Astronomy with Andrea
DPhil Astrophysics candidate at Oxford
NGC 6744, seen by Euclid. Pink spots show where new stars are born.
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About
I'm a DPhil student in Astrophysics at the University of Oxford. My research looks at the role of star-forming clumps in galaxy evolution, using Euclid, a European space telescope. I am also working on commissioning WEAVE, a new instrument on the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma.
Before Oxford I worked at the Nordic Optical Telescope, where I completed 44 observing nights and learned to run the telescope on my own, and I completed a first-class integrated master's degree in Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh. I hold the Philip Wetton Scholarship in Astrophysics.
Alongside research, I share astronomy with a wide audience: on Instagram as @astronomywithandrea, in BBC Sky at Night Magazine, and through talks and outreach.
Research
Galaxies form lots of their stars in bright clumps. I study these regions to figure out what role they play in the evolution of the galaxy.
When young, massive stars light up the hydrogen gas around them, the gas glows at one particular red wavelength called H-alpha. By mapping that glow I can find the clumps where stars are being born and measure how much they contribute to a galaxy's growth.
Euclid is a European space telescope, launched in 2023, that is mapping a third of the sky. Its near-infrared instrument, NISP, takes data that I use to make H-alpha maps of thousands of distant galaxies. My DPhil uses those maps to connect clumpy star formation to the physical processes that drive galaxy evolution.
I also work on the instruments themselves. I am helping to commission WEAVE, a spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope that can take the spectra of nearly a thousand objects in one go.
Citizen science
ClumpScope is my citizen science project. You look at real Euclid images of galaxies and circle the bright clumps where stars are being born. You can try it right here.
Euclid records a spectrum for every object it sees. From those spectra we build maps of each galaxy in the light of glowing hydrogen gas, H-alpha, which show where a galaxy is forming stars right now. We have maps of about 1,300 galaxies. A computer has already searched them for clumps, but the maps are noisy, and human eyes are still better at telling a real clump from a speck of noise.
Where several people circle the same spot, we can trust the detection. The circles also teach machine-learning clump finders what a real clump looks like. You don't need any astronomy background, five people see every galaxy, and the results will go into a scientific paper that acknowledges the volunteers.
Try it now
Galaxy 1 of 3
Press and drag on the map to circle each bright clump that sits on the galaxy. Isolated specks away from the centre are noise.
No circles yet.
Run with Louis Gabarra (University of Oxford) and the Euclid Consortium.
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The Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The pink clumps are where new stars are being born.
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I write astronomy articles for BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
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