The Institute of Astronomy (IoA) came into being in 1972 by the amalgamation of three institutions which had developed on the site. These were the Cambridge University Observatory which was established in 1823, the Solar Physics Observatory (1912) and the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy (1967).

The IoA is a department of the University of Cambridge and is engaged in teaching and research in the fields of theoretical and observational Astronomy. A wide class of theoretical problems are studied, ranging from models of quasars and of the evolution of the universe, through theories of the formation and evolution of galaxies and stars, X-ray sources and black holes.

Much observational work centres around the use by staff of large telescopes abroad and in space to study quasars, galaxies and the chemical constitution of stars. A programme on the velocities of stars is conducted using the 36-inch telescope in Cambridge. Instrumentation development is also an important area of activity, involving charge coupled devices and detector arrays for rapid recording of very faint light and the design and construction of novel spectrographs.

### Recent Submissions

• #### New Avenues in Atmospheric Modelling of Exoplanets ﻿

(2020-04-25)
In this thesis I explore various aspects of atmospheric characterisation of exoplanets with the primary goal of understanding their chemical compositions and physical processes. My research led to the development of new ...
• #### A Study on Quenching and Galaxy Growth in z~1 Clusters using HST WFC3 Grism Observations ﻿

(2019-11-30)
The work in this thesis uses 38 orbits worth of $\textit{Hubble Space Telescope}$ (HST), $\textit{Wide Field Camera 3}$ (WFC3) infrared F140W imaging and G141 grism data on 10 galaxy clusters at $z\sim1$ to study how the ...
• #### Revealing the Nature of Exoplanetary Atmospheres ﻿

(2019-10-26)
The study of planets orbiting other stars, exoplanets, has entered the era of characterisation. When an exoplanet passes in front, or transits, its parent star, absorption features are imprinted into starlight passing ...
• #### Discovery and Characterisation of Gravitationally Lensed Quasars in Wide-field Surveys ﻿

(2019-10-25)
The coincident alignment of two galaxies on the sky can create the rare cosmic phenomenon of strong gravitational lensing, in which light from the more distant galaxy is bent around the foreground galaxy to create multiple, ...