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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The principle of maximum entropy explains the cores observed in the mass distribution of dwarf galaxiesCold dark matter (CDM) simulations predict a central cusp in the mass distribution of galaxies. This prediction is in stark contrast with observations of dwarf galaxies that show a central plateau or "core" in their density distribution. The proposed solutions to this core-cusp problem can be classified into two types. One invokes feedbackSánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.
Advertised on:
102020 -
The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. X. The assembly history of the bright galaxies and intra-group light in the Fornax A subgroupContext. We present the study of the south-west group in the Fornax cluster centred on the brightest group galaxy (BGG) Fornax A, which was observed as part of the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS). This includes the analysis of the bright group members (m B < 16 mag) and the intra-group light (IGL). Aims: The main objective of this work is to investigateRaj, M. A. et al.
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82020 -
Detection of young (≤20 Myr) stellar populations in apparently quenched low-mass galaxies using red spectral line indicesWe report on the detection of a small contribution (around and below 1 per cent in mass) from young stellar components with ages ≤20 Myr in low-mass galaxies purposely selected from the MaNGA survey to be already-quenched systems. Among the sample of 28 galaxies, 8 of them show signatures of having suffered a very recent burst of star formationde Lorenzo-Cáceres, A. et al.
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82020 -
NIHAO XXIV: rotation- or pressure-supported systems? Simulated Ultra Diffuse Galaxies show a broad distribution in their stellar kinematicsIn recent years, a new window on galaxy evolution opened, thanks to the increasing discovery of galaxies with a low-surface brightness, such as Ultra Diffuse Galaxies (UDGs). The formation mechanism of these systems is still a much debated question and so are their kinematical properties. In this work, we address this topic by analysing the stellarCardona-Barrero, Salvador et al.
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72020 -
The SAMI-Fornax Dwarfs Survey I: sample, observations, and the specific stellar angular momentum of dwarf elliptical galaxiesDwarf ellipticals are the most common galaxy type in cluster environments; however, the challenges associated with their observation mean that their formation mechanisms are still poorly understood. To address this, we present deep integral field observations of a sample of 31 low-mass (10 7.5 < M ⋆ < 10 9.5 M ☉) early-type galaxies in the FornaxScott, Nicholas et al.
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72020 -
On the accretion of a new group of galaxies on to Virgo: I. Internal kinematics of nine in-falling dEsGalaxy environment has been shown to play an important role in transforming late-type, star-forming galaxies to quiescent spheroids. This transformation is expected to be more severe for low-mass galaxies ( $M \lt 10^{10}\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ ) in dense galaxy groups and clusters, mostly due to the influence of their past host haloes (also known asBidaran, Bahar et al.
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72020 -
The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. IX. Catalog of sources in the FDS area with an example study for globular clusters and background galaxiesContext. A possible pathway for understanding the events and the mechanisms involved in galaxy formation and evolution is an in-depth investigation of the galactic and inter-galactic fossil sub-structures with long dynamical timescales: stars in the field and in stellar clusters. Aims: This paper continues the Fornax Deep Survey (FDS) seriesCantiello, Michele et al.
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72020 -
Disentangling the formation history of galaxies via population-orbit superposition: method validationWe present population-orbit superposition models for external galaxies based on Schwarzschild's orbit-superposition method, by tagging the orbits with age and metallicity. The models fit the density distributions, kinematic, and age and metallicity maps from integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy observations. We validate the method and demonstrateZhu, Ling et al.
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62020 -
Larger λ<SUB>R</SUB> in the disc of isolated active spiral galaxies than in their non-active twinsWe present a comparison of the spin parameter λ R, measured in a region dominated by the galaxy disc, between 20 pairs of nearby (0.005 < z < 0.03) seemingly isolated twin galaxies differing in nuclear activity. We find that 80-82% of the active galaxies show higher values of λ R than their corresponding non-active twin(s), indicating largerdel Moral-Castro, I. et al.
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72020 -
Quenching as a Contest between Galaxy Halos and Their Central Black HolesExisting models of galaxy formation have not yet explained striking correlations between structure and star formation activity in galaxies, notably the sloped and moving boundaries that divide star-forming from quenched galaxies in key structural diagrams. This paper uses these and other relations to "reverse engineer" the quenching process forChen, Zhu et al.
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72020 -
The Fornax Deep Survey with VST. VIII. Connecting the accretion history with the cluster densityContext. This work is based on deep multi-band (g, r, i) data from the Fornax Deep Survey with the VLT Survey Telescope (VST). We analyse the surface brightness profiles of the 19 bright early-type galaxies (ETGs; m B ≤ 15 mag) inside the virial radius of the Fornax cluster (R vir ∼ 0.7 Mpc), in the mass range 8 × 10 8 ≤ M * ≤ 1.2 × 10 11 M ☉. AimsSpavone, M. et al.
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72020 -
The Fornax Deep Survey with the VST. IV. A size and magnitude limited catalog of dwarf galaxies in the area of the Fornax cluster (Corrigendum)Venhola, Aku et al.
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62020 -
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Stellar Population Gradients of Central GalaxiesWe examine the stellar population radial gradients (age, metallicity, and [α/Fe]) of 96 passive central galaxies up to ∼2 R e in the SAMI Galaxy Survey. The targeted groups have a halo mass range of $11\lt \mathrm{log}({M}_{200}/{M}_{\odot })\lt 15$ . The main goal of this work is to determine whether central galaxies have different stellarSantucci, Giulia et al.
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62020 -
The bivariate gas-stellar mass distributions and the mass functions of early- and late-type galaxies at z {∼} 0We report the bivariate $HI$ - and $H 2$ -stellar mass distributions of local galaxies in addition of an inventory of galaxy mass functions, MFs, for $HI$ , $H 2$ , cold gas, and baryonic mass, separately into early- and late-type galaxies. The MFs are determined using the $HI$ and $H 2$ conditional distributions and the galaxy stellar massRodríguez-Puebla, Aldo et al.
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02020 -
A detailed look at the stellar populations in green valley galaxiesThe green valley (GV) represents an important transitional state from actively star-forming galaxies to passively evolving systems. Its traditional definition, based on colour, rests on a number of assumptions that can be subjected to non-trivial systematics. In Angthopo, Ferreras & Silk (2019), we proposed a new definition of the GV based on theAngthopo, James et al.
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52020 -
Fornax 3D project: Automated detection of planetary nebulae in the centres of early-type galaxies and first resultsExtragalactic planetary nebulae (PNe) are detectable through relatively strong nebulous [O III] emission and act as direct probes into the local stellar population. Because they have an apparently universal invariant magnitude cut-off, PNe are also considered to be a remarkable standard candle for distance estimation. Through detecting PNe withinSpriggs, T. W. et al.
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52020 -
Kinematic analysis of eagle simulations: evolution of λ<SUB>Re</SUB> and its connection with mergers and gas accretionWe have developed a new tool to analyse galaxies in the eagle simulations as close as possible to observations. We investigated the evolution of their kinematic properties by means of the angular momentum proxy parameter, λ Re, for galaxies with M ⋆ ≥ 5 × 10 9 M ☉ in the RefL0100N1504 simulation up to redshift two (z = 2). Galaxies in theWalo-Martín, D. et al.
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52020 -
Stellar populations across galaxy bars in the MUSE TIMER projectStellar populations in barred galaxies save an imprint of the influence of the bar on the host galaxy's evolution. We present a detailed analysis of star formation histories (SFHs) and chemical enrichment of stellar populations in nine nearby barred galaxies from the TIMER project. We used integral field observations with the MUSE instrument toNeumann, Justus et al.
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52020 -
The Fornax 3D project: Non-linear colour-metallicity relation of globular clustersGlobular cluster (GC) systems of massive galaxies often show a bimodal colour distribution. This has been interpreted as a metallicity bimodality, created by a two-stage galaxy formation where the red, metal-rich GCs were formed in the parent halo and the blue metal-poor GCs were accreted. This interpretation, however, crucially depends on theFahrion, K. et al.
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52020 -
The Fornax 3D project: Globular clusters tracing kinematics and metallicitiesGlobular clusters (GCs) are found ubiquitously in massive galaxies and due to their old ages, they are regarded as fossil records of galaxy evolution. Spectroscopic studies of GC systems are often limited to the outskirts of galaxies, where GCs stand out against the galaxy background and serve as bright tracers of galaxy assembly. In this work, weFahrion, K. et al.
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52020
