Professor Paul Crowther

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Professor of Astrophysics

Professor Paul Crowther
Profile picture of Professor Paul Crowther
paul.crowther@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 22 24291

Full contact details

Professor Paul Crowther
Department of Physics and Astronomy
E43
Hicks Building
Hounsfield Road
Sheffield
S3 7RH
Profile

My research interests involve the study of the birth, life and death of the most massive stars in the universe. Such stars are rare, but dominate the ionising budget of galaxies and the energetics of young stellar populations.

My primary scientific goals involve in the study of late evolutionary phases of massive stars, notably Wolf-Rayet stars. This is achieved via ultraviolet to infrared observations with large ground- and space- based telescopes (e.g. VLT, HST), plus sophisticated analysis tools.

I have revised the observed stellar mass limit upwards, discovered the first super star cluster in the Milky Way and established the metallicity dependence of Wolf-Rayet winds.

I have presented 4 invited review papers at international meetings in the past 5 years, published over 190 journal papers including a review paper in Annual Review of Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Career history

  • PPARC postdoctoral research associate (1993-1998, University College London)
  • Royal Society University Research Fellow (1998-2003 UCL, 2003-2006 Sheffield)
  • Reader in Astrophysics (2005-2006, Sheffield)
  • Professor of Astrophysics (2007-, Sheffield)
Qualifications
  • Maths & Astronomy BSc (1986-1989, University College London)
  • Astrophysics PhD (1989-1993, University College London)
Research interests

Primary research interests involve the study of massive stars in a variety of environments. Lightweight stars, like our Sun, make up the overwhelming majority of stars in our galaxy and live a long and fairly peaceful life.

In contrast massive stars are very rare and live short intensive lives, after which they undergo core-collapse resulting in a supernova explosion.

Massive stars play a major role in the ecology of their parent galaxies since they dominate the ionising budget of most galaxies and inject kinetic energy via stellar winds and supernovae.

My primary focus involves the study of late evolutionary phases of massive stars, notably Wolf-Rayet stars. This is achieved via ultraviolet to infrared observations of young stellar populations in the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies using large ground- and space- based telescopes (e.g. VLT, HST), plus sophisticated analysis tools.

Notable highlights involve the upwards revision of the observed stellar mass limit, the discovery of the first super star cluster in the Milky Way (Westerlund 1), and establishing the metallicity dependence of Wolf-Rayet winds. My current research team involves PhD student Thaer Alkousa, RA Joachim Bestenlehner and honorary professor Andy Pollock is associated with the group.

Publications

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Journal articles

All publications

Books

Journal articles

Chapters

  • Levan A, Crowther P, de Grijs R, Langer N, Xu D & Yoon S-C (2016) Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors, Gamma-Ray Bursts (pp. 35-80). Springer Netherlands RIS download Bibtex download

Conference proceedings papers

  • Crowther PA (2016) Wolf-Rayet content of the Milky Way. Wolf-Rayet Stars : Proceedings of an International Workshop held in Potsdam, Germany, 1.–5. June 2015 View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Rosslowe CK & Crowther PA (2014) Westerlund 1 is a Galactic Treasure Chest: The Wolf-Rayet Stars. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. 9(S307) (pp 135-136) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Miszalski B, Crowther PA, De Marco O, Koeppen J, Moffat AFJ, Acker A & Hillwig TC (2013) IC 4663: The First Unambiguous [WN] Wolf-Rayet Central Star of a Planetary Nebula. 18TH EUROPEAN WHITE DWARF WORKSHOP, Vol. 469 (pp 281-+) View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bibby JL, Shara MM, Crowther PA & Moffat AFJ (2012) Searching for Woff-Rayet Stars Beyond the Local Group. FOUR DECADES OF RESEARCH ON MASSIVE STARS, Vol. 465 (pp 478-+) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Vink JS, Heger A, Krumholz MR, Puls J, Banerjee S, Castro N, Chen K-J, Chenè A-N, Crowther PA, Daminelli A , Gräfener G et al (2012) Very Massive Stars in the local Universe. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. 10(H16) (pp 51-79) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martins F, Bergemann M, Bestenlehner JM, Crowther PA, Hamann WR, Najarro F, Nieva MF, Przybilla N, Freimanis J, Hou W & Kaper L (2012) SpS5 - II. Stellar and wind parameters. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. 10(H16) (pp 420-428) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Hirschi R, Walborn NR & Yusof N (2012) Very Massive Stars and the Eddington Limit. FOUR DECADES OF RESEARCH ON MASSIVE STARS, Vol. 465 (pp 196-+) RIS download Bibtex download
  • de Koter A, Sana H, Evans CJ, Bagnoli T, Bastian N, Bestenlehner JM, Bonanos A, Bressert E, Brott I, Cantiello M , Carraro G et al (2011) The O stars in the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 328 (pp 012022-012022) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Lennon DJ, Evans CJ, Bastian N, Beletsky Y, Brott I, Cantiello M, Carraro G, Simon Clark J, Crowther PA, De Koter A , De Mink SE et al (2011) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula survey. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. 6(S272) (pp 296-297) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Chené AN, Schnurr O, Crowther PA, Lajus EF & Moffat AFJ (2011) Very massive binaries in R136. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. 6(S272) (pp 497-498) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Yusof N, Kassim HA, Hirschi R, Crowther PA, Schnurr O, Parker RJ & Goodwin SP (2010) Life and death of very massive stars. Proceedings of Science RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2010) Hot Massive Stars: The Impact of HST. IMPACT OF HST ON EUROPEAN ASTRONOMY (pp 3-10) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Moll SL, de Grijs R, Mengel S, Smith LJ & Crowther PA (2009) Dynamical mass estimates of young massive clusters in NGC1140 and M83. ASTROPHYSICS AND SPACE SCIENCE, Vol. 324(2-4) (pp 177-182) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2008) Physical and wind properties of [WC] stars. HYDROGEN-DEFICIENT STARS, Vol. 391 (pp 83-93) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther P & Smartt S (2007) Core-collapse supernovae and their massive progenitors. Astronomy & Geophysics, Vol. 48(1) (pp 1.35-1.38) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Foellmi C, Marchenko SV, Moffat AFJ, Crowther PA & Brillant S (2007) LMC-BAT129: Revealing the structure of a Wolf-Rayet wind. MASSIVE STARS IN INTERACTING BINARIES, Vol. 367 (pp 431-+) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA & Clark JS (2007) IC10 x-1 (WN+cc). Massive Stars in Interacting Binaries, Vol. 367 (pp 499-504) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2006) Observed metallicity dependence of winds from WR stars. Stellar Evolution at Low Metallicity: Mass Loss, Explosions, Cosmology, Vol. 353 (pp 157-170) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hadfield LJ & Crowther PA (2006) How extreme are the WR clusters in NGC 3125?. Stellar Evolution at Low Metallicity: Mass Loss, Explosions, Cosmology, Vol. 353 (pp 247-250) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2006) Properties of hot, massive stars: The impact of FUSE. Astrophysics in the Far Ultraviolet: Five Years of Discovery with FUSE, Vol. 348 (pp 107-117) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Leitherer C, Crowther P, Eenens P, Fullerton A, Koenigsberger G, Massey P, Meynet G, Moffat T, Owocki S & Puls J (2005) Working Group on Massive Stars. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. 1(T26A) (pp 233-235) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Hadfield LJ, Schild H & Schmutz W (2005) The disk Wolf-Rayet population of the nuclear starburst galaxy M83. Starbursts: From 30 Doradus to Lyman Break Galaxies, Vol. 329 (pp 21-25) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2004) Fundamental parameters of massive stars. EAS Publications Series, Vol. 13 (pp 1-20) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2004) Massive stars in transition. EAS Publications Series, Vol. 13 (pp 119-140) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther P (2003) Summary of the RAS NAM Discussion Meeting on Massive Stars. Observatory, Vol. 123(1176) (pp 280-282) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Smith LJ, Norris RPF & Crowther PA (2002) . Astrophysics and Space Science, Vol. 281(1/2) (pp 215-216) RIS download Bibtex download

Preprints

  • Crowther PA & Castro N (2023) Mapping the core of the Tarantula Nebula with VLT-MUSE. III. A template for metal-poor starburst regions in the visual and far-ultraviolet, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Barlow MJ, Royer P, Hillier DJ, Bestenlehner JM, Morris PW & Wesson R (2023) Oxygen abundance of gamma Vel from [O III] 88um Herschel/PACS spectroscopy, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bestenlehner JM, Enßlin T, Bergemann M, Crowther PA, Greiner M & Selig M (2023) Spectroscopic analysis of hot, massive stars in large spectroscopic surveys with de-idealised models, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Vink JS, Mehner A, Crowther PA, Fullerton A, Garcia M, Martins F, Morrell N, Oskinova LM, St-Louis N, ud-Doula A , Sander AAC et al (2023) X-Shooting ULLYSES: massive stars at low metallicity. I. Project Description, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hawcroft C, Sana H, Mahy L, Sundqvist JO, de Koter A, Crowther PA, Bestenlehner JM, Brands SA, David-Uraz A, Decin L , Erba C et al (2023) X-Shooting ULLYSES: Massive stars at low metallicity. III. Terminal wind speeds of ULLYSES massive stars, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Brands SA, de Koter A, Bestenlehner JM, Crowther PA, Kaper L, Caballero-Nieves SM & Gräfener G (2023) Extinction towards the cluster R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud: An extinction law from the near-infrared to the ultraviolet, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Rate G & Bestenlehner JM (2023) Line Luminosities of Galactic and Magellanic Cloud Wolf-Rayet stars, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Sana H, Ramírez-Agudelo OH, Hénault-Brunet V, Mahy L, Almeida LA, de Koter A, Bestenlehner JM, Evans CJ, Langer N, Schneider FRN , Crowther PA et al (2022) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: Observational evidence for two distinct populations of massive runaway stars in 30 Doradus, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Sun N-C, Maund JR & Crowther PA (2022) A UV census of the environments of stripped-envelope supernovae. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Broos PS, Townsley LK, Pollock AMT, Tehrani KA & Gagne M (2022) X-ray properties of early-type stars in the Tarantula Nebula from T-ReX. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2022) ULLYSES and Complementary Surveys of Massive Stars in the Magellanic Clouds. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Brands SA, de Koter A, Bestenlehner JM, Crowther PA, Sundqvist JO, Puls J, Caballero-Nieves SM, Abdul-Masih M, Driessen FA, García M , Geen S et al (2022) The R136 star cluster dissected with Hubble Space Telescope/STIS. III. The most massive stars and their clumped winds, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bestenlehner JM, Crowther PA, Broos PS, Pollock AMT & Townsley LK (2021) Melnick 33Na: a very massive colliding wind binary system in 30 Doradus, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Castro N, Crowther PA, Evans CJ, Vink JS, Puls J, Herrero A, Garcia M, Selman FJ, Roth MM & Simón-Díaz S (2021) Mapping the core of the Tarantula Nebula with VLT-MUSE II. The spectroscopic Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of OB stars in NGC 2070, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bestenlehner JM, Crowther PA, Caballero-Nieves SM, Schneider FRN, Simon-Diaz S, Brands SA, de Koter A, Graefener G, Herrero A, Langer N , Lennon DJ et al (2020) The R136 star cluster dissected with Hubble Space Telescope/STIS. II. Physical properties of the most massive stars in R136, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Langer N, Schürmann C, Stoll K, Marchant P, Lennon DJ, Mahy L, de Mink SE, Quast M, Riedel W, Sana H , Schneider P et al (2019) Properties of OB star-black hole systems derived from detailed binary evolution models, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Richard J, Bacon R, Blaizot J, Boissier S, Boselli A, NicolasBouché , Brinchmann J, Castro N, Ciesla L, Crowther P , Daddi E et al (2019) BlueMUSE: Project Overview and Science Cases, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Tehrani KA, Crowther PA, Bestenlehner JM, Littlefair SP, Pollock AMT, Parker RJ & Schnurr O (2019) Weighing Melnick 34: the most massive binary system known, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Schneider FRN, Sana H, Evans CJ, Bestenlehner JM, Castro N, Fossati L, Gräfener G, Langer N, Ramírez-Agudelo OH, Sabín-Sanjulián C , Simón-Díaz S et al (2018) Response to comment on "An excess of massive stars in the local 30 Doradus starburst", arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Schneider FRN, Ramírez-Agudelo OH, Tramper F, Bestenlehner JM, Castro N, Sana H, Evans CJ, Sabín-Sanjulián C, Simón-Díaz S, Langer N , Fossati L et al (2018) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XXIX. Massive star formation in the local 30 Doradus starburst, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Platais I, Lennon DJ, van der Marel RP, Bellini A, Sabbi E, Watkins LL, Sohn ST, Walborn NR, Bedin LR, Evans CJ , de Mink SE et al (2018) HST astrometry in the 30 Doradus region: II. Runaway stars from new proper motions in the Large Magellanic Cloud, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Davies B, Crowther PA & Beasor ER (2018) The luminosities of cool supergiants in the Magellanic Clouds, and the Humphreys-Davidson limit revisited, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Lohr ME, Clark JS, Najarro F, Patrick LR, Crowther PA & Evans CJ (2018) The Arches cluster revisited: II. A massive eclipsing spectroscopic binary in the Arches cluster, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Castro N, Crowther PA, Evans CJ, Mackey J, Castro-Rodriguez N, Vink JS, Melnick J & Selman F (2018) Mapping the core of the Tarantula Nebula with VLT-MUSE: I. Spectral and nebular content around R136, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Schneider FRN, Sana H, Evans CJ, Bestenlehner JM, Castro N, Fossati L, Gräfener G, Langer N, Ramírez-Agudelo OH, Sabín-Sanjulián C , Simón-Díaz S et al (2018) An excess of massive stars in the local 30 Doradus starburst, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Castro N, Evans C, Vink J, Melnick J & Selman F (2018) Dissecting the Core of the Tarantula Nebula with MUSE, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Rosslowe CK & Crowther PA (2017) A deep near-infrared spectroscopic survey of the Scutum-Crux arm for Wolf-Rayet stars, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Caballero-Nieves SM, Castro N & Evans CJ (2017) The Tarantula Nebula as a template for extragalactic star forming regions from VLT/MUSE and HST/STIS, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ramírez-Agudelo OH, Sana H, de Koter A, Tramper F, Grin NJ, Schneider FRN, Langer N, Puls J, Markova N, Bestenlehner JM , Castro N et al (2017) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXIV. Stellar properties of the O-type giants and supergiants in 30 Doradus, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Levan A, Crowther P, de Grijs R, Langer N, Xu D & Yoon S-C (2016) Gamma-ray burst progenitors, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2015) Wolf-Rayet content of the Milky Way, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bestenlehner JM, Gräfener G, Vink JS, Najarro F, de Koter A, Sana H, Evans CJ, Crowther PA, Hénault-Brunet V, Herrero A , Langer N et al (2014) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XVII. Physical and wind properties of massive stars at the top of the main sequence, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Apellániz JM, Evans CJ, Barbá RH, Gräfener G, Bestenlehner JM, Crowther PA, García M, Herrero A, Sana H, Simón-Díaz S , Taylor WD et al (2014) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XVI. The optical+NIR extinction laws in 30 Doradus and the photometric determination of the effective temperatures of OB stars, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Doran EI, Crowther PA, de Koter A, Evans CJ, McEvoy C, Walborn NR, Bastian N, Bestenlehner JM, Grafener G, Herrero A , Kohler K et al (2013) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey - XI. A census of the hot luminous stars and their feedback in 30 Doradus, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • van Loon JT, Bailey M, Tatton BL, Apellaniz JM, Crowther PA, de Koter A, Evans CJ, Henault-Brunet V, Howarth ID, Richter P , Sana H et al (2012) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. IX. The interstellar medium seen through Diffuse Interstellar Bands and neutral sodium, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2012) On the association between core-collapse supernovae and HII regions, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Miszalski B, Crowther PA, De Marco O, Köppen J, Moffat AFJ, Acker A & Hillwig TC (2012) IC4663: the first unambiguous [WN] Wolf-Rayet central star of a planetary nebula, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Hirschi R, Walborn NR & Yusof N (2012) Very Massive Stars and the Eddington Limit, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2012) Environments of massive stars and the upper mass limit, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bressert E, Bastian N, Evans CJ, Sana H, Hénault-Brunet V, Goodwin SP, Parker RJ, Gieles M, Bestenlehner JM, Vink JS , Taylor WD et al (2012) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey IV: Candidates for isolated high-mass star formation in 30 Doradus, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Miszalski B, Crowther PA, De Marco O, Köppen J, Moffat AFJ, Acker A & Hillwig TC (2012) IC 4663: The first unambiguous [WN] Wolf-Rayet central star of a planetary nebula, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Davies B, Clark JS, Trombley C, Figer DF, Najarro F, Crowther PA, Kudritzki R-P, Thompson M, Urquhart JS & Hindson L (2011) The G305 star-forming complex: the central star clusters Danks 1 and Danks 2, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bestenlehner JM, Vink JS, Gräfener G, Najarro F, Evans CJ, Bastian N, Bonanos AZ, Bressert E, Crowther PA, Doran E , Friedrich K et al (2011) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey III: A very massive star in apparent isolation from the massive cluster R136, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Taylor WD, Evans CJ, Sana H, Walborn NR, de Mink SE, Stroud VE, Alvarez-Candal A, Barbá RH, Bestenlehner JM, Bonanos AZ , Brott I et al (2011) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey II: R139 revealed as a massive binary system, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Evans CJ, Taylor WD, Henault-Brunet V, Sana H, de Koter A, Simon-Diaz S, Carraro G, Bagnoli T, Bastian N, Bestenlehner JM , Bonanos AZ et al (2011) The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey I: Introduction and observational overview, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Schnurr O, Hirschi R, Yusof N, Parker RJ, Goodwin SP & Kassim HA (2010) The R136 star cluster hosts several stars whose individual masses greatly exceed the accepted 150 Msun stellar mass limit, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bibby JL & Crowther PA (2010) A Very Large Telescope imaging and spectroscopic survey of the Wolf-Rayet population in NGC 7793, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Barnard R, Carpano S, Clark JS, Dhillon VS & Pollock AMT (2010) NGC 300 X-1 is a Wolf-Rayet/Black-Hole binary, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Walborn NR, Howarth ID, Evans CJ, Crowther PA, Moffat AFJ, St-Louis N, Farina C, Bosch GL, Morrell NI, Barba RH & van Loon JT (2010) The Onfp Class in the Magellanic Clouds, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Welty DE & Crowther PA (2010) Interstellar Ti II in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Furness J, Crowther P, Morris P, Barbosa C, Blum R, Conti P & van Dyk S (2009) Mid-Infrared diagnostics of metal-rich HII regions from VLT and Spitzer Spectroscopy of Young Massive Stars in W31, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Bibby JL, Furness JP & Clark JS (2009) Contamination of short GRBs by giant magnetar flares: Significance of downward revision in distance to SGR 1806-20, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA & Evans CJ (2009) A FEROS spectroscopic study of the extreme O supergiant He 3-759, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA & Bibby JL (2009) On the massive star content of the nearby dwarf irregular Wolf-Rayet galaxy IC 4662, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA & Furness JP (2008) On the central ionizing star of G23.96+0.15 and near-IR spectral classification of O stars, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Moll S, de Grijs R, Anders P, Crowther P, Larsen S, Smith L & Zwart SP (2008) Dynamical mass of a star cluster in M83: a test of fibre-fed multi-object spectroscopy, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Negueruela I, Clark JS, Crowther PA & Hadfield L (2008) Westerlund 1 as a Template for Massive Star Evolution, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Bibby JL, Crowther PA, Furness JP & Clark JS (2008) A downward revision to the distance of the 1806-20 cluster and associated magnetar from Gemini near-Infrared spectroscopy, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2007) Physical and Wind Properties of [WC] Stars, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Moll SL, Mengel S, de Grijs R, Smith LJ & Crowther PA (2007) Cluster and nebular properties of the central star-forming region of NGC 1140, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2007) Hot Massive Stars: The Impact of HST, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Carpano S, Hadfield LJ & Pollock AMT (2007) On the optical counterpart of NGC300 X-1 and the global Wolf-Rayet content of NGC300, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Hadfield LJ, Clark JS, Negueruela I & Vacca WD (2006) A census of the Wolf-Rayet content in Westerlund 1 from near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2006) Metallicity Dependent Wolf-Rayet Winds, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hadfield LJ & Crowther PA (2006) How extreme are the Wolf-Rayet clusters in NGC3125?, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA, Prinja RK, Pettini M & Steidel CC (2006) On the reliability of CIV 1549 as an abundance indicator for high redshift star-forming galaxies, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA & Hadfield LJ (2005) Reduced Wolf-Rayet Line Luminosities at Low Metallicity, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2005) Observed Metallicity Dependence of Winds from WR stars, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Muno MP, Clark JS, Crowther PA, Dougherty SM, de Grijs R, Law C, McMillan SLW, Morris MR, Negueruela I, Pooley D , Zwart SP et al (2005) A Neutron Star with a Massive Progenitor in Westerlund 1, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther P, Morris P & Smith J (2005) An Ultraviolet to Mid-Infrared Study of the Physical and Wind Properties of HD 164270 (WC9) and Comparison to BD+30 3639 ([WC9]), arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Clark JS, Negueruela I, Crowther PA & Goodwin SP (2005) On the massive stellar population of the Super Star Cluster Westerlund 1, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA (2004) Properties of Hot, Massive Stars: The Impact of FUSE, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Morris PW, Crowther PA & Houck JR (2004) Spitzer-IRS Sectroscopy of the Prototype Wolf-Rayet star EZ CMa (HD 50896), arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Conti PS & Crowther PA (2003) MSX Mid infrared imaging of massive star birth environments. II: Giant HII regions, arXiv. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Crowther PA () Wolf-Rayet Populations at High Metallicity. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Martins F, Bergemann M, Bestenlehner JM, Crowther PA, Hamann WR, Najarro F, Nieva MF, Przybilla N, Freimanis J, Hou W , Kaper L et al () Summary of IAU GA SpS 5 II: Stellar and Wind Parameters. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
Grants
  • Consolidated Grant for Sheffield astrophysics, STFC, £1.3m (2021-2024, CoI)
  • Consolidated Grant for Sheffield astrophysics, STFC, £1.0m (2018-2021, Col)
  • Consolidated Grant for Sheffield Astrophysics, STFC, £1.2M (2015-2018, CoI)
  • Consolidated Grant for Sheffield Astrophysics, STFC, £613K (2012-2015, CoI)
  • Massive Stars at early and late evolution at phases, PPARC, £155K (2006-2009, PI)
  • Astronomical Computing at Sheffield, PPARC, £28K (2006-2008, PI)
  • University Research Fellowship & Extension, Royal Society, £303K (1998-2006, PI)

Recent major telescope awards

  • A UV census of the sites of core-collapse supernovae, HST SNAP (Cycle 24, CoI)
  • The Tarantula - revealed by X-Ray's (T-ReX), Chandra, X-day Visionary Project (Cycle 15, CoI)
  • A massive star census of the starburst cluster R136, HST, 39 orbits (Cycles 19-20, PI)
  • VLT/FLAMES Tarantula Survey, VLT, Large Programme (CoI)
Teaching activities

Undergraduate taught modules (current)

  • PHY104 Introduction to Astrophysics

Undergraduate taught courses (recent)

  • PHY232 The Dynamic Interstellar Medium (until 2014/15)
  • PHY305 Stellar Atmospheres (until 2015/16)
  • PHY404 Star Formation & Evolution
Professional activities and memberships
  • Member of Royal Society URF appointment panel Ai (2014+, Deputy Chair 2016-2018)
  • Member of UK E-ELT Steering Committee (2009-2016)
  • Organizing Committee for IAU Commission 29: Stellar Spectroscopy (2012-2015)
  • Member of International Astronomical Union
  • Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
  • Member of the Institute of Physics

Departmental administration

  • Head of Department (June 2016-Jan 2017, Jan 2018-Aug 2022)
  • Director of Learning & Teaching (2012/13-2015/16)

University administration

  • Faculty Executive Board (Jan 2018-Aug 2022)
  • Member of Senate (2012/13-15/16, 17/18-2020/21)
  • Senate Learning & Teaching Committee (2019/20-2021/22)

Public engagement

Deep Sky Videos: Lead contributor from Sheffield to YouTube channel – www.deepskyvideos.com

Sounds of the Cosmos, Joint Director of music/science performance which premiered during Festival of the Mind 2014 and was presented at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015 and Latitude Festival 2015 – pacrowther.staff.shef.ac.uk/sounds-cosmos.html

I have appeared on Channel 4 news, Sky TV news, BBC Radio 4 Today and the NHK (Japan) Cosmic Front documentary series. I regularly provide astronomy talks to primary and secondary schools and local amateur societies.