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About First Light
Project First Light was an ERC funded research activity (2015 - 2023) whose principal goal is to examine the role that early galaxies played in driving cosmic reionisation. Via deep imaging in blank fields and through gravitationally-lensing clusters, galaxies in the reionisation era are examined spectroscopically using a variety of large ground-based telescopes. Lower redshift analogues of galaxies in the reionisation era are also studied in detail to understand the physical processes by which Lyman continuum photons are produced and can escape into the intergalactic medium. This focused observational activity is supplemented by a theoretical component based on numerical simulations incorporating radiative transfer and the modeling of nebular emission lines as a probe of the nature of the ionising radiation field. The group is actively planning programmes to be undertaken with future facilities including the James Webb Space Telescope - you can read about our accepted proposals on the James Webb Space Telescope听here.
Latest News
Nicolas Laporte Receives the inaugural 鈥淚nnovation Prize鈥� at the French Embassy in London (November 2023)
Congratulations to former 鈥淔irst Light鈥� postdoctoral researcher Dr Nicolas Laporte, who received the Innovation Prize for French residents in the UK at the Ambassador鈥檚 residence in Kensington on November 16th 2023.
The Innovation Prize recognises both Nicolas鈥� unique research achievements in studies of early galaxies and his dedication to public outreach, particularly to disadvantaged children. The citation highlighted Nicolas鈥檚 dedication in founding the InfiniSciences Association in Auvergne which
encourages famous scientists to share their knowledge with the public and young people. In the UK, Nicolas also developed complex 3D printed tactile models enabling visually impaired children to discover astronomy.
Well done Nicolas. We鈥檙e proud of you!
Dr Nicolas Laporte received the Innovation Prize for French residents in the UK at the Ambassador鈥檚 residence in Kensington.
Professor Richard Ellis receives 2023 Gruber Prize in Cosmology (July 2023)
Richard Ellis was presented the 2023 Gruber Prize in Cosmology at the conference 鈥淪hedding New Light on the First Billion Years of the Universe鈥� in Marseille, France on July 6th. The shortened citation reads 鈥淥ver the past five decades Richard Ellis鈥檚 innovations have reimagined cosmology in fundamental ways. His observations have pushed the cosmic horizon鈥攈ow far across the universe we can see鈥攖o a period close to the development of the first galaxies. Meanwhile the instruments he conceived, then shepherded through development and execution, have transformed myriad astronomical methodologies.鈥�
At the ceremony the full citation was described by Professor Jean-Loup Puget (Institut d鈥橝strophysique Spatiale, Universit茅 de Paris Sud, co-recipient of the 2018 Gruber Prize in Cosmology) and the award itself was presented by Sarah Hrera (Executive Vice President of the Gruber Foundation).
Richard Ellis received the Gruber Prize from Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation 2023
Conference in honour of Professor Richard Ellis (June 2023)
On June 5 and 6, we celebrated Richard鈥檚 remarkable career and achievements via a two day meeting [] held at the Institute of Physics. Postponed for three years due to the pandemic, over 50 of Richard鈥檚 former students, postdocs and collaborators came to London from places as distant as Sydney and Tokyo to the meeting entitled 鈥�RSE@70+: Observing the Evolving Universe.鈥�
Supported by the ERC First Light grant, the P&A Department and the Perren Fund, talks and panel discussions debated progress in observational cosmology, large scale structure, astronomical instrumentation as well as the first results from the James Webb Space Telescope.
We thank Minh Cao for all her help running the meeting so smoothly.
Richard Ellis awarded the Royal Medal at the Royal Society (February 2023)
Richard, who has tracked ever more distant galaxies over his career in a quest to find the moment of 鈥渃osmic dawn鈥�, when stars first lit up the Universe, was awarded Royal Medal A, the Royal Society鈥檚 highest honour for the physical sciences. Previous recipients of the award include the Nobel laureates Professor Abdus Salam and Professor Sir Roger Penrose, and at 果冻影院,听 Sir Harrie Massey.
Richard was awarded the medal for 鈥渕otivating numerous advances in telescopes and instrumentation, and exploiting these facilities to revolutionise the understanding of cosmological evolution鈥�. The Society noted that Richard听 鈥渉ad foreseen the importance of applying new technologies, motivating him to raise funds, design and then exploit innovative instruments that have greatly accelerated progress [in the field]鈥�.
Richard presented the Royal Medal by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, at a ceremony at the Royal Society in February 2023.
1. The announcement by the Royal Society -
2. The announcement by 果冻影院 - Astrophysicist Prof. Richard Ellis honoured by the Royal Society
Guido Roberts-Borsani awarded the Chancellor鈥檚 Award for Postdoctoral Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (November 2022)
Congratulations to Guido Roberts-Borsani for receiving the prestigious Chancellor鈥檚 award at 果冻影院A in November 2022! Guido was a former 果冻影院 postgraduate and postdoctoral researcher in the First Light team and remains a continuing collaborator.
The citation for his award highlights "his contributions to our understanding of the birth and early growth of galaxies... and his clear leadership in the planning analysis of the first observations with the James Webb Space Telescope." Well done Guido!
Richard Ellis identifed as one of the world's most influential researchers (November 2021)
Each year, Clarivate produces a list of 鈥淗ighly Cited Researchers鈥� - an elite group most听frequently cited by their peers over the last decade.听 听The group comprises those individuals听whose multiple highly-cited papers rank in the top 1% by citations in the Web of Science
This year, In the field of astronomy, Clarivate identified 104 astronomers world-wide听and 12 in the UK, including .听听
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- Full list of
- Read about the 48 果冻影院 researchers cited by Clarivate
Cosmic dawn occurred听250 to 350 million years after Big Bang听
24 June 2021
Members of the First Light team claim to have the first convincing evidence for when the first stars and galaxies began to shine.听Their analysis indicates that this important moment, known as the 鈥渃osmic dawn,鈥� occurred between 250 to 350 million years after听the Big Bang. The researchers also calculated that the first galaxies, seen at their birth, will likely be sufficiently luminous to be听detected with NASA鈥檚 James Webb Telescope due for launch later this year.
Discovering when the cosmic dawn began has been the life鈥檚 work of Professor Richard Ellis who commented: 鈥淭he Holy Grail in observational cosmology has been to look back far enough that one might see the very first generation of听stars and galaxies emerging from darkness. We now have convincing evidence of when the universe was first bathed in starlight听and 听hope to soon make direct observations of this event with the James Webb Space Telescope.鈥�
The scientific article, led by Dr Nicolas Laporte with co-authors Romain Meyer and Guido Roberts-Borsani (all former 果冻影院 team members)听 and Richard Ellis is being published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Further details can be found here.
- Publication:
- :听Astronomers work out when the first stars shone
Powerful telescopes probe to great distances, corresponding to 鈥榣ook-back听times鈥� of billions of years in the past. The First Light team has studied six galaxies听observed听when the universe was only 550 million听years old, corresponding to only 4% of its present听age. However, by measuring the ages of stars in these听early galaxies, it is possible to probe听even further back in time. The team estimates that such galaxies first 鈥榮witched听on鈥� when the听Universe was only听250 to 350 million years old, and the birth of similar systems would be听within reach of the James Webb Space Telescope due for launch later this year.听
Credit: Nicolas Laporte / University of Cambridge
James Webb Space Telescope success for First Light group (April 2021)
The First Light group has had great success in the first cycle of accepted proposals for observing time on the James Webb Space Telescope due for launch on December 18,听2021. 5 proposals were accepted where a听group member is Principal Investigator, and an additional 4听proposals accepted听with a group听member as Co-Investigator. This amounts to a total of 235 hours of observing time.
A list of the accepted proposals can be found here.
In addition to the First Light group鈥檚 success described above, it is interesting to note that听16% of all 83 accepted JWST proposals in the 鈥楪alaxies鈥� category are led by a current or former postdoctoral researcher or student supervised by Professor Ellis.听In 1996 Professor Ellis was the only European-based member of the NASA 鈥楬ST and Beyond鈥� committee that recommended the construction of what became JWST.
Yuichi Harikane wins prestigious award for young scientists (December 2020)
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Richard Ellis awarded the Michael Faraday Gold Medal and Prize by Institute of Physics (November 2020)
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- Interview on Richard鈥檚 career听beginning and returning to 果冻影院听(Interviewed by Anita Maguire, Cosmoparticle Initiative)
Important contribution to听understanding听when the first galaxies appeared听in the Universe听
In May 2018, our team made an important contribution towards astronomers' understanding of the timescales during which the first galaxies appeared in the Universe, by studying a galaxy formed 250 million years after the Big Bang. These results come from observations carried out with the ALMA observatory and the Very Large Telescope.
- Scientists detect oxygen legacy of first stars听
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Significant breakthrough in understanding the early formation of stars听
In听March 2017, our team made a significant breakthrough in understanding the early formation of stars in the galaxy when the universe听 was about 4% old.听 This important breakthrough was reported globally and was the result of our dedicated research into understanding our universe.
Publications
Our project has seen a number of papers published, which are available on 果冻影院 Open Access and via our website.
A popular summary of our progress was published in EU Research.
About the Team
The team is led by Professor Richard Ellis, and supported by both Research Associates and PhD students.
There are strong collaborative links with research groups at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Caltech, the University of Arizona, University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Tokyo. Please see our First Light Team听page for more information on the team.
First Light group photo, 果冻影院, October 2018 (from L-R: Rebecca Martin, Romain Meyer, Koki Kakiichi, Guido Roberts-Borsani, Richard Ellis, Kiana Kade, Sarah Bosman, Nicolas Laporte)
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This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 669253)
