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.
  • Publication
    Secular- and merger-built bulges in barred galaxies
    Context. Historically, galaxy bulges were thought to be single-component objects at the center of galaxies. However, this picture is now questioned since...
  • Publication
    Self-interacting dark matter and the delay of supermassive black hole growth
    Using cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with physically motivated models of supermassive black hole (SMBH) formation and growth, we compare the assembly of...
  • Publication
    Serendipitous detection of an overdensity of Herschel-SPIRE 250 μm sources south of MRC 1138-26
    We report the serendipitous detection of a significant overdensity of Herschel-Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver 250 μm sources in the vicinity of MRC...
  • Publication
    Serendipitous Discovery of a Physical Binary Quasar at z = 1.76
    Binary quasars are extremely rare objects, used to investigate clustering on very small scales at different redshifts. The cases where the two quasar components...
  • Publication
    Serendipitous discovery of a strong-lensed galaxy in integral field spectroscopy from MUSE
    2MASX J04035024-0239275 is a bright red elliptical galaxy at redshift 0.0661 that presents two extended sources at 2″ to the north-east and 1″ to the south-west...
  • Publication
    Shadows in the Dark: Low-surface-brightness Galaxies Discovered in the Dark Energy Survey
    We present a catalog of 23,790 extended low-surface-brightness galaxies (LSBGs) identified in $\sim 5000\,{\deg }^{2}$ from the first three years of imaging...
  • Publication
    SHARDS Frontier Fields: Physical Properties of a Low-mass Lyα Emitter at z = 5.75
    We analyze the properties of a multiply imaged Lyα (Lyα) emitter at z = 5.75 identified through SHARDS Frontier Fields intermediate-band imaging of the Hubble...
  • Publication
    SHARDS: A Global View of the Star Formation Activity at z ~ 0.84 and z ~ 1.23
    In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at intermediate redshifts (z ∼ 1). We combine the ultra-deep optical spectro...
  • Publication
    SHARDS: An Optical Spectro-photometric Survey of Distant Galaxies
    We present the Survey for High-z Absorption Red and Dead Sources (SHARDS), an ESO/GTC Large Program carried out using the OSIRIS instrument on the 10.4 m Gran...