole, as well as the nature of the accretion process which feeds them. I am also interested in the deep connections between accreting stellar-mass and supermassive black holes, especially whether supermassive black holes show the long-term state transitions seen in X-ray binaries and what impact this has on the appearance of active galaxies, their long-term evolution and their role in the growth of structure in the universe. Phil Uttley
P. Uttley
Brian Warner's main research interests lie in the area of cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) and pulsating white dwarfs. He has written or co-written over 300 refereed research papers and is the author of the definitive book on CVs ("Cataclysmic Variable Stars", published by Cambridge University Press). Brian Warner
B. Warner