Imperial College researchers are tracking a comet’s journey toward the Sun, measuring Saturn’s magnetic field, and mapping the Universe’s large-scale structure—all from a single department. This work addresses fundamental gaps in understanding how the Solar System formed, how galaxies evolve, and what drives the Universe’s accelerating expansion. The team builds instruments that detect the faint magnetic fields in interplanetary space, and runs laboratory experiments to interpret what telescopes actually see. They also develop statistical methods to comb through massive datasets for new types of astronomical objects. This is curiosity-driven fundamental science with no immediate practical application. But similar research has historically led to unexpected breakthroughs—for example, space-based magnetometers now guide navigation satellites, and atomic physics from astronomy labs underpins GPS timing. If this work succeeds, it will sharpen our picture of how planets and stars form, and could eventually feed into better models of space weather that protect satellites and power grids. For now, the payoff is a deeper, more accurate understanding of the cosmos.
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Astronomical research at Imperial College London covers topics from the atmosphere of the Sun and its planets to the Dark Energy that dominates the evolution of the Universe. The research exploits Imperial's leading roles in European space missions, including the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission which will rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 and accompany it as it moves toward the Sun and becomes fully active through the Herschel and Planck satellites studying the formation and evolution of the Universe. Detailed research projects probe the Sun's influence on the Earth, the magnetic field of Saturn, the formation of galaxies and planets, the geometry and topology of the Universe as a whole, and the theoretical understanding of the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars. This combination of observational and theoretical work is complemented by world-beating instrumentation in measuring the tiny but critical magnetic fields in interplanetary space, and laboratory research to determine the properties of atoms and molecules so that astronomical observations may be accurately interpreted in terms of the physics occurring at such remote environments. Our research embraces use of advanced statistical techniques to analyse and combine complex datasets and find new classes of objects.
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