Start year
2006
Organizational Unit
Organizing institutions
Related grants:
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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Large-scale stellar age-velocity spiral pattern in NGC 4030The processes driving the formation and evolution of late-type galaxies continue to be a debated subject in extragalactic astronomy. Investigating stellar kinematics, especially when combined with age estimates, provides crucial insights into the formation and subsequent development of galactic discs. Post-processing of exceptionally high-qualityBreda, Iris et al.
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CO-CAVITY project: Molecular gas and star formation in void galaxiesContext. Cosmic voids, distinguished by their low-density environment, provide a unique opportunity to explore the interplay between the cosmic environment and the processes of galaxy formation and evolution. Nevertheless, few data on the molecular gas have been obtained so far. Aims. In this paper, we continue the research performed in the CORodríguez, M. I. et al.
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Effect of the local and large-scale environment on the star formation histories of galaxiesContext. The specific environment of galaxies may play a key role in their evolution. Large extragalactic surveys make it possible to study galaxies not only within their local environment, but also within the large-scale structure of the Universe. Aims. We aim to investigate how the local environment influences the star formation history (SFH) ofTorres-Ríos, G. et al.
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112024 -
Counting stars from the integrated spectra of galaxiesOver the last few decades, evolutionary population synthesis models have powered an unmatched leap forward in our understanding of galaxies. From dating the age of the first galaxies in the Universe to providing detailed measurements of the chemical composition of nearby galaxies, the success of this approach built upon simple stellar populationMartín-Navarro, I. et al.
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112024 -
CAVITY: Calar Alto Void Integral-field Treasury surveY: I. First public data releaseThe Calar Alto Void Integral-field Treasury surveY (CAVITY) is a legacy project aimed at characterising the population of galaxies inhabiting voids, which are the most under-dense regions of the cosmic web, located in the Local Universe. This paper describes the first public data release (DR1) of CAVITY, comprising science-grade optical data cubesGarcía-Benito, Rubén et al.
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112024 -
Recovering chemical bimodalities in observed edge-on stellar disks: Insights from AURIGA simulationsThe well-known bimodal distribution of Milky Way disk stars in the [α/Fe]–metallicity plane is often used to define thick and thin disks. In external edge-on galaxies, there have been attempts to identify this type of bimodality using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data. However, for unresolved stellar populations, observations only containPinna, Francesca et al.
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Correction to: sMILES SSPs: a library of semi-empirical MILES stellar population models with variable [α/Fe] abundancesKnowles, Adam T. et al.
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112024 -
Constraints on the in situ and ex situ stellar masses in nearby galaxies obtained with artificial intelligenceThe hierarchical model of galaxy evolution suggests that mergers have a substantial impact on the intricate processes that drive stellar assembly within a galaxy. However, accurately measuring the contribution of accretion to a galaxy's total stellar mass and its balance with in situ star formation poses a persistent challenge, as it is neitherAngeloudi, Eirini et al.
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Application of the Eddington inversion method to constrain the dark matter halo of galaxies using only observed surface brightness profilesContext. The halos of low-mass galaxies may allow us to constrain the nature of dark matter (DM), but the kinematic measurements needed to diagnose the required properties are technically extremely challenging. However, the photometry of these systems is doable. Aims. Using only stellar photometry, we wanted to constrain key properties of the DMSánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.
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Retrieval of the physical parameters of galaxies from WEAVE-StePS-like data using machine learningContext. The William Herschel Telescope Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE) is a new, massively multiplexing spectrograph that allows us to collect about one thousand spectra over a 3 square degree field in one observation. The WEAVE Stellar Population Survey (WEAVE-StePS) in the next 5 years will exploit this new instrument to obtain high-S/NAngthopo, J. et al.
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INSPIRE: INvestigating Stellar Population In RElics - VII. The local environment of ultra-compact massive galaxiesRelic galaxies, the oldest ultra-compact massive galaxies (UCMGs), contain almost exclusively 'pristine' stars formed during an intense star formation (SF) burst at high redshift. As such, they allow us to study in detail the early mechanism of galaxy assembly in the Universe. Using the largest catalogue of spectroscopically confirmed UCMGs forScognamiglio, Diana et al.
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Extragalactic globular cluster near-infrared spectroscopy: I. Integrated near-infrared spectra of Centaurus A/NGC 5128Context. One way to constrain the evolutionary histories of galaxies is to analyse their stellar populations. In the local Universe, our understanding of the stellar population properties of galaxies has traditionally relied on the study of optical absorption and emission-line features. Aims. In order to overcome limitations intrinsic to thisDahmer-Hahn, L. G. et al.
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Exploring the nature of dark matter with the extreme galaxy AGC 114905AGC 114905 is a dwarf gas-rich ultra-diffuse galaxy seemingly in tension with the cold dark matter (CDM) model. Specifically, the galaxy appears to have an extremely low-density halo and a high baryon fraction, while CDM predicts dwarfs to have very dense and dominant dark haloes. The alleged tension relies on the galaxy's rotation curveMancera Piña, Pavel E. et al.
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92024 -
Validating full-spectrum fitting with a synthetic integral-field spectroscopic observation of the Milky WayOngoing deep integral-field spectroscopy (IFS) observations of disc galaxies provide opportunities for comparison with the Milky Way (MW) to understand galaxy evolution. However, such comparisons are marred by many challenges such as selection effects, differences in observations and methodology, and proper validation of full-spectrum fittingWang, Zixian et al.
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Schwarzschild modelling of barred s0 galaxy NGC 4371We apply the barred Schwarzschild method developed by Tahmasebzadeh et al. (2022) to a barred S0 galaxy, NGC 4371, observed by IFU instruments from the TIMER and ATLAS3D projects. We construct the gravitational potential by combining a fixed black hole mass, a spherical dark matter halo, and stellar mass distribution deprojected from 3.6 μm S $^4$GTahmasebzadeh, Behzad et al.
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The Stellar Distribution in Ultrafaint Dwarf Galaxies Suggests Deviations from the Collisionless Cold Dark Matter ParadigmUnraveling the nature of dark matter (DM) stands as a primary objective in modern physics. Here we present evidence suggesting deviations from the collisionless cold DM (CDM) paradigm. It arises from the radial distribution of stars in six ultrafaint dwarf (UFD) galaxies measured with the Hubble Space Telescope. After a trivial renormalization inSánchez Almeida, Jorge et al.
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92024 -
Digging deeper into NGC 6868 II: ionized gas and excitation mechanismWe studied the ionized gas in the inner region ( $\sim$ $680\times 470$ pc 2) of the galaxy NGC 6868 using Gemini/GMOS (Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph) integral field unit observations. Channel maps reveal complex kinematics and morphology, indicating multiple processes at work in NGC 6868. Through emission-line fitting, we identified twoBenedetti, João P. V. et al.
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CAVITY, Calar Alto Void Integral-field Treasury surveY and project extensionWe have learnt in the last decades that the majority of galaxies belong to high density regions interconnected in a sponge-like fashion. This large-scale structure is characterised by clusters, filaments, and walls, where most galaxies concentrate, but also under-dense regions called voids. The void regions and the galaxies within represent anSánchez-Menguiano, L. et al.
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Deriving the star formation histories of galaxies from spectra with simulation-based inferenceHigh-resolution galaxy spectra encode information about the stellar populations within galaxies. The properties of the stars, such as their ages, masses, and metallicities, provide insights into the underlying physical processes that drive the growth and transformation of galaxies over cosmic time. We explore a simulation-based inference (SBI)Iglesias-Navarro, Patricia et al.
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92024 -
Do spiral arms enhance star formation efficiency?Spiral arms, as those of our own Milky Way, are some of the most spectacular features in disc galaxies. It has been argued that star formation should proceed more efficiently in spiral arms as a result of gas compression. Yet, observational studies have so far yielded contradictory results. Here, we examine arm/interarm surface density contrasts atQuerejeta, Miguel et al.
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72024
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