Astronomy Events
Spring 2024
Stellar Populations and Ionized Gas in the Local Universe
Speaker: Ray Garner (Texas A&M University)
How do galaxies evolve? This is at first a seemingly simple and fundamental question, yet it is a question laced with intricacies. To help unravel the mystery of galaxy evolution, I present some of my thesis work, where I used deep narrowband imaging to investigate the nearby M101 Group. Namely, [...]The Black Hole Mass – Stellar Velocity Dispersion Relation of 105 Month Swift-BAT Type 1 AGNs
Speaker: Turgay Caglar (Texas A&M University)
We present two independent measurements of stellar velocity dispersions (σ) from the Ca II H+K λ3969, 3934 and Mg I b λ 5183, 5172, 5167 region (3880-5550 Å) and the calcium triplet region (8350-8750 Å) for 173 hard X-ray-selected Type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs; z ≤ 0.08) from the [...]Stellar Abundances in the Milky Way and Their Implications for Nucleosynthesis
Speaker: Emily Griffith (University of Colorado Boulder)Host: Grace Olivier
Our understanding of the origin of the elements is grounded in observational abundance measurements and theoretical models of stellar explosions. The current era of big data from surveys such as APOGEE, GALAH, and Gaia allows us to study an unprecedented number of stars in abundance, velocity, and position space. With [...]Bursty Star Formation: Physical Drivers and Implications for JWST Observations of High-redshift Galaxies
Speaker: Chris Hayward (Flatiron Institute)Host: Justin Spilker
A complete theory of galaxy formation requires understanding the details of how gas is converted into stars over cosmic time, which is affected by gas supply, star formation, and feedback-driven outflows. Based on the results of state-of-the-art cosmological zoom simulations, I will argue that galaxy formation is a violent process: [...]Probing the Universe’s Expansion with Multi-messenger Astronomy
Speaker: Antonella Palmese (Carnegie Mellon University)Host: Lifan Wang
Thanks to the synergies between gravitational wave (GW) experiments, such as LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA, and electromagnetic observations of transients and galaxies, a variety of novel cosmological measurements has recently become possible. Several of these measurements rely on the use of GW events as "standard sirens”. Following the detection of the first electromagnetic [...]