Projects per year
Personal profile
Overview
I am a Professor of Astrophysics in the Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR) at the University of Hertfordshire. CAR is part of the School of Physics, Astronomy & Mathematics.
I am also the UH Research Theme Champion for Space. This means that I represent and promote a range of research activities at UH in areas including atmospheric physics, mathematics and quantum physics, amongst others, see Space Research web pages.
Background
After a degree in Physics at Oxford University I studied Astrophysics for my doctorate, gaining a PhD in early 1997 under the supervision of Prof Patrick Roche on the topics of star formation and infrared instrumentation. I remained at Oxford for a further 3 years of postdoctoral work, before moving to a permanent post at the University of Hertfordshire in late 1999, initially as a full time researcher on a research fellowship. I have been lecturing in physics, astrophysics and mathematics since 2007.
Research interests
My main research interests are in the areas of star formation, brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets.
I currently co-lead the Vista Variables in the Via Lactea Survey (VVV) a large infrared time domain survey of our Milky Way Galaxy. VVV and its successor survey, VVVX, have taken photometric data for over 1 billion individual stars in southern skies from 2010--2022. The survey is performed with the Visible and Infrared Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) in Chile.
This follows on from my earlier work leading the UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey (UGPS) in northern and equatorial skies. UGPS provided infrared photometry for almost 1 billion stars. VVV/VVVX and UGPS are the current state of the art surveys of our Milky Way Galaxy in the near infrared waveband.
In addition to my survey work, I also use polarization and adaptive optics data to undertake detailed studies of individual stars.
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 10 Finished
-
Hertfordshire Astronomy 2018-2021
Hardcastle, M., Jones, H., Pinfield, D., Thompson, M., Gledhill, T., Lucas, P., Drew, J., Napiwotzki, R., Sarzi, M., Brinks, E., Smith, D., Coppin, K., Kaviraj, S., Dale, J., Krause, M., Kobayashi, C. & Ryan, S.
1/04/18 → 31/03/21
Project: Other
-
UH Centre for Astrophysics Research PATT - linked grant (2015-17)
Hardcastle, M., Drew, J., Brinks, E., Thompson, M., Lucas, P., Jones, H., Coppin, K., Pinfield, D., Ryan, S., Burningham, B., Geach, J., Napiwotzki, R., Stevens, J., Gledhill, T. & Tuomi, M.
1/10/15 → 1/10/17
Project: Research
-
-
Hertfordshire Astronomy 2015-18
Drew, J., Brinks, E., Chrysostomou, A., Cioni, M., Coppin, K., Hardcastle, M., Jones, H., Lucas, P., Pinfield, D. & Thompson, M.
UKRI - Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
1/04/15 → 31/03/19
Project: Research
-
UH Centre for Astrophysics Research PATT-linked grant
Drew, J., Chrysostomou, A., Coppin, K., Geach, J., Jones, H., Lucas, P., Pinfield, D. & Thompson, M.
UKRI - Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
28/03/13 → 27/03/15
Project: Research
-
Roman Early-Definition Astrophysics Survey Opportunity: Galactic Roman Infrared Plane Survey (GRIPS)
Paladini, R., Zucker, C., Benjamin, R., Nataf, D., Minniti, D., Zasowski, G., Peek, J., Carey, S., Allen, L., Alonso-Garcia, J., Alves, J., Anders, F., Athanassoula, E., Beers, T. C., Bird, J., Bland-Hwathorn, J., Brown, A., Buder, S., Casagrande, L., Casey, A., & 50 others , 14 Jul 2023.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
Open AccessFile -
VVV J165507.19-421755.5: A Nearby T Dwarf Hidden in the Galactic Plane
The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Collaboration & The Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors Collaboration, 14 Sept 2022, In: Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society . 6, 9, p. 189Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
File9 Downloads (Pure) -
Evidence of distant spiral arms in the Galactic disk quadrant IV from VVV red clump giants
Kammers, R., Saito, R. K., Botan, E., Minniti, D., Alonso-García, J., Smith, L. C. & Lucas, P. W., 9 Sept 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile9 Downloads (Pure) -
The extinction law in the inner 3 × 3 deg 2of the Milky Way and the red clump absolute magnitude in the inner bar-bulge
Sanders, J. L., Smith, L. C., González-Fernández, C., Lucas, P. & Minniti, D., 1 Aug 2022, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 514, 2, p. 2407-2424 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile9 Downloads (Pure) -
UGPS J194310+183851: an Unusual Optical and X-ray Faint Cataclysmic Variable?
Morris, C., Maccarone, T. J., Lucas, P. W., Strader, J., Britt, C. T., Miller, N., Swihart, S. J., Cooper, W. J., Drew, J. E. & Guo, Z., 1 Aug 2022, In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 514, 4, p. 6002-6010 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure)