Departmental news
"Pint of Science" returns to Coventry for 2019
Staff and students from the Physics department will again contribute to Coventry's "Pint of Science" festival this year, to be held from 20-22 May in venues around the city. Departmental representatives include Jessica Marshall, Matthew Hoskin, Sam Seddon, Tishtrya Mehta, and Alun Rees.
Easter Planetarium shows
17, 19 & 21 April
Experience a show in the Physics inflatable planetarium and hear from the Warwick astronomers who use it to deliver outreach.
Free; booking is essential.
Departmental Promotions
Congratulations are offered to:
- Anne-Marie Broomhall and Dmitri Veras on their promotions to Senior Research Fellow
- Richard West on his promotion to Principal Research Fellow
- Rachel Edwards, Yorck Ramachers and Neil Wilson on their promotions to Reader
Mysterious white dwarf pulsar discovered
- University of Warwick researchers identify a white dwarf pulsar – a star type which has eluded astronomers for half a century
- Star lashes its neighbour with intense radiation beam every two minutes
- Research published in Nature Astronomy
House of Commons Education Committee Inquiry Submission
Twenty-six members of staff from the Physics Department joined colleagues from across the Faculty of Science in signing a submission to a House of Commons Education Committee Inquiry into the impact of exiting the European Union on Higher Education. As well as discussing the effect on undergraduate and postgraduate students, a particular focus was on the effect on staff who are non-UK EU nationals (this corresponds to over 20% of Warwick academic staff), notably the continued lack of assurance from government of their status and that of their families. The submission also emphasised the great benefit of freedom of movement of European researchers for ensuring the UK is at the forefront of scientific research, as well as damage that would be done if UK scientists lose access to prestiguous European funding, notably European Research Council grants where the department has been very successful recently.
Astronomers see black hole raging red
In June 2015, a black hole called V404 Cygni underwent dramatic brightening for about two weeks. An international team of astronomers, including the University of Warwick, report that the black hole emitted dazzling red flashes lasting just fractions of a second, as it blasted out material that it could not swallow...
Dr Tremblay awarded £1.5m ERC Grant
Dr. Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, has been awarded a 1.5 million Euro Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The research project entitled "Evolution of white dwarfs with 3D model atmospheres" will soon recruit...
Most Earth-like planet uninhabitable due to radiation, new research suggests
The most Earth-like planet could have been made uninhabitable by vast quantities of radiation, new research led by Dr Dave Armstrong of the Astronomy Group has found. The atmosphere of the planet, Kepler-438b, is thought to have been...
5400mph winds discovered hurtling around planet outside solar system
A team of researchers from the Astrophysics Group led by Tom Louden discovered winds of over 2km per second flowing around a planet outside of the Earth’s solar system.
“This is the first ever weather map from outside of our solar system. Whilst we have previously known of wind on exoplanets, we have never before been able to directly measure and map a weather system.”
Asteroid ripped apart to form star’s glowing ring system
The sight of an asteroid being ripped apart by a dead star and forming a glowing debris ring has been captured in an image for the first time.
Led by Christopher Manser of the University of Warwick’s Astrophysics Group, the researchers investigated the remnants of planetary systems around white dwarf stars...