Start year
2006
Organizational Unit
Organizing institutions
Grants related:
General
Description
Welcome to the Traces of Galaxy Formation research group website.
We are a large, diverse, and very active research group aiming to provide a comprehensive picture for the formation of galaxies in the Universe. Rooted in detailed stellar population analysis, we are constantly exploring and developing new tools and ideas to understand how galaxies came to be what we now observe.
A complex star formation history, as the one expected to describe galaxy evolution, needs a multidisciplinary approach to be fully understood. Our group at the IAC consists of experienced researchers in cosmological simulations, dynamical studies, stellar populations and morphological properties of galaxies up to high redshift. We combine different approaches (e.g. observations and theory, secular and cosmological evolution studies) to obtain a complete view of the dominant mechanisms driving the evolution of galaxies.
Within this general framework, we are currently exploring three main areas of research:
- Stellar population synthesis models
- Development of new stellar population synthesis models
- Stellar population analysis tools
- Universality of the stellar initial mass function (IMF)
- Cosmic evolution of galaxies
- Massive galaxy evolution
- Stellar populations in different environments
- Low surface brightness science
- Machine learning and cosmological simulations
- Evolutionary processes in nearby galaxies
- The role of black holes in the evolution of galaxies
- Surveys of nearby galaxies
- Stellar kinematics and dynamical models
If you want to get in contact or work with us, please send an email to the head of the group (Ignacio Martín-Navarro ignacio.martin [at] iac.es (ignacio[dot]martin[at]iac[dot]es)).
Members
Principal investigator
Ignacio
Martín Navarro
Project staff
Ignacio
Trujillo Cabrera
Alexandre
Vazdekis Vazdekis
Ignacio Alfonso
Ferreras Páez
Jesús
Falcón Barroso
Marc
Huertas-Portocarrero Company
Adriana de
Lorenzo-Cáceres Rodríguez
Anna
Ferré Mateu
Mireia
Montes Quiles
Regina
Sarmiento
Iveth Adaena
Gaspar Gorostieta
Eirini
Angeloudi
Giulia
Golini
Laura Elizabeth
Scholz Díaz
Pablo
Rodríguez Beltrán
Results
Here you can find some of our most recent highlights:
- Local variations of the stellar velocity ellipsoid - II. The effect of the bar in the inner regions of Auriga galaxies. Walo et al. 2022, MNRAS (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022MNRAS.513.4587W)
- Anisotropic satellite galaxy quenching modulated by black hole activity. Martín-Navarro et al. 2021, Nature (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021Natur.594..187M)
- Evaluating hydrodynamical simulations with green valley galaxies. Angthopo et al. 2021, MNRAS (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021MNRAS.502.3685A)
- Sub one per cent mass fractions of young stars in red massive galaxies. Salvador-Rusiñol et al. 2020, Nature Astronomy (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020NatAs...4..252S)
- Detection of young stellar populations in apparently quenched low-mass galaxies using red spectral line indices. de Lorenzo-Cáceres et al. 2020, MNRAS (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020MNRAS.498.1002D)
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Abundance ratios in dwarf elliptical galaxiesWe determine abundance ratios of 37 dwarf ellipticals (dEs) in the nearby Virgo cluster. This sample is representative of the early-type population of galaxies in the absolute magnitude range -19.0 Mr -16.0. We analyse their absorption line-strength indices by means of index-index diagrams and scaling relations and use the stellar populationŞen, Ş. et al.
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42018 -
The EDGE-CALIFA survey: validating stellar dynamical mass models with CO kinematicsDeriving circular velocities of galaxies from stellar kinematics can provide an estimate of their total dynamical mass, provided a contribution from the velocity dispersion of the stars is taken into account. Molecular gas (e.g. CO), on the other hand, is a dynamically cold tracer and hence acts as an independent circular velocity estimate withoutLeung, G. Y. C. et al.
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62018 -
The hELENa project - II. Abundance distribution trends of early-type galaxies: from dwarfs to giantsIn this second paper of The role of Environment in shaping Low-mass Early-type Nearby galaxies (hELENa) series we study [Mg/Fe] abundance distribution trends of early-type galaxies (ETGs) observed with the Spectrographic Areal Unit for Research on Optical Nebulae integral field unit, spanning a wide range in mass and local environment densities: 20Sybilska, A. et al.
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62018 -
A single population of red globular clusters around the massive compact galaxy NGC 1277Massive galaxies are thought to form in two phases: an initial collapse of gas and giant burst of central star formation, followed by the later accretion of material that builds up their stellar and dark-matter haloes. The systems of globular clusters within such galaxies are believed to form in a similar manner. The initial central burst formsBeasley, M. A. et al.
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32018 -
The stellar orbit distribution in present-day galaxies inferred from the CALIFA surveyGalaxy formation entails the hierarchical assembly of mass, along with the condensation of baryons and the ensuing, self-regulating star formation1,2. The stars form a collisionless system whose orbit distribution retains dynamical memory that can constrain a galaxy's formation history3. The orbits dominated by ordered rotation, with near-maximumZhu, L. et al.
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32018 -
Timing the formation and assembly of early-type galaxies via spatially resolved stellar populations analysisTo investigate star formation and assembly processes of massive galaxies, we present here a spatially resolved stellar population analysis of a sample of 45 elliptical galaxies (Es) selected from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey. We find rather flat age and [Mg/Fe] radial gradients, weakly dependent on the effective velocityMartín-Navarro, I. et al.
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42018 -
The shape of oxygen abundance profiles explored with MUSE: evidence for widespread deviations from single gradientsWe characterised the oxygen abundance radial distribution of a sample of 102 spiral galaxies observed with VLT/MUSE using the O3N2 calibrator. The high spatial resolution of the data allowed us to detect 14345 H II regions with the same image quality as with photometric data, avoiding any dilution effect. We developed a new methodology toSánchez-Menguiano, L. et al.
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22018 -
Revisiting the stellar velocity ellipsoid-Hubble-type relation: observations versus simulationsThe stellar velocity ellipsoid (SVE) in galaxies can provide important information on the processes that participate in the dynamical heating of their disc components (e.g. giant molecular clouds, mergers, spiral density waves, and bars). Earlier findings suggested a strong relation between the shape of the disc SVE and Hubble type, with later-typePinna, F. et al.
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42018 -
Black-hole-regulated star formation in massive galaxiesSupermassive black holes, with masses more than a million times that of the Sun, seem to inhabit the centres of all massive galaxies. Cosmologically motivated theories of galaxy formation require feedback from these supermassive black holes to regulate star formation. In the absence of such feedback, state-of-the-art numerical simulations fail toMartín-Navarro, I. et al.
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12018 -
The Bulge Metallicity Distribution from the APOGEE SurveyThe Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) provides spectroscopic information of regions of the inner Milky Way, which are inaccessible to optical surveys. We present the first large study of the metallicity distribution of the innermost Galactic regions based on high-quality measurements for 7545 red giant stars within 4.5García Pérez, A. E. et al.
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12018 -
Orbital decomposition of CALIFA spiral galaxiesSchwarzschild orbit-based dynamical models are widely used to uncover the internal dynamics of early-type galaxies and globular clusters. Here we present for the first time the Schwarzschild models of late-type galaxies: an SBb galaxy NGC 4210 and an S0 galaxy NGC 6278 from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. The massZhu, L. et al.
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12018 -
NIHAO - XIV. Reproducing the observed diversity of dwarf galaxy rotation curve shapes in ΛCDMThe significant diversity of rotation curve (RC) shapes in dwarf galaxies has recently emerged as a challenge to Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM): in dark matter (DM) only simulations, DM haloes have a universal cuspy density profile that results in self-similar RC shapes. We compare RC shapes of simulated galaxies from the NIHAO (Numerical InvestigationSantos-Santos, Isabel M. et al.
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22018 -
Intracluster light at the Frontier - II. The Frontier Fields ClustersMultiwavelength deep observations are a key tool to understand the origin of the diffuse light in clusters of galaxies: the intracluster light (ICL). For this reason, we take advantage of the Hubble Frontier Fields (HFF) survey to investigate the properties of the stellar populations of the ICL of its six massive intermediate redshift (0.3 z 0.6)Montes, M. et al.
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22018 -
Morpho-kinematic properties of field S0 bulges in the CALIFA surveyWe study a sample of 28 S0 galaxies extracted from the integral field spectroscopic (IFS) survey Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area. We combine an accurate two-dimensional (2D) multicomponent photometric decomposition with the IFS kinematic properties of their bulges to understand their formation scenario. Our final sample is representative ofMéndez-Abreu, J. et al.
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22018 -
The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. III. Low surface brightness dwarfs and ultra diffuse galaxies in the center of the Fornax clusterContext. Studies of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies in nearby clusters have revealed a sub-population of extremely diffuse galaxies with central surface brightness of μ0,g' > 24 mag arcsec-2, total luminosity Mg' fainter than -16 mag and effective radius between 1.5 kpc 23 mag arcsec-2. We classified the objects based on their appearance intoVenhola, A. et al.
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122017 -
The 13th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point ObservatoryThe fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) began observations in 2014 July. It pursues three core programs: the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2), Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA), and the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS). As well as its core program, eBOSSAlbareti, F. D. et al.
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122017 -
Young LMC clusters: the role of red supergiants and multiple stellar populations in their integrated light and CMDsThe optical integrated spectra of three Large Magellanic Cloud young stellar clusters (NGC 1984, NGC 1994 and NGC 2011) exhibit concave continua and prominent molecular bands which deviate significantly from the predictions of single stellar population (SSP) models. In order to understand the appearance of these spectra, we create a set of youngAsa'd, Randa S. et al.
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112017 -
CALIFA reveals prolate rotation in massive early-type galaxies: A polar galaxy merger origin?We present new evidence for eight early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the CALIFA Survey that show clear rotation around their major photometric axis ("prolate rotation"). These are LSBCF560-04, NGC 0647, NGC 0810, NGC 2484, NGC 4874, NGC 5216, NGC 6173, and NGC 6338. Including NGC 5485, a known case of an ETG with stellar prolate rotation, as well asTsatsi, A. et al.
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102017 -
Young, metal-enriched cores in early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster based on colour gradientsEarly-type dwarf galaxies are not simply featureless, old objects, but were found to be much more diverse, hosting substructures and a variety of stellar population properties. To explore the stellar content of faint early-type galaxies, and to investigate in particular those with recent central star formation, we study colours and colour gradientsUrich, L. et al.
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102017 -
Star Formation in the Local Universe from the CALIFA Sample. II. Activation and Quenching Mechanisms in Bulges, Bars, and DisksWe estimate the current extinction-corrected Hα star formation rate (SFR) of the different morphological components that shape galaxies (bulges, bars, and disks). We use a multicomponent photometric decomposition based on Sloan Digital Sky Survey imaging to Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS) datacubes for aCatalán-Torrecilla, C. et al.
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102017
