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Prof Richard McMahon
Professor of Astronomy,
Institute of Astronomy ,
University of Cambridge
Fellow of Clare Hall
The main focus of my current research is in the study of galaxy formation and evolution in the Epoch of Reionization ; focusing on the discovery of high redshift galaxies and quasars powered by the accretion of matter onto supermassive black holes. I work on the determination of the space densities, star formation rates and how and when galaxies and quasars form. In the past I have worked on the experimental determination of the rate of gravitational deceleration of the Universe. This work resulted in the unexpected discovery that the rate of expansion of the Universe was accelerating.
My current research focuses on the discovery and study of high redshift galaxies and quasars that contain supermassive (100-1000 million Solar mass) black holes; determining how their space density, star formation and accretion properties evolve with redshift; and using the quasars to probe the baryonic content of the Universe via intervening absorption lines from H, C, N, O. My group has pioneered the use of high redshift quasars to determine the mass of neutral hydrogen in the high redshift Universe via intervening absorption lines imprinted on the spectra of background high redshift quasars. I have also pioneered the use of mm and submm microwave radiation to determine the star formation rate in quasar host galaxies.
I am the Principal Investigator (PI) of the VISTA Hemisphere Survey(VHS) which is an ambitious new near Infra-Red sky survey project which started in April, 2010. VHS has been been awarded around 300 clear nights over a 5 year period on the new 4.2m ESO VISTA telescope in Chile. I lead the quasar science working group in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) project which has built the largest CCD camera in existence and has been awarded 500 nights on the CTIO 4m telescope in Chile to use this camera to observe at optical wavelengths part of the sky that will be surveyed in the near Infra-Red with the VISTA Hemisphere Survey. I am also working on the 4MOST project which is designing a wide field spectroscopic instrument for the VISTA telescope. Other projects that I am active in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) project and the ESA satellite mission EUCLID
Selected publications
- The discovery of the first luminous z~6 quasar in the UKIDSS Large Area Survey, Venemans B., McMahon R.G., et al, 2007, MNRAS, 376L, 76.
- DAzLE: the dark ages z (redshift) Lyman-α Explorer; Horton A., et al., 2004, SPIE,5492, 1022
- The evolution of ΩHI and the epoch of formation of damped Lyman-α absorbers, Peroux C., McMahon R.G. et al., 2003, MNRAS, 346L, 1103.
- Lyman break galaxies and the star formation rate of the Universe at z~ 6; Stanway E.R., Bunker A.J., McMahon R.G., 2003, MNRAS, 342, 439.
- The far-infrared-submillimetre spectral energy distribution of high-redshift quasars, Priddey, R. and McMahon, R.G., 2001, MNRAS, 324P, 17.
- Optical Counterparts for 70,000 Radio Sources: APM Identifications for the FIRST Radio Survey; McMahon, R.G.; White, R.L.; Helfand, D.J.; Becker, R.H., 2002, ApJS, 143, 1.
- Measurements of Omega and Lambda from 42 High-Redshift Supernovae, Perlmutter S. et al, 1999, ApJ, 517, 565.
- Discovery of radio-loud quasars with z = 4.72 and z = 4.01; Hook I.M., McMahon R.G., 1998, MNRAS, 294, 7.
- Detection of Lyman-α emitting galaxies at redshift z = 4.55; Hu E.M, McMahon R.G., 1996, Nature, 382, 231.
- APM z >=4 QSO Survey: Spectra and Intervening Absorption Systems; Storrie-Lombardi, L. J.; McMahon R.G.; Irwin, M.J.; Hazard, C., 1996, ApJ, 468, 121.
- 1.25-mm continuum observations of very high-redshift QSOs: Is there dust at z = 4.69?, McMahon, R.G. et al, 1994, MNRAS, 267L, 9.
Press coverage
- Audio interview from the BBC describing how we detected the most distant galaxy known in the Universe [here]
- BBC Story on DAZLE [ DAZLE News Reports ]
- Heavens Above: How Microsoft are helping me out?
Career
- 2012(Oct)-: Professor of Astronomy, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
- 2001-2012: Reader in Observational Astronomy, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
- 2000-2001: John Couch Adams Astronomer, University of Cambridge
- 1999-2001: University Lecturer, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
- 1991-2001: Royal Society University Research Fellow, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
- 1985-1991: Research Fellow, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
Qualifications
- PhD (Cantab), Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge; Supervisor: Cyril Hazard
- Postgraduate Certification in Secondary Education (Physics), University of Cambridge
- BSc (Hons) Physics, Queens University Belfast
Other stuff
MAD Scientists
- John Couch Adams
- Astononomy Picture of the Day
- Welcome to the Planets
- Check the lunar phase
- Physical Constants
IOA Instrumentation Group Homepage | CIRSI(Sackler) Camera Homepage
Published by Richard G. McMahon <rgm@ast.cam.ac.uk>
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OHA
Tel: +44-(0)-1223-337519/337548
FAX: +44-(0)-1223-337523 Last modified: Mon Apr 29 17:15:05 BST 2013