Nial Tanvir
Alma materDurham University (BSc, PhD)
AwardsHerschel Medal (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsCosmology
InstitutionsLeicester University
ThesisResolved stars in external galaxies (1992)
Doctoral advisorDick Fong

Nial Rahil Tanvir (born 1965) is a British astronomer at the University of Leicester. His research specialisms are the Extragalactic distance scale, Galaxy evolution and Gamma ray bursts. Tanvir has featured in various TV programs, including The Sky at Night hosted by Sir Patrick Moore, and Horizon

Tanvir studied Maths and Physics at Durham University (St Aidan's College), graduating in 1986.[1] He was awarded a PhD from the same institution in Cosmology in 1992. He subsequently held a postdoctoral position at Durham before joining the Cambridge University Institute of Astronomy and later the University of Hertfordshire. He was appointed Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Leicester in 2006.[2][3]

Tanvir headed the international team that discovered the infrared afterglow of GRB 090423[4][5] (detected 2009 April 23), the most distant source in the Universe recorded up to that date.

In 2013 he led a team that discovered so-called kilonova emission accompanying GRB 130603B, which provided the first direct evidence that short-duration gamma-ray bursts are created by merging compact sources, either two neutron-stars or a neutron-star and black-hole.[6][7] He subsequently made the co-discovery of the kilonova AT2017gfo,[8] the counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger that was also detected by its gravitational wave emission, GW170817.

Honours and awards

In 2002 he was a member of the research group which won the European Union Descartes Prize for their pioneering work on gamma-ray bursts. He was awarded the Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2019.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Results of Final Examinations June 1986". Durham University Gazette 1985/86. IV (Combined Series): 99. 1986. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Prof Nial Tanvir–"There's gold in them thar stars."" (PDF). The Derby and District Astronomical Society. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  3. ^ "RAS Awards: Nial Tanvir". Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  4. ^ Tanvir, N. R.; Fox, D. B.; Levan, A. J.; Berger, E.; Wiersema, K.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Cucchiara, A.; Krühler, T.; Gehrels, N.; Bloom, J. S.; Greiner, J.; Evans, P. A.; Rol, E.; Olivares, F.; Hjorth, J.; Jakobsson, P.; Farihi, J.; Willingale, R.; Starling, R. L. C.; Cenko, S. B.; Perley, D.; Maund, J. R.; Duke, J.; Wijers, R. A. M. J.; Adamson, A. J.; Allan, A.; Bremer, M. N.; Burrows, D. N.; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Cavanagh, B.; de Ugarte Postigo, A.; Dopita, M. A.; Fatkhullin, T. A.; Fruchter, A. S.; Foley, R. J.; Gorosabel, J.; Kennea, J.; Kerr, T.; Klose, S.; Krimm, H. A.; Komarova, V. N.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Moskvitin, A. S.; Mundell, C. G.; Naylor, T.; Page, K.; Penprase, B. E.; Perri, M.; Podsiadlowski, P.; Roth, K.; Rutledge, R. E.; Sakamoto, T.; Schady, P.; Schmidt, B. P.; Soderberg, A. M.; Sollerman, J.; Stephens, A. W.; Stratta, G.; Ukwatta, T. N.; Watson, D.; Westra, E.; Wold, T.; Wolf, C. (2009). "A gamma-ray burst at a redshift of z~8.2". Nature. 461 (7268): 1254–7. arXiv:0906.1577. Bibcode:2009Natur.461.1254T. doi:10.1038/nature08459. PMID 19865165. S2CID 205218350.
  5. ^ "The Most Distant Object Yet Discovered in the Universe". www.eso.org.
  6. ^ Tanvir, N. R.; Levan, A. J.; Fruchter, A. S.; Hjorth, J.; Hounsell, R. A.; Wiersema, K.; Tunnicliffe, R. L. (2013). "A 'kilonova' associated with the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 130603B". Nature. 500 (7464): 547–9. arXiv:1306.4971. Bibcode:2013Natur.500..547T. doi:10.1038/nature12505. PMID 23912055. S2CID 205235329.
  7. ^ "News Releases". HubbleSite.org.
  8. ^ Tanvir, N. R.; Levan, A. J.; González-Fernández, C.; Korobkin, O.; Mandel, I.; Rosswog, S.; Hjorth, J.; D’Avanzo, P.; Fruchter, A. S.; Fryer, C. L.; Kangas, T.; Milvang-Jensen, B.; Rosetti, S.; Steeghs, D.; Wollaeger, R. T.; Cano, Z.; Copperwheat, C. M.; Covino, S.; D’Elia, V.; de Ugarte Postigo, A.; Evans, P. A.; Even, W. P.; Fairhurst, S.; Jaimes, R. Figuera; Fontes, C. J.; Fujii, Y. I.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Gompertz, B. P.; Greiner, J.; Hodosan, G.; Irwin, M. J.; Jakobsson, P.; Jørgensen, U. G.; Kann, D. A.; Lyman, J. D.; Malesani, D.; McMahon, R. G.; Melandri, A.; O’Brien, P. T.; Osborne, J. P.; Palazzi, E.; Perley, D. A.; Pian, E.; Piranomonte, S.; Rabus, M.; Rol, E.; Rowlinson, A.; Schulze, S.; Sutton, P.; Thöne, C. C.; Ulaczyk, K.; Watson, D.; Wiersema, K.; Wijers, R. A. M. J. (16 October 2017). "The Emergence of a Lanthanide-rich Kilonova Following the Merger of Two Neutron Stars". The Astrophysical Journal. 848 (2): L27. arXiv:1710.05455. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa90b6.
  9. ^ "Herschel Medal Winners" (PDF). RAS. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

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