Dr David J Turner Personal Website
| Staff Scientist - NASA HEASARC | Assistant Research Scientist - Michigan State University | djturner@umbc.edu |
This is the personal website of Dr David J. Turner, an astrophysicist, open source software developer, assistant research scientist (faculty) at the University of Maryland - Baltimore County, and staff scientist at NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC). Currently, I am a member of the Local Volume Complete Cluster Survey (LoVoCCS), XCS (formerly the XMM Cluster Survey), the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and the LSST-DESC collaboration.
My scientific interests and expertise centre on X-ray astronomy and multi-wavelength analyses of galaxy clusters to provide constraints on their mass, temperature, density, and the relations between these properties. Such measurements tell us a lot about individual clusters, and when you consider a population of clusters the scatter of the total mass with respect to these different properties becomes very important; for instance to successfully constrain cosmology using galaxy clusters. My other research interests include active galaxies, and low-metallicity, star-forming galaxies known as 'Peas'.
While working on XCS, a serindipitious survey of galaxy clusters, I also became interested in very large-scale analyses of sources, to search for unusual or discrepant behaviours. There are more than likely objects of a type previously unknown to us in the large archives of telescopes like XMM, and the scale of the data we can search is only ever going to increase. To this end, I led the development of the open-source Python X-ray astronomy modules XGA and DAXA. These types of accessible software have the power to democratise astronomy specialisms!
If you would like to discuss any of my research/software tools or invite me to give a talk at your institution about galaxy clusters, X-ray astronomy, or open-source science/software please feel free to send me an email at djturner@umbc.edu; new ideas for collaborations are also always welcome!
Ongoing Research Projects
X-ray Local Volume Complete Cluster Survey (X-LoVoCCS)
Hydrostatic Masses of SDSS Selected Galaxy Clusters
XMM Analysis of LOFAR (LoLSS/LoTSS) radio sources
Searching for Pea Galaxies and Examining Their X-ray Emission
Mass-Observable Relations for DES and ACT Clusters
Open Source Astrophysics Software
X-ray: Generate and Analyse (XGA)
Democratising Archival X-ray Astronomy (DAXA)
Publications
First Author
DAXA: Traversing the X-ray desert by Democratising Archival X-ray Astronomy (2024)
Turner, David J., Pilling, Jessica E., Donahue, Megan, Giles, Paul A., Romer, Kathy, Gupta, Agrim, Wallage, Toby, & Wang, Ray
arXiv e-prints
The XMM Cluster Survey: Automating the estimation of hydrostatic mass for large samples of galaxy clusters I -- Methodology, Validation, & Application to the SDSSRM-XCS sample (2024)
Turner, D. J., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Pilling, J., Lingard, T. K., Wilkinson, R., Hilton, M., Upsdell, E. W., Al-Serkal, R., Cheng, T., Eappen, R., Rooney, P. J., Bhargava, S., Collins, C. A., Mayers, J., Miller, C., Nichol, R. C., Sahén, M., & Viana, P. T. P.
arXiv e-prints
The XMM Cluster Survey: an independent demonstration of the fidelity of the eFEDS galaxy cluster data products and implications for future studies (2022)
Turner, D. J., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Wilkinson, R., Upsdell, E. W., Klein, M., Viana, P. T. P., Hilton, M., Bhargava, S., Collins, C. A., Mann, R. G., Sahlén, M., & Stott, J. P.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
XGA: A module for the large-scale scientific exploitation of archival X-ray astronomy data (2022)
Turner, D. J., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., & Korbina, V.
arXiv e-prints
Second Author
A Multiwavelength Dynamical State Analysis of ACT-CL J0019.6+0336 (2021)
Pillay, Denisha S., Turner, David J., Hilton, Matt, Knowles, Kenda, Kesebonye, Kabelo C., Moodley, Kavilan, Mroczkowski, Tony, Oozeer, Nadeem, Pfrommer, Christoph, Sikhosana, Sinenhlanhla P., & Wollack, Edward J.
Galaxies
Made Contributions
LoVoCCS -- II. Weak Lensing Mass Distributions, Red-Sequence Galaxy Distributions, and Their Alignment with the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in 58 Nearby X-ray-Luminous Galaxy Clusters (2024)
Fu, Shenming, Dell'Antonio, Ian, Escalante, Zacharias, Nelson, Jessica, Englert, Anthony, Helhoski, Søren, Shinde, Rahul, Brockland, Julia, LaDuca, Philip, Larkin, Christelyn, Paris, Lucca, Weiner, Shane, Black, William K., Chary, Ranga-Ram, Clowe, Douglas, Cooper, M. C., Donahue, Megan, Evrard, August, Lacy, Mark, Lauer, Tod, Liu, Binyang, McCleary, Jacqueline, Meneghetti, Massimo, Miyatake, Hironao, Montes, Mireia, Natarajan, Priyamvada, Ntampaka, Michelle, Pierpaoli, Elena, Postman, Marc, Sohn, Jubee, Turner, David, Umetsu, Keiichi, Utsumi, Yousuke, & Wilson, Gillian
arXiv e-prints
Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Mis-centering calibration and X-ray-richness scaling relations in redMaPPer clusters (2023)
Kelly, P., Jobel, J., Eiger, O., Abd, A., Jeltema, T. E., Giles, P., Hollowood, D. L., Wilkinson, R. D., Turner, D. J., Bhargava, S., Everett, S., Farahi, A., Romer, A. K., Rykoff, E. S., Wang, F., Bocquet, S., Cross, D., Faridjoo, R., Franco, J., Gardner, G., Kwiecien, M., Laubner, D., McDaniel, A., O'Donnell, J. H., Sanchez, L., Schmidt, E., Sripada, S., Swart, A., Upsdell, E., Webber, A., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Alves, O., Bacon, D., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carnero Rosell, A., Carretero, J., Collins, C. A., Costanzi, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., Davis, T. M., Doel, P., Ferrero, I., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Giannini, G., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Hilton, M., Hinton, S. R., Honscheid, K., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Mann, R. G., Marshall, J. L., Mena-Fernández, J., Miller, C. J., Miquel, R., Myles, J., Palmese, A., Pieres, A., Plazas Malagón, A. A., Rooney, P. J., Sahlen, M., Sanchez, E., Sanchez Cid, D., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Stott, J. P., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., Tarle, G., To, C., Viana, P. T. P., Weaverdyck, N., & Wiseman, P.
arXiv e-prints
The XMM cluster survey: exploring scaling relations and completeness of the dark energy survey year 3 redMaPPer cluster catalogue (2023)
Upsdell, E. W., Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Wilkinson, R., Turner, D. J., Hilton, M., Rykoff, E., Farahi, A., Bhargava, S., Jeltema, T., Klein, M., Bermeo, A., Collins, C. A., Ebrahimpour, L., Hollowood, D., Mann, R. G., Manolopoulou, M., Miller, C. J., Rooney, P. J., Sahlén, Martin, Stott, J. P., Viana, P. T. P., Allam, S., Alves, O., Bacon, D., Bertin, E., Bocquet, S., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Costanzi, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Dietrich, J. P., Everett, S., Ferrero, I., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gerdes, D. W., Gutierrez, G., Hinton, S. R., Honscheid, K., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Marshall, J. L., Mena-Fernández, J., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J. J., Ogando, R. L. C., Pieres, A., Raveri, M., Rodriguez-Monroy, M., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., Tarle, G., To, C., Weaverdyck, N., Weller, J., & Wiseman, P.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
The XMM Cluster Survey analysis of the SDSS DR8 redMaPPer catalogue: implications for scatter, selection bias, and isotropy in cluster scaling relations (2022)
Giles, P. A., Romer, A. K., Wilkinson, R., Bermeo, A., Turner, D. J., Hilton, M., Upsdell, E. W., Rooney, P. J., Bhargava, S., Ebrahimpour, L., Farahi, A., Mann, R. G., Manolopoulou, M., Mayers, J., Vergara, C., Viana, P. T. P., Collins, C. A., Hollowood, D., Jeltema, T., Miller, C. J., Nichol, R. C., Noorali, R., Splettstoesser, M., & Stott, J. P.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dwarf AGNs from Optical Variability for the Origins of Seeds (DAVOS): insights from the dark energy survey deep fields (2022)
Burke, Colin J., Liu, Xin, Shen, Yue, Phadke, Kedar A., Yang, Qian, Hartley, Will G., Harrison, Ian, Palmese, Antonella, Guo, Hengxiao, Zhang, Kaiwen, Kron, Richard, Turner, David J., Giles, Paul A., Lidman, Christopher, Chen, Yu-Ching, Gruendl, Robert A., Choi, Ami, Amon, Alexandra, Sheldon, Erin, Aguena, M., Allam, S., Andrade-Oliveira, F., Bacon, D., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Conselice, C., Costanzi, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., Davis, T. M., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Everett, S., Ferrero, I., Flaugher, B., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hinton, S. R., Hollowood, D. L., Honscheid, K., Hoyle, B., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Maia, M. A. G., Marshall, J. L., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Morgan, R., Paz-Chinchón, F., Pieres, A., Malagón, A. A. Plazas, Reil, K., Romer, A. K., Sanchez, E., Schubnell, M., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Suchyta, E., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., To, C., Varga, T. N., Wilkinson, R. D., & DES Collaboration
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Velocity dispersions of clusters in the Dark Energy Survey Y3 redMaPPer catalogue (2022)
Wetzell, V., Jeltema, T. E., Hegland, B., Everett, S., Giles, P. A., Wilkinson, R., Farahi, A., Costanzi, M., Hollowood, D. L., Upsdell, E., Saro, A., Myles, J., Bermeo, A., Bhargava, S., Collins, C. A., Cross, D., Eiger, O., Gardner, G., Hilton, M., Jobel, J., Kelly, P., Laubner, D., Liddle, A. R., Mann, R. G., Martinez, V., Mayers, J., McDaniel, A., Romer, A. K., Rooney, P., Sahlen, M., Stott, J., Swart, A., Turner, D. J., Viana, P. T. P., Abbott, T. M. C., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Andrade-Oliveira, F., Annis, J., Asorey, J., Bertin, E., Burke, D. L., Calcino, J., Carnero Rosell, A., Carollo, D., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Choi, A., Crocce, M., da Costa, L. N., Pereira, M. E. S., Davis, T. M., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Dietrich, J. P., Doel, P., Evrard, A. E., Ferrero, I., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Glazebrook, K., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hinton, S. R., Honscheid, K., James, D. J., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lahav, O., Lewis, G. F., Lidman, C., Lima, M., Maia, M. A. G., Marshall, J. L., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Morgan, R., Palmese, A., Paz-Chinchón, F., Plazas Malagón, A. A., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Soares-Santos, M., Suchyta, E., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Tucker, B. E., Tucker, D. L., Varga, T. N., Weller, J., & DES Collaboration
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
The XXL Survey. XLII. The L<SUB>X</SUB> - σ<SUB>v</SUB> relation of galaxy groups and clusters detected in the XXL and GAMA surveys (2022)
Giles, P. A., Robotham, A., Ramos-Ceja, M. E., Maughan, B. J., Sereno, M., McGee, S., Phillipps, S., Iovino, A., Turner, D. J., Adami, C., Brough, S., Chiappetti, L., Driver, S. P., Evrard, A. E., Farahi, A., Gastaldello, F., Holwerda, B. W., Hopkins, A. M., Koulouridis, E., Pacaud, F., Pierre, M., & Pimbblet, K. A.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
The Dark Energy Survey Data Release 2 (2021)
Abbott, T. M. C., Adamów, M., Aguena, M., Allam, S., Amon, A., Annis, J., Avila, S., Bacon, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Becker, M. R., Bernstein, G. M., Bertin, E., Bhargava, S., Bridle, S. L., Brooks, D., Burke, D. L., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Castander, F. J., Cawthon, R., Chang, C., Choi, A., Conselice, C., Costanzi, M., Crocce, M., da Costa, L. N., Davis, T. M., De Vicente, J., DeRose, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H. T., Dietrich, J. P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eckert, K., Elvin-Poole, J., Everett, S., Evrard, A. E., Ferrero, I., Ferté, A., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Friedel, D., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gelman, L., Gerdes, D. W., Giannantonio, T., Gill, M. S. S., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hartley, W. G., Hinton, S. R., Hollowood, D. L., Honscheid, K., Huterer, D., James, D. J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M. D., Kent, S., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lahav, O., Li, T. S., Lidman, C., Lin, H., MacCrann, N., Maia, M. A. G., Manning, T. A., Maloney, J. D., March, M., Marshall, J. L., Martini, P., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Morgan, R., Myles, J., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R. L. C., Palmese, A., Paz-Chinchón, F., Petravick, D., Pieres, A., Plazas, A. A., Pond, C., Rodriguez-Monroy, M., Romer, A. K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E. S., Sako, M., Sanchez, E., Santiago, B., Scarpine, V., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, J. Allyn, Smith, M., Soares-Santos, M., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., To, C., Tremblay, P. E., Troxel, M. A., Tucker, D. L., Turner, D. J., Varga, T. N., Walker, A. R., Wechsler, R. H., Weller, J., Wester, W., Wilkinson, R. D., Yanny, B., Zhang, Y., Nikutta, R., Fitzpatrick, M., Jacques, A., Scott, A., Olsen, K., Huang, L., Herrera, D., Juneau, S., Nidever, D., Weaver, B. A., Adean, C., Correia, V., de Freitas, M., Freitas, F. N., Singulani, C., Vila-Verde, G., & Linea Science Server
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Grants and Awards
Doctoral Open Research Prize
This was awarded near the end of my PhD, for my work developing open-source research tools for X-ray astronomy.
2022
NVIDIA Academic Grant
Principal Investigator
This grant included an NVIDIA RTX 8000 graphics card, to use for the creation of machine learning tools to locate Pea Galaxies.
2021
STFC DISCNet PhD Studentship
This scholarship fully funded my PhD.
2018-2022
Education
University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Doctor of Philosophy
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Advisor: Professor Kathy Romer
September 2018 - September 2022
University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
MPhys
Astrophysics
1st Class Degree
September 2014 - September 2018