GALAXY AND LARGE SCALE STRUCTURE EVOLUTION (GaLSSev)
Our group, at the Department of
Astronomy of the Universidad de
Concepción (UdeC), is dedicated to the study of the
formation and evolution of galaxies, and their properties as a
function of the environment in which they reside. Within
this context, we focus our observations and analyses on galaxies
in clusters and groups, the mass overdensities that delineate
the underlying filamentary distribution of matter in the universe. Clusters
of galaxies are the most massive, gravitationally-bound structures
known, and ideal laboratories to study the environmental processes
that shape the galaxies we observe in the local universe (z<0.1). Those
processes must be at the origin of some of the most prominent
characteristics of galaxy clusters: the morphology-density relation and
the red-sequence of galaxies in color-magnitude space. These
relationships are the manifestation of the morphological changes
of galaxies and the quenching of their star formation
activity. Galaxy-galaxy and galaxy-intracluster medium
interactions certainly play a role in that evolution, however, the
details of where and when such transformations take place and
which one dominates are still poorly understood. A significant
progress in this line of research, to answer some of the
outstanding questions regarding galaxy evolution, requires the use
of state-of-the-art facilities equipped with the most advanced and
versatile set of instruments, which our group has access
to.
Our team uses panchromatic, spectrophotometric data obtained with
ground- and space-based observatories such as the VLT, VISTA, Magellan,
Gemini, T80S, ALMA, HST, and Spitzer, to name some. With these data, we
are able to obtain redshifts, magnitudes, colors, line indices,
and other relevant information for galaxies (at any redshift of interest) to characterize in the
best possible way their properties, such as the stellar and gas
mass content, stellar population mix, metal abundances, average
ages, and star formation histories, among others. We can also
characterize their environment by estimating local densities, the
amount of substructure, and the overall dynamical state and dark
matter content of the structure under consideration.
Our group is part of a collaboration with computer
scientists and engineers to develop advanced computing
techniques that can be applied to large data sets to study galaxy
formation and evolution. Moreover, members of our team are active
participants of large international collaborations that study
galaxies and clusters of galaxies, such as SpARCS/GCLASS,
GOGREEN,
CLASH-VLT,
the The Baryon
Cycle in Galaxies Max Planck MPE-UdeC Partner Group,
S-PLUS,
and CHANCES, to name some.
Contact:
If you wish to contact us, please send e-mail to:
rdemarco @ astro-udec .cl [without spaces].
TEAM PHOTOGRAPHS:
These rea some selected photographs of team members that have been
captured over the years. Enjoy!
Members of our
group getting together online beacuse of the pandemic. Top row (from left to right):
Pierluigi Cerulo, Ricardo Demarco, and Caleb Gatica. Middle row
(left to right): Marcela Paillalef, Camila Cid, and Guillermo
Cabrera. Bottom row: Monserrat Martínez, and Andrea Guerrero. Photo
credit: R. Demarco.
Members of our
group observing with the FourStar instrument on the Magellan Baade
telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory. From left to right:
Ricardo Demarco, Clement Martinache, and Hugo Rivera (LCO). Photo
credit: R. Demarco.
Members of our
group at an observing run at CTIO posing together with the 4-m
Blanco telescope. From left to right: Daniela Olave-Rojas, Ricardo
Demarco, and Pierluigi Cerulo. Photo credits: Manuel
Hernández (CTIO) & R. Demarco.
Members of our
group at a visit to the Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachon,
Chile, during the Galaxy Groups and Clusters conference 2017 in La
Serena. Left: posing with the Gemini South dome in the
background. From left to right: Kira Simpson, Monserrat
Martínez, Marcela González, and Ricardo Demarco
(Photo credits: Ricardo Demarco). Right: posing with Gemini South
telescope in the background. From left to right: Ricardo Demarco,
Clément Martinache, Monserrat Martínez, Julie
Nantais, Gustavo Orellana, Kira Simpson, and Marcela
González. Photo credits: Manuel Paredes (Gemini) &
R. Demarco.
Early members
of GaLSSev at UdeC (Sep. 2014). From left to right: Yara
Jaffé, R. Demarco, Julie Nantais, and Yun-Kyeong
Sheen. Photo credit: R. Demarco.
