Our Research

The fourth division (BP4) of The Fundamental Research Department (Departament Badań Podstawowych) deals with research in astrophysics and astronomy, mainly their observational aspects. The BP4 division is located in Warsaw at 7 Pasteura street.

The research conducted at the Astrophysics Laboratory includes:

  • Cosmology: CMB, large structures of the Universe, dark matter, non-standard cosmology and gravitational lensing
  • Gravitational waves: Multi-messenger astronomy, new tools for cosmology
  • Physics of galaxies: Formation and evolution of galaxies, AGN, quasars and gamma-ray burst
  • Interstellar medium: Star formation, neutron stars and white dwarfs
Check our Research Fields page for more information.


The BP4 division is also involved in several international projects. Check our Scientific Projects page for more information.

 

Seminars

Upcoming seminars for all of NCBJ can be found here.

The seminar archive for NCBJ can be found here.

 

Rubin-LSST Polska 2024

The Astrophysics Department will be helping to host the Polish Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (Rubin-LSST) community again this year on the 24th and 25th October. Rubin-LSST will receive the first light at the end of 2024 with the first data release is expected approximately one year later. Poland participates in the survey through the In-kind programme, which includes constructing and servicing an Independent Data Access Center (IDAC) accompanied by software development and providing associated derived data products. The conference aims to gather the Polish Rubin-LSST community to discuss its scientific goals, current needs, expectations, and future plans. A one-day workshop on data processing is planned for the last day of the conference. More information and registration (it's free!) can be found on NCBJ's Indego page.

 

ALMA success

We are pleased to announce that a large team from our Astrophysics Department has successfully secured observing time at the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array ALMA for its 11th observing cycle. The team is led by our PhD student Giuliano Lorenzon and is an international collaboration including from our institute the PI's supervisor Dr. Darko Donevski, Dr. Michael Romano, Prof. hab. Ambra Nanni, Mr Prasad Sawant, Dr M. Hamed, Dr Junais and Mr Krzysztof Lisiecki. The project, entitled "Hunting the prolonged dust growth in dusty quiescent galaxies at intermediate redshift", aims to study the evolution of dust in a sample of massive quiescent galaxies, i.e. galaxies with almost no ongoing star formation. Such a carefully selected sample challenges the paradigm that dust is destroyed in the absence of young stars, and allows a scenario to be studied in which grains grow to withstand destruction. This is the largest sample of its kind to date and will pave the way for new and exciting aspects of galaxy evolution.

Latest News

Scroll down for the latest news about the research done by our division or click here.

Conference Participation

BP4 participate in may national and intersectional conferences. We share our cutting edge research and enthusiasm with other astronomers across the world. Below are pictures from our trips across the globe over the last year or so.

Latest News

Spotkanie inauguracyjne ACME

The kick-off of the Astrophysics Centre for Multimessenger studies in Europe ACME, an EU-funded project built by and for the astroparticle and the astronomy communities

With 40 world-class collaborating institutions from 14 countries, ACME brings together the astroparticle and astronomy communities in a joint effort to forge a basis for strengthened long-term collaboration between these research infrastructures irrespective of location and level up access opportunities across Europe and beyond. The National Centre for Nuclear Research node is one of the most active partners of the ACME consortium.

Nagrody Dyrektora Departamentu Badań Podstawowych NCBJ

Last year's best achievements in basic research

On Monday, June 24, 2024, a Special Colloquium of the Fundamental Research Department of the National Centre for Nuclear Research was held, during which awards for achievements in 2023 were presented. The jury distinguished research on low brightness galaxies and for attempts to explain phenomena occurring during collisions of relativistic ions. Popular science stories and essays in which the author managed to hide his fascination with discovering the universe were also honored.

Galaktyka Malin 1, Źródło: Junais et al. 2024

Barely visible galaxies are the key to understanding the Universe

When we look at the night sky, we cannot free ourselves from questions. We wonder if it is possible to count the stars. We imagine how great a distance separates us from them. When we realize what a light year actually is, we are surprised to discover that we are actually looking into the further or closer past. Scientists from the National Center for Nuclear Research experience a similar fascination, looking for answers to these and other questions about how the Universe looks and works. In the coming years, this search will be able to be more effective thanks to the project „ Barely visible: low surface brightness galaxies in the LSST era” under the supervision of Prof. dr hab. Agnieszka Pollo financed by the National Science Center under the MAESTRO program.

Zdjęcie z Hubble'a wykonane 17 grudnia 2010 r. W kwietniu 2011 roku amerykańska rządowa agencja kosmiczna NASA świętowała 21. rocznicę swojego istnienia, publikując zdjęcie galaktyk spiralnych ułożonych w kształt róży. Źródło: NASA

Smashing galaxies into dust

Dr William James Pearson will investigate how we can more reliably identify galaxy mergers using their morphologies and how mergers influence their dust content, dust attenuation, and metallicity. This will be done by combining artificial intelligence (AI) with more traditional methods to detect galaxy mergers as well as use state of the art. observations and techniques to study the galaxies’ dust and metal. Exploration of this fascinating topic will be possible thanks to a grant from the National Science Center under the SONATA programme.

NCBJ scientists elected as members of the Astronomy Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences

On 14 May, nominations for members of the Committee on Astronomy of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the term 2024-2027 were announced. Among the members were scientists from the NCBJ's Astrophysics Division. Prof Katarzyna Małek was also elected to the Presidium of the Committee.

Ten krajobraz "gór" i "dolin" usianych gwiazdami to w rzeczywistości krawędź pobliskiego, młodego regionu gwiazdotwórczego o nazwie NGC 3324 w Mgławicy Carina. Uchwycony w świetle podczerwonym przez Kosmiczny Teleskop Jamesa Webba, obraz ten po raz pierwszy ujawnia niewidoczne wcześniej obszary narodzin gwiazd. Źródło: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Can dust evaporate in harsh interstellar environments?

Dust represents an important component of the interstellar medium of galaxies and is involved in various physical processes. As a consequence, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence its formation and destruction. In a recent study, a team of scientists led by dr Ambra Nanni of the NCBJ’s Astrophysics Division analysed the effect of photo-evaporation on the survival of dust in the interstellar medium of galaxies.