Lines of research: Formation & Evolution of Galaxies (FYEG)

Formation & Evolution of Galaxies (FYEG)

Galaxies are formed progressively through a complex combination of gas accretion, star formation and merger processes with other galaxies. The aim of the Galaxy Formation & Evolution research line is to unveil the physical mechanisms responsible for the most significant transformations in these objects. The research team that makes up the research line is strongly involved in the development of forefront instrumentation (EMIR, FRIDA, GTCAO, HARMONI, OSIRIS, WEAVE) and has an important role in the scientific exploitation and  development of international projects (SDSS, EUCLID, LSST) for the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies.

 
The line stands out for studies on the three-dimensional structure of the Milky Way (including its system of globular clusters and satellite galaxies), the characterisation of stellar populations and dynamics of nearby galaxies, the cycle of activity of supermassive black holes at the centres of  galaxies, the conditions of the interstellar medium in the first galaxies, and the role of dark matter in their evolution. Besides, thanks to the recently created simulations group, we also aim to relate observations with theory by means of numerical models over cosmological volumes and thus obtain predictions for future observations.
  • News
    A galaxy which outshines the rest
    Gas is essential to the process of forming a galaxy. During the first stages the amount of gas present determines the number of stars which will be in the...
  • Publication
    A geometric distance to the supermassive black Hole of NGC 3783
    The angular size of the broad line region (BLR) of the nearby active galactic nucleus NGC 3783 has been spatially resolved by recent observations with VLTI...
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    A giant radio galaxy with three cycles of episodic jet activity from LoTSS DR2
    The excellent sensitivity and optimum resolution of LoTSS DR2 at 144 MHz has enabled us to discover a giant radio galaxy (J1225+4011) with three distinct...
  • Publication
    A giant thin stellar stream in the Coma Galaxy Cluster
    The study of dynamically cold stellar streams reveals information about the gravitational potential where they reside and provides important constraints on the...
  • Publication
    A giant umbrella-like stellar stream around the tidal ring galaxy NGC 922
    Context. Tidal ring galaxies (TRGs) are rarely observed in the local universe due to their intrinsically transient nature. The tidal ring structures are the...
  • Publication
    A glint in the eye: Photographic plate archive searches for non-terrestrial artefacts
    In this paper, we present a simple strategy to identify Non-Terrestrial artefacts [NTAs; Haqq-Misra and Kopparapu (2012)] in or near geosynchronous Earth orbits...
  • Publication
    A Headless Tadpole Galaxy: The High Gas-phase Metallicity of the Ultra-diffuse Galaxy UGC 2162
    The cosmological numerical simulations tell us that accretion of external metal-poor gas drives star formation (SF) in galaxy disks. One the best pieces of...
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    A Herschel view of the far-infrared properties of submillimetre galaxies
    We study a sample of 61submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) selected from ground-based surveys, with known spectroscopic redshifts and observed with the Herschel Space...
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    A high angular resolution view of the PAH emission in Seyfert galaxies using JWST/MRS data
    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carbon-based molecules that are ubiquitous in a variety of astrophysical objects and environments. In this work we...