Prof Andrew Levan
Recent highlights:
Oct 2023: Heavy elements detected in a JWST spectrum of a compact object merger - link to NASA press release
March 2023: The brightest gamma-ray burst of all time - NASA release
About me:
I am a Professor in the Department of Astrophysics at Radboud University Nijmegen, and also an honorary professor at the University of Warwick.
Primary Research Interests:
I am an astronomer with an interest in how stars end their lives. I study their ends in explosions, collapses, mergers and disruptions via the bright emission they often exhibit across and sometimes beyond the electromagnetic spectrum. Through these studies, I seek to understand the pathways that lead to these stellar deaths, probe the extreme physics at play, and use the outcomes as bright lighthouses shining to the distant Universe. My current work and some past highlights to which I have contributed include.
- The discovery of the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source.
- The identification of the progenitors of both long- and short-duration gamma-ray bursts.
- Through items 1 and 2, the discovery of the first clear site for the likely production of many of the most massive elements in the periodic table, e.g. gold, platinum, uranium etc.
- The discovery of the most distant gamma-ray bursts, when discovered the most distant objects known in the Universe.
- The location of relativistic tidal disruption, where stars are disrupted by supermassive black holes and their material then accelerated to near the speed of light.
- In-depth studies of the environments (for example the host galaxies) of many classes of transients, including gamma-ray bursts, luminous supernovae and tidal disruption events.
Selected publications can be found below, while a full publication list can be found here.
Teaching:
At Radboud I am currently teaching an undergraduate course on Newtonian Cosmology, a Masters course on the Foundations of Gravitational Wave Astrophysics, and a Physics-wide course on academic writing. I have previously also developed courses on Extreme Astrophysics and General Relativity.
At Warwick I taught and developed a number of courses, these include "The Distant Universe", "Cosmology", "Global Warming" as well as contributions to undergraduate tutorials and laboratories. In addition, with Prof David Mond I led the development of the university's first large scale interdisciplinary course, "The challenges of climate change", involving staff and students from more than ten academic departments. This has now been incorporated into its offerings by the (new) Department of Sustainable Development.
More, somewhat outdate material regarding my teaching can be found here.
Outreach, engagement and widening participation:
I am heavily involved in engagement activities across a wide range of groups, from primary schools to adult learners to astronomy societies. I delivered the Bruker Warwick Christmas lecture entitled "The Biggest Bangs" in 2015, and a further Christmas lecture "Building a Ladder to the Stars" in 2019. More information about this can be found here.
At Warwick I was the Physics lead for Widening Participation - the target of increasing participation in University to those from backgrounds that are underrepresented. As part of this, I lead a program to address the impact of targeted interventions on the perceptions and actions of students on the boundary between primary and secondary school.
In Nijmegen, I continue to give frequent talks to schools, mostly at the 16-18 level (where language isn't an issue). I was a founding member of NAEIC, the Dutch Astronomy Equity and Inclusion Committee.
Selected recent publications (those where I am in the first 3 authors, see link on right for full list):
2024
The fast X-ray transient EP240315a: a z~5 gamma-ray burst from a Lyman continuum leaking galaxy
A.J. Levan et al. 2024, submitted, arXiv:2404.16350
Binary neutron star merger offsets from their host galaxy. GW170817 as a case study
N. Gaspari, H. Stevance, A.J. Levan et al. A&A in press, arXiv:2410.19480
The redshift of GRB 190829A/SN2019oyw: A Case Study of GRB-SN Evolution
K. Bhirombhakdi, A.S. Fruchter, A.J. Levan et al. 2024 ApJ, in press, arXiv:2410.09372
J. van Dalen, A.J. Levan, P.G. Jonker et al. 2024, ApJ, submitted arXiv:2409.19056
Kinematic constraints on the ages and kick velocities of Galactic neutron star binaries
P. Disberg, N. Gaspari, A.J. Levan 2024 A&A 689 348
Redshifts of candidate host galaxies of four fast X-ray transients using VLT/MUSE
A. Inkenhaag, P.G. Jonker, A.J. Levan et al. 2024 A&A 689 343
AT2018fyk: Candidate Tidal Disruption Event by a (Super)Massive Black Hole Binary
S. Wen, P.G. Jonker, A.J. Levan et al. 2024 ApJ 970 116
Deceleration of kicked objects due to the Galactic potential
P. Disberg, N. Gaspari, A.J. Levan 2024 A&A 687 272
A Hubble Space Telescope search for r-Process Nucleosynthesis in Gamma-Ray Burst Supernovae
J. Rastinejad, W. Fong, A.J. Levan et al. 2024 ApJ 968 14
N. Gaspari, A.J. Levan et al. 2024 MNRAS 527 1101
Heavy-element production in a compact object merger observed by JWST
A.J. Levan et al. 2024, Nature, 626 737
AT2023fhn (the Finch): a luminous fast blue optical transient at a large offset from its host galaxy
A.A. Chrimes, P.G. Jonker, A.J. Levan et al. 2024 MNRAS 527 47
2023
A long-duration gamma-ray burst of dynamical origin from the nucleus of an ancient galaxy
A.J. Levan et al. 2023 Nature Astronomy, 7, 976
A.J. Levan et al. 2023 ApJ 946 28
N. Gaspari, A. Levan, A. Chrimes, G. Nelemans, 2023 MNRAS, in press
AT2023fhn (the Finch): a luminous fast blue optical transient at a large offset from its host galaxy
A. Chrimes, P. Jonker, A. Levan et al. 2024 MNRAS 527 47
Late-time HST UV and optical observations of AT 2018cow: extracting a cow from its background
A. Inkenhaag, P. Jonker, A. Levan et al. 2023 MNRAS 525 4042
A.A. Chrimes, A.J. Levan et al. 2023 MNRAS 522 2029
The Fast X-Ray Transient XRT 210423 and Its Host Galaxy
D. Eappachen, P. Jonker, A. Levan et al. 2023 ApJ 948 91
2022
A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc
J. Rastinejad, B. Gompertz, A. Levan et al. 2022 Nature 612 223
G. Cannizzaro, A.J. Levan, S. Van Velzen, G. Brown 2022 MNRAS 516 529
A.A. Chrimes, A.J. Levan et al. 2022 MNRAS 513 3550
New candidates for magnetar counterparts from a deep search with the Hubble Space Telescope
A.A. Chrimes, A.J. Levan et al. 2022 MNRAS 512 6093
J.D. Lyman, A.J. Levan et al. 2022 ApJ 926 121
2021
A.A. Chrimes, A.J. Levan, P.J. Groot, J.D. Lyman, G. Nelemans, 2021 MNRAS 508 1929
2020
Electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources at the Very Large Telescope
A.J. Levan & P.G. Jonker, Nature Reviews Physics, 2 455
Ackley et al (alphabetical author list), 2020 A&A 643 113
GRB 170817A as a Refreshed Shock Afterglow Viewed Off-axis
G.P. Lamb, A.J. Levan, N.R. Tanvir, 2020 ApJ 899 105
A Search for Neutron Star-Black Hole Binary Mergers in the Short Gamma-Ray Burst Population
B.P. Gompertz, A.J. Levan, N.R. Tanvir 2020 ApJ 895 58
Polarimetry of relativistic tidal disruption event Swift J2058+0516
K. Wiersema, A. Higgins, A. Levan et al. 2020 MNRAS 491 1771
2019
The case for a high-redshift origin of GRB 100205A
A.A. Chrimes, A.J. Levan et al. 2019 MNRAS 488 902
Short GRB 160821B: A Reverse Shock, a Refreshed Shock, and a Well-sampled Kilonova
G.P. Lamb, N.R. Tanvir, A.J. Levan et al. 2019 ApJ 883 48
Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope observations of dark gamma-ray bursts and their host galaxies
A.A. Chrimes, A.J. Levan et al. 2019 MNRAS 486 3105
The Optical Afterglow of GW170817 at One Year Post-merger
G.P. Lamb, J.D. Lyman, A.J. Levan et al. 2019 ApJ 870 15
2018
The Properties of GRB 120923A at a Spectroscopic Redshift of z= 7.8
N.R. Tanvir, T. Laskar, A.J. Levan et al. 2018 ApJ 865 107
The optical afterglow of the short gamma-ray burst associated with GW170817
J.D. Lyman, G.P. Lamb, A.J. Levan et al. 2018 Nature Astronomy, 2 751
Investigating a population of infrared-bright gamma-ray burst host galaxies
A.A. Chrimes, E.R. Stanway, A.J. Levan et al. 2018 MNRAS 478 2
The Diversity of Kilonova Emission in Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
B. Gompertz, A.J. Levan et al. 2018 ApJ 860 62
2017
The Environment of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817
A.J. Levan et al. 2017 ApJ 848 28
The Emergence of a Lanthanide-rich Kilonova Following the Merger of Two Neutron Stars
N.R. Tanvir, A.J. Levan et al. 2017 ApJ 848 27
The Distance to NGC 4993: The Host Galaxy of the Gravitational-wave Event GW170817
J. Hjorth, A.J. Levan et al. 2017 ApJ 848 31
The Diversity of Kilonova Emission in Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
B. Gompertz, A.J. Levan et al. 2017 ApJ submitted
Late-time observations of the relativistic tidal disruption flare candidate Swift J1112.2-8238
G.C. Brown, A.J. Levan et al. 2017 MNRAS 472 4469
The properties of GRB 120923A at a spectroscopic redshift of z=7.8
N.R. Tanvir, T. Laskar, A.J. Levan et al. 2017 ApJ submitted
S. Greiss, E.R. Stanway, A.J. Levan, L. Davies, J.J. Eldridge 2017 MNRAS 470 489
The host galaxies and explosion sites of long-duration gamma ray bursts: Hubble Space Telescope near-infrared imaging
J.D. Lyman, A.J. Levan et al. 2017 MNRAS 467 1795
2016
A.J. Levan et al. 2016 Space Science Reviews 202 33
A. J. Levan. et al. 2016 ApJ 819 51
Hubble Space Telescope observations of the host galaxies and environments of calcium-rich supernovae.
J.D. Lyman, A.J. Levan. et al. 2016 MNRAS 458 1758
A Hubble Space Telescope survey of the host galaxies of Superluminous Supernovae.
C.R. Angus, A.J. Levan et al. 2016 MNRAS 458 84
Detection of Three Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxies at z ˜ 6
J. McGuire, N.R. Tanvir, A.J. Levan et al. 2016 ApJ 825 135
2015
Swift J1112.2-8238: a candidate relativistic tidal disruption flare.
G.C. Brown, A.J. Levan et al. 2015 MNRAS 452 4297
Swift discoveries of new populations of extremely long duration high energy transient.
A.J. Levan 2015 Journal of High Energy Astrophysics, 2015 7 44
D.J. Pasham, S.B. Cenko, A.J. Levan 2015 ApJ 805 68
GRB 080517: a local, low-luminosity gamma-ray burst in a dusty galaxy at z = 0.09.
E.R. Stanway, A.J. Levan et al. 2015 MNRAS 446 3911
A Detection of Molecular Gas Emission in the Host Galaxy of GRB 080517.
E.R. Stanway, A.J. Levan et al. 2015 ApJ 789 7
Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A
A.J. van der Horst, A.J. Levan et al. 2015 MNRAS 446 4116
2014
The progenitors of calcium rich transients are not formed in situ.
Joe Lyman, Andrew Levan, Ross Church, Melvyn Davies, Nial Tanvir, 2014 MNRAS, in press
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Afterglow, Supernova and Host Galaxy Associated with the Extremely bright GRB 130427A.
A.J. Levan et al. 2014 ApJ 792 115
Radio observations of GRB host galaxies
E.R. Stanway, A.J. Levan & L. Davies, 2014 MNRAS, in press
A new population of ultra-long duration gamma-ray bursts
Andrew Levan et al. 2014 ApJ 781 13
On the nature of hostless short GRBs
R.L. Tunnicliffe, A.J. Levan et al. 2014 MNRAS 437 1495
2013
A kilonova associated with the short GRB 130603B
Nial Tanvir, Andrew Levan, Andrew Fruchter, Jens Hjorth, Rebekah Hounsell, Klaas Wiersema, Rachel Tunnicliffe, 2013 Nature 500 547
Superluminous X-Rays from a Superluminous Supernova
A.J. Levan et al. 2013 ApJ 771 136
D.A. Perley, A.J. Levan et al. 2013 ApJ 778 128
The Afterglow and ULIRG Host Galaxy of the Dark Short GRB 120804A
Edo Berger, Ashley Zauderer, Andrew Levan et al. 2013 ApJ, 765 121
2012
The properties of long gamma-ray bursts in massive compact binaries
Ross Church, Chunglee Kim, Andrew Levan and Melvyn Davies, 2012 MNRAS 425 470
Star Formation in the Early Universe: Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg
N.R. Tanvir, A.J. Levan et al., 2012 ApJ 754 46
Polarimetry of the transient relativistic jet of GRB 110328/Swift J164449.3+573451
K. Wiersema, A.J. van der Horst, A.J. Levan et al. 2012 MNRAS 421 1942
Swift J2058.4+0516: Discovery of a Possible Second Relativistic Tidal Disruption Flare?
S.B. Cenko et al., 2012 ApJ 753 47
An extremely luminous panchromatic outburst from the nucleus of a distant galaxy
A.J. Levan et al. 2011, Science, 333 199
A relativistic jetted outburst from a massive black hole fed by a tidally disrupted star
J.S. Bloom et al. 2011, Science, 333 202
On the origin of black hole spin in high-mass black hole binaries: Cygnus X-1
M. Axelsson, R. Church, M.B. Davies, A.J. Levan, F. Ryde. 2011, MNRAS 412 2260
Discovery of the afterglow and host galaxy of the low redshift short GRB 080905A
A. Rowlinson, K. Wiersema, A.J. Levan et al. 2010, MNRAS 408 383
Discovery of a new soft gamma-repeater SGR J1833-0832
E. Gogus, G. Cusumano, A.J. Levan et al. 2010, ApJ 718 331
The host galaxies of core collapse supernovae and gamma-ray bursts
K. Svensson, A.J. Levan, N.R. Tanvir, A.S. Fruchter, L.G. Strolger, 2010 MNRAS 405 57
Do Wolf Rayet stars have similar locations in hosts as type Ib/c supernovae and gamma-ray bursts
G. Leloudas, J. Sollerman, A.J. Levan, J. Fynbo, D. Malesani, J. Maund 2010, A&A 518 29
A gamma-ray burst at redshift 8.2
N.R. Tanvir, D.B. Fox, A.J. Levan et al. 2009 Nature 461 1254
Low resolution spectroscopy of gamma-ray burst optical afterglows: Biases in the Swift sample and characterization of the absorbers
J. Fynbo et al. 2009 ApJS 185 526
Late time observations of GRB 080319B: jet break, host galaxy and accompanying supernova
N.R. Tanvir, E. Rol, A.J. Levan et al. 2008, ApJ, in press
SCP 06F6: A carbon rich transient at redshift 0.14
B. Gaensicke, A. Levan, T. Marsh, P. Wheatley . 2009, ApJ, 697 129
Broandband observations of the naked eye gamma-ray burst 080319B
Racusin, J.L. et al. 2008 Nature, 455 183
New Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the counterparts to six ultraluminous X-ray sources
T.P. Roberts, A.J. Levan, M.R. Goad, MNRAS 387 73
The extreme red afterglow of GRB 060923A: Distance or Dust?
N.R. Tanvir, A.J. Levan, E. Rol, R. Starling, J. Gorosabel, R. S. Priddey, D. Maelsani, P. Jakobsson, P. O'Brien, A. Jaunsen, J. Hjorth, J. Fynbo, A. Melandri, A. Gomboc, B. Milvang Jensen, A. Fruchter, M. Jarvis, C.A. Fernandes, T. Wold, MNRAS, in press
The `DODO' survey - I. Limits on ultra-cool substellar and planetary-mass companions to van Maanen's star (vMa2)
M.R. Burleigh, F. Clarke, E. Hogan, C. Brinkworth, P. Bergeron, P. Darfur, P. Dobbie, A.J. Levan, S. Hodgkin, D. Hoard, S. Wachter, 2008, MNRAS 386 5
On the nature of the short duration GRB 050906
A.J. Levan, N.R. Tanvir, P. Jakobsson, R. Chapman, J. Hjorth, R.S. Priddey, J.P.U. Fynbo, K. Hurley, B.L. Jensen, R. Johnson, J. Gorosabel, A.J. Castro-Tirado, M.J. Jarvis, D. Watson, K. Wiersema, MNRAS, in press
A case of mistaken identify? GRB 060912 and the nature of the long short GRB divide
A.J. Levan, P. Jakobsson, C. Hurkett, N.R. Tanvir, J. Gorosabel, P. Vreeswijk, E. Rol, R. Chapman, N. Gehrels, P.T. O'Brien, J. P. Osborne, R.S. Priddey, C. Kouveliotou, R. Starling, D. Vanden Berk, K. Wiersema, MNRAS, in press
Progenitors of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts
Melvyn B. Davies, Andrew J. Levan, Josefin Larsson, Andrew R. King, Andrew S. Fruchter
A new constraint on gamma-ray burst progenitor mass
Josefin Larsson, Andrew Levan, Melvyn Davies and Andrew Fruchter, MNRAS, 376 1285
Neutron star binaries and long duration gamma-ray bursts
Andrew Levan, Melvyn Davies and Andrew King 2006, MNRAS, 372 1351
The faint afterglow and host galaxy of the short-hard GRB 060121
A.J. Levan, N.R. Tanvir, A.S. Fruchter, E. Rol, J.P.U. Fynbo, J. Hjorth, G. Williams, E. Bergeron, D. Bersier, M. Bremer, T. Grav, P. Jakobsson, K. Nilsson, E. Olszewski, R.S. Priddey, D. Rafferty, J. Rhoads, 2006, ApJ Letters 648 9
An optical supernova associated with the X-ray Flash 060218
E. Pian, P. Mazzali, N. Masetti, P. Ferrero, S. Klose, E. Palazzi, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, S. Woosley, C. Kouveliotou, J. Deng, A. Filippenkp, R. Foley, J. Fynbo, D. Kann, W. Li, J. Hjorth, K. Nomoto, F. Patat, D. Sauer, J. Sollerman, P.M. Vreeswijk, E. Guenther, A. Levan, P. O'Brien, N. Tanvir, R. Wijers, C. Dumas, O. Hainaut, D.S. Wong, D. Baade, L. Wang, L. Amati, E. Cappellaro, A. Castro-Tirado S. Ellison, F. Frontera, A. Fruchter, J. Greiner, K. Kawabata, C. Ledoux, K. Maeda, P. Moller, L. Nicastro, E. Rol, R. Starling, 2006 Nature 442 1011
The First Swift X-ray Flash: The Faint Afterglow of XRF 050215B
A.J. Levan, J.P. Osborne, N.R. Tanvir, K.L. Page, E. Rol, B. Zhang, M.R. Goad, P.T. O'Brien, R.S. Priddey, D. Bersier, D.N. Burrows, R. Chapman, A.S. Fruchter, P. Giommi, N. Gehrels, M.A. Hughes, S. Pak, C. Simpson, G. Tagliaferri, E. Vadoulaki, 2006 ApJ 648 1132
Infrared and Optical Observations of GRB 030115 and its Extremely Red Host galaxy: Implications for Dark Bursts
Andrew Levan, Andrew Fruchter, James Rhoads, Bahram Mobasher, Nial Tanvir, Javier Gorosabel, Evert Rol, Chryssa Kouveliotou, Ian Dell'Antonio, Michael Merrill, Eddie Bergeron, Jose Maria Castro Ceron, Nicola Masetti, Paul Vreeswijk, Angelo Antonelli, David Bersier, Alberto Castro-Tirado, Johan Fynbo, Peter Garnavich, Stephen Holland, Jens Hjorth, Peter Nugent, Elena Pian, Alain Smette, Bjarne Thomsen, Stephen Thorsett, Ralph Wijers 2006 ApJ 647 471
Long gamma-ray bursts and core collapse supernovae have different environments
A.S. Fruchter, A.J. Levan, L. Strolger, P.M. Vreeswijk, S. Thorsett, D. Bersier, I. Burud, J.M. Castro Ceron, A.J. Castro Tirado, C. Conselice, T. Dahlen, H. Ferguson, J. Fynbo, P.M. Garnavich, R. Gibbons, J. Gorosabel, T. Gull, J. Hjorth S. Holland, C. Kouveliotou, Z. Levay, M. Livio, M. Metzger, P. Nugent, L. Petro, E. Pian J. Rhoads, A. Riess, K. Sahu, A. Smette, N. Tanvir, R. Wijers, S. Woosley 2006 Nature 441 463
Short gamma-ray bursts in old populations: magnetars from white dwarf -- white dwarf mergers
Andrew Levan, Graham Wynn, Robert Chapman, Melvyn Davies, Andrew King, Robert Priddey, Nial Tanvir 2006 MNRAS 368 L1
All other publications via ADS
Press releases:
Earth safe from gamma-ray bursts - Royal Astronomical Society
Death of a star - PPARC
Contact Details:
Dr Andrew Levan
Office: PS.006
Telephone: +44 (0) 2476574740
Fax: +44 (0)2476523672
E-Mail: a.j.levan@warwick.ac.uk
Research Interests:
Gamma-ray bursts
Supernovae
High redshift galaxies
Cosmological parameters