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
    TESS satellite dates an ancient collision with our galaxy
    From a single bright star in the constellation of Indus, an international team of scientists led by the University of Birmingham, with the participation of...
  • Publication
    Testing Microvariability in Quasar Differential Light Curves Using Several Field Stars
    Microvariability consists of small timescale variations of low amplitude in the photometric light curves of quasars and represents an important tool to...
  • Publication
    Testing Physical Scenarios for the Reflection Features of Type-1 AGNs using XMM-Newton and NuSTAR Simultaneous Observations
    Above ~3 keV, the X-ray spectrum of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is characterized by the intrinsic continuum and Compton reflection features. For type-1 AGNs...
  • Publication
    Testing the AGN Unification Model in the Infrared
    We present near-to-mid-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for 21 Seyfert galaxies, using subarcsecond resolution imaging data. Our aim is to compare...
  • Publication
    Testing the conditional mass function of dark matter haloes against numerical N-body simulations
    We compare the predicted conditional mass function (CMF) of dark matter haloes from two theoretical prescriptions against numerical N-body simulations, both in...
  • Publication
    Testing the role of AGN on the star formation and metal enrichment of 'twin galaxies'
    We explore the effect of AGN activity on the star formation history of galaxies by analysing the stellar population properties of 10 pairs of nearby twin...
  • Publication
    Testing the Unification Model for Active Galactic Nuclei in the Infrared: Are the Obscuring Tori of Type 1 and 2 Seyferts Different?
    We present new mid-infrared imaging data for three Type-1 Seyfert galaxies obtained with T-ReCS on the Gemini-South Telescope at subarcsecond resolution. Our...
  • Publication
    The 13th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-IV Survey Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory
    The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) began observations in 2014 July. It pursues three core programs: the Apache Point Observatory...
  • Publication
    The 16th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: First Release from the APOGEE-2 Southern Survey and Full Release of eBOSS Spectra
    This paper documents the 16th data release (DR16) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS), the fourth and penultimate from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). This is...