Start year
2004
Organizational Unit
Organizing institutions
Grants related:
General
Description
Galaxies in the universe can be located in different environments, some of them are isolated or in low density regions and they are usually called field galaxies. The others can be located in galaxy associations, going from loose groups to clusters or even superclusters of galaxies. One of the foremost challenges of the modern Astrophysics is to achieve a complete theory about galaxy evolution. This theory should explain the relation between the environment and galaxy evolution. Galaxy clusters are high density environments where galaxies interact one to each other and with the intracluster material (ICM). In addition, the cluster dynamics is driven by the high density and quantity of dark matter present in them. Therefore, galaxy clusters are complex systems with multiple components (galaxies, ICM, dark matter) which are tightly bounded. The mix of all these components, as well as their interactions, makes galaxy clusters ideal laboratories to study the different mechanisms which cause the different evolution of galaxies in this high density environments with respect to field galaxies.
The objective of this project is to study the formation and evolution of galaxies in these dense environments. The ‘Galaxy Evolution in Clusters’ group intend to understand in what environment each of the mechanisms proposed by numerical simulations to transform the galaxies dominates and how the evolution of the different types of galaxies (both bright and dwarf) occurs in the clusters. Quantifying observationally the efficiency of these mechanisms is not an easy task since many of them act at the same time, they do it in very different time scales, and in diverse regions of the cluster. However, there are some observational evidences that can be directly contrasted: i) morphological and structural distribution of the galaxies of the clusters; ii) luminosity function of galaxies in clusters; iii) diffuse light (quantity and distribution); iv) presence of galactic substructures within the clusters; v) spectro-photometric properties of dwarf and bright galaxies; vi) ICM properties. All these observables provide the necessary information to understand the relationship between environment and galactic evolution. These are the quantities this project aims at measuring for large samples of galaxy clusters.
Members
Principal investigator
Jairo
Méndez Abreu
Project staff
Rafael Delfin
Barrena Delgado
Casiana
Muñoz Tuñón
Claudio
Dalla Vecchia
Dr.
Walter Boschin
José Alfonso
López Aguerri
LILIAN FÁTIMA
DOMÍNGUEZ PALMERO
Collaborators
Dr.
E.M. Corsini
Dr.
L. Morelli
Dr.
J.M. Vílchez
Dr.
J. Iglesias
Dr.
C. del Burgo
Dr.
E. Jiménez Bailon
Dr.
S. Sánchez
Dr.
S. Borgani
Dr.
A. Biviano
Dr.
V. Debattista
Dr.
E. D'Onghia
Dr.
M. Arnaboldi
Dr.
O. Gerhard
Dr.
R. Sánchez Janssen
Dr.
A. Diaferio
Dr.
V. Wild
Dr.
S. Zarattini
Dr.
A. Aragón Salamanca
Dr.
R. Peletier
Dr.
S. Trager
Dr.
G. Dalton
Dr.
M. Girardi
Dr.
L. Constatin
Results
- Intrinsic Shape of Galactic Bars. We find, for the first time, that 52% (16%) of bulges are thicker (flatter) than the surrounding bar. We suggest that these percentages might be representative of the fraction of classical and disc-like bulges in our sample, respectively.
- The Influence of the Environment in the Star Formation Quenching. Our results indicate that in low-density environments, post-starburst galaxies are formed by gas-rich minor mergers or accretions, whereas for high-density environments PSBs would be produced by the removal of the gas reservoirs of emission line galaxies by ram-pressure stripping.
- Morpho-Kinematic Properties of Galactic Bulges. We find that photometric diagnostics to separate different types of bulges (disc-like versus classical) might not be useful for S0 galaxies. Using the morpho-kinematics properties of S0 bulges derived in this paper we suggest that they are mainly formed by dissipational processes happening at high redshift.
Scientific activity
Related publications
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Composite bulges - II. Classical bulges and nuclear discs in barred galaxies: the contrasting cases of NGC 4608 and NGC 4643We present detailed morphological, photometric, and stellar-kinematic analyses of the central regions of two massive, early-type barred galaxies with nearly identical large-scale morphologies. Both have large, strong bars with prominent inner photometric excesses that we associate with boxy/peanut-shaped (B/P) bulges; the latter constitute ∼30 perErwin, Peter et al.
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42021 -
Galaxies within galaxies in the TIMER survey: stellar populations of inner bars are scaled replicas of main barsInner bars are frequent structures in the local Universe and thought to substantially influence the nuclear regions of disc galaxies. In this study we explore the structure and dynamics of inner bars by deriving maps and radial profiles of their mean stellar population content and comparing them to previous findings in the context of main bars. ToBittner, Adrian et al.
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22021 -
New Observations with Gemini and GTC of the VHE Blazar KUV 00311-1938: About Its Redshift and EnvironmentExtragalactic very-high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) sources are unique objects to study the most powerful particle accelerators in nature, as active galactic nuclei are likely sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. BL Lacertae blazars are the most frequent extragalactic objects found in the VHE gamma-ray catalogs. It is very difficult to estimatePichel, A. et al.
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12021 -
The kinematics of young and old stellar populations in nuclear rings of MUSE TIMER galaxiesContext. Studying the stellar kinematics of galaxies is a key tool in the reconstruction of their evolution. However, the current measurements of the stellar kinematics are complicated by several factors, including dust extinction and the presence of multiple stellar populations. Aims: We use integral field spectroscopic data of four galaxies fromRosado-Belza, D. et al.
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122020 -
Inside-out formation of nuclear discs and the absence of old central spheroids in barred galaxies of the TIMER surveyThe centres of disc galaxies host a variety of structures built via both internal and external processes. In this study, we constrain the formation and evolution of these central structures, in particular, nuclear rings and nuclear discs, by deriving maps of mean stellar ages, metallicities, and [α/Fe] abundances. We use observations obtained withBittner, Adrian et al.
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112020 -
Kinematic signatures of nuclear discs and bar-driven secular evolution in nearby galaxies of the MUSE TIMER projectThe central regions of disc galaxies hold clues to the processes that dominate their formation and evolution. To exploit this, the TIMER project has obtained high signal-to-noise and spatial resolution integral-field spectroscopy data of the inner few kpc of 21 nearby massive barred galaxies, which allows studies of the stellar kinematics in theirGadotti, Dimitri A. et al.
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112020 -
Relations among structural parameters in barred galaxies with a direct measurement of bar pattern speedWe investigate the relations between the properties of bars and their host galaxies in a sample of 77 nearby barred galaxies, spanning a wide range of morphological types and luminosities, with 34 SB0-SBa and 43 SBab-SBc galaxies. The sample includes all the galaxies with reliable direct measurement of their bar pattern speed based on long-slit orCuomo, V. et al.
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92020 -
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 -
Deep spectroscopy in nearby galaxy clusters - V. The Perseus clusterDwarfs are the largest population of galaxies in number in the nearby Universe. Deep spectroscopic data are still missing to obtain a better understanding of their formation and evolution processes. This study shows the results obtained from a spectroscopic campaign in the Perseus cluster. We have obtained 963 new galaxy spectra. We have measuredAguerri, J. A. L. et al.
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32020 -
Deconstructing double-barred galaxies in 2D and 3D - II. Two distinct groups of inner barsThe intrinsic photometric properties of inner and outer stellar bars within 17 double-barred galaxies are thoroughly studied through a photometric analysis consisting of (i) two-dimensional (2D) multicomponent photometric decompositions, and (ii) three-dimensional (3D) statistical deprojections for measuring the thickening of bars, thus retrievingde Lorenzo-Cáceres, A. et al.
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32020 -
Trojans in the Solar NeighborhoodAbout 20% of stars in the solar vicinity are in the Hercules stream, a bundle of stars that move together with a velocity distinct from the Sun. Its origin is still uncertain. Here, we explore the possibility that Hercules is made of trojans, stars captured at L4, one of the Lagrangian points of the stellar bar. Using GALAKOS─a high-resolution ND'Onghia, Elena et al.
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22020 -
Dynamical Structure of Small Bulges Reveals Their Early Formation in ΛCDM ParadigmThe Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) paradigm of galaxy formation predicts that dense spheroidal stellar structures invariably grow at early cosmic time. These primordial spheroids evolve toward a virialized dynamical status as they finally become today's elliptical galaxies and large bulges at the center of disk galaxies. However, observations revealCostantin, Luca et al.
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12020 -
SDSS-IV MaNGA: bar pattern speed estimates with the Tremaine-Weinberg method and their error sourcesEstimating the bar pattern speed (Ω bar) is one of the main challenges faced in understanding the role of stellar bars in galaxy dynamical evolution. This work aims to characterize different uncertainty sources affecting the Tremaine-Weinberg (TW) method to study the correlation between bar and galaxies physical parameters. We use a sample of 15Garma-Oehmichen, L. et al.
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12020 -
Using HARPS-N to characterize the long-period planets in the PH-2 and Kepler-103 systemsWe present confirmation of the planetary nature of PH-2b, as well as the first mass estimates for the two planets in the Kepler-103 system. PH-2b and Kepler-103c are both long-period and transiting, a sparsely populated category of exoplanets. We use Kepler light-curve data to estimate a radius, and then use HARPS-N radial velocities to determineDubber, Sophie C. et al.
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122019 -
Growth and disruption in the Lyra complexContext. Nearby clusters of galaxies, z ≲ 0.1, are cosmic structures still under formation. Understanding the thermodynamic properties of merging clusters can provide crucial information on how they grow in the local universe. Aims: A detailed study of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) properties of un-relaxed systems is essential to understand theClavico, S. et al.
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122019 -
Fossil group origins. X. Velocity segregation in fossil systemsAims: We aim to study how the velocity segregation and the radial profile of the velocity dispersion depend on the prominence of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). Methods: We divided a sample of 102 clusters and groups of galaxies into four bins of magnitude gap between the two brightest cluster members. We then computed the velocityZarattini, S. et al.
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112019 -
Bar pattern speeds in CALIFA galaxies. II. The case of weakly barred galaxiesContext. About 35% of the nearby disc galaxies host a weak bar for which different formation scenarios, including the weakening of a strong bar and tidal interaction with a companion, have been suggested. Measuring the bar pattern speeds of a sample of weakly barred galaxies is a key step in constraining their formation process, but such aCuomo, Virginia et al.
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122019 -
Stellar populations of galaxies in the ALHAMBRA survey up to z ̃ 1. III. The stellar content of the quiescent galaxy population during the last 8 GyrAims: We aim at constraining the stellar population properties of quiescent galaxies. These properties reveal how these galaxies evolved and assembled since z ̃ 1 up to the present time. Methods: Combining the ALHAMBRA multi-filter photo-spectra with the fitting code for spectral energy distribution MUFFIT (MUlti-Filter FITting), we built aDíaz-García, L. A. et al.
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112019 -
The CALIFA view on stellar angular momentum across the Hubble sequenceWe present the apparent stellar angular momentum over the optical extent of 300 galaxies across the Hubble sequence using integral-field spectroscopic (IFS) data from the CALIFA survey. Adopting the same λ R parameter previously used to distinguish between slow and fast rotating early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies, we show that spiralFalcón-Barroso, J. et al.
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122019 -
Investigating the multiwavelength behaviour of the flat spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013-2017We present a multiwavelength study of the flat-spectrum radio quasar CTA 102 during 2013-2017. We use radio-to-optical data obtained by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope, 15 GHz data from the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, 91 and 103 GHz data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, near-infrared data from the Rapid Eye Monitor telescope, as wellD'Ammando, F. et al.
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122019
