Apr
9, 2008
On
the shoulders of dwarfs
Galaxy formation and the smallest galaxies in the Universe
Abstract:
Galaxies are thought to be formed through violent, dynamic processes,
in which small galaxies form first and merge together to form larger
galaxies. As such, dwarf galaxies occupy a unique niche in galaxy
formation models, as the objects which were first to form. I will review
our understanding of galaxy formation, with particular attention paid to
the role of the dwarf galaxies. I will show how detailed observations of
some of the smallest galaxies in the nearby Universe are contributing to
our understanding of the formation of our home, the Milky Way galaxy.
Presentation (9.7Mb pdf)
Bio:
Alan McConnachie received his Ph.D. in
Astrophysics from the Institute of Astronomy at the University of
Cambridge in 2005, for his thesis entitled "Satellites and Substructure in
the Local Group". Since then, he has been a Postdoctoral Research Fellow
at the University of Victoria, where he holds a prestigious Research
Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. This is
one of six competitive fellowship awarded yearly to citizens of the
Commonwealth for self-directed research in any field of Science and/or
Engineering. They were established in 1894 and previous recipients include
12 Nobel Prize winners, including Paul Dirac and James Chadwick. Alan's
main research interests concern galaxy formation; in particular, he uses
the resolved stellar populations of nearby galaxies as fossil probes to
understand cosmological galaxy formation, evolution and the role of dark
matter in these processes.
