Feng-Yuan (Frey) Liu
PhD researcher in astronomy · Mary Brück Scholar · Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh
Some of the Universe’s busiest stellar nurseries are also its best hiding places. Dust catches the light from newborn stars, so a galaxy can be building stars at a furious pace while appearing surprisingly faint in visible light. I use telescopes that see different kinds of light to find what one instrument alone might miss.
I am an astronomy PhD researcher and Mary Brück Scholar at the University of Edinburgh. My main question is simple to ask and hard to answer: how did galaxies grow across cosmic time, including the parts hidden by dust? My work brings together the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), ALMA, NOEMA, the VLA, and other observatories. I also follow a delightful astronomical plot twist: some extremely distant-looking objects turn out to be cold neighbours in our own Galaxy.
Start exploring
- Research — why I pair infrared images with radio and millimetre observations.
- Publications — papers, preprints, and a link to my complete NASA ADS record.
- Outreach — astronomy beyond journal pages, in classrooms, books, talks, and photographs.
Selected publications
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2026Liu, F.-Y., McLeod, D. J., Sutlieff, B. J., & others. (2026). A clear detection of proper motion confirms that the claimed z approximately 32 galaxy candidate, “Capotauro”, is a very cold brown dwarf. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Accepted.
@article{liu2026capotauro, author = {Liu, F.-Y. and McLeod, D. J. and Sutlieff, B. J. and others}, title = {A clear detection of proper motion confirms that the claimed z approximately 32 galaxy candidate, ``Capotauro'', is a very cold brown dwarf}, journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}, year = {2026}, note = {Accepted}, arxiv = {2608.07461} } -
2026Liu, F.-Y., Dunlop, J. S., McLure, R. J., & others. (2026). JWST PRIMER: A deep JWST study of all ALMA-detected galaxies in PRIMER COSMOS – dust-obscured star-formation history back to z approximately 7. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 545, 1961.
@article{liu2026primer, author = {Liu, F.-Y. and Dunlop, J. S. and McLure, R. J. and others}, title = {JWST PRIMER: A deep JWST study of all ALMA-detected galaxies in PRIMER COSMOS -- dust-obscured star-formation history back to z approximately 7}, journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society}, volume = {545}, pages = {1961}, year = {2026}, arxiv = {2503.07774} } -
2024Liu, F.-Y., Dai, Y. S., Omont, A., & others. (2024). Dust and Cold Gas Properties of Starburst HyLIRG Quasars at z approximately 2.5. The Astrophysical Journal, 964, 136.
@article{liu2024quasars, author = {Liu, F.-Y. and Dai, Y. S. and Omont, A. and others}, title = {Dust and Cold Gas Properties of Starburst HyLIRG Quasars at z approximately 2.5}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, volume = {964}, pages = {136}, year = {2024}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ad24fe} }
A little about me
My Chinese given name, 丰源, means “abundant sources”. It is a fortunate name for an observational astronomer! I grew up and studied astronomy in China; now I work at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and usually go by Frey. Outside research, I write and translate science, take photographs, and look for excuses to visit a telescope or a good walking trail. More about me →
Feng-Yuan (Frey) Liu
PhD researcher in astronomy · Mary Brück Scholar
Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh
- PhD Astronomy · Edinburgh
- MSc Astrophysics · NAOC
- BSc Astronomy · Nanjing