Related papers: The Evolution of Galaxies
Understanding the infrared emission of galaxies is critical to observational and theoretical investigations of the condensation of galaxies out of the intergalactic medium and the conversion of gas into stars over cosmic time. From an…
Recent results are reviewed on galaxy dynamics, bar evolution, destruction and re-formation, cold gas accretion, gas radial flows and AGN fueling, minor mergers. Some problems of galaxy evolution are discussed in particular, exchange of…
Great strides have been made in the last two decades in determining how galaxies evolve from their initial dark matter seeds to the complex structures we observe at z=0. The role of mergers has been documented through both observations and…
The secular evolution process, which slowly transforms the morphology of a galaxy over its lifetime, could naturally account for observed properties of the great majority of physical galaxies if both stellar and gaseous accretion processes…
Molecular clouds in the interstellar medium suffer gravitational instabilities that lead to the formation of one or multiple stars. A recently formed star inside a cold cloud communicates its gravitational force to the surrounding…
Evidence for gas accretion onto galaxies can be found throughout the universe. In this chapter, I summarize the direct and indirect signatures of this process and discuss the primary sources. The evidence for gas accretion includes the star…
Nearly a century after the true nature of galaxies as distant "island universes" was established, their origin and evolution remain great unsolved problems of modern astrophysics. One of the most promising ways to investigate galaxy…
Understanding how galaxies obtain baryons, their stars and gas, over cosmic time is traditionally approached in two different ways - theoretically and observationally. In general, observational approaches to galaxy formation include…
Young, massive star clusters are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions, mergers, and close encounters. Their contribution to the total luminosity induced by such…
In chemodynamical evolution models it is usually assumed that the Milky Way galaxy forms from the inside-out implying that gas inflows onto the disk decrease with galactocentric distance. Similarly, to reproduce differences between chemical…
Their ubiquity and extreme densities make star clusters probes of prime importance of galaxy evolution. Old globular clusters keep imprints of the physical conditions of their assembly in the early Universe, and younger stellar objects,…
Galaxies evolve under the influence of gas flows between their interstellar medium and their surrounding gaseous halos known as the circumgalactic medium (CGM). The CGM is a major reservoir of galactic baryons and metals, and plays a key…
Galaxy evolution reveals itself not only through the evolving properties of galaxies themselves but also through its impact on the surrounding environment. The intergalactic medium in particular holds a fossil record of past galaxy…
Stars are fossils that retain the history of their host galaxies. Elements heavier than helium are created inside stars and are ejected when they die. From the spatial distribution of elements in galaxies, it is therefore possible to…
Globular clusters (GCs) constitute a system which is evolving because of various interactions with the galactic environment. Evolution may be the explanation of many observed features of Globular Cluster Systems (GCSs); the different radial…
Secular evolution gradually shapes galaxies by internal processes, in contrast to early cosmological evolution which is more rapid. An important driver of secular evolution is the flow of gas from the disk into the central regions, often…
Our Galaxy is a complex machine in which several processes operate simultaneously: metal-poor gas is accreted, is chemically enriched by dying stars, and then drifts inwards, surrendering its angular momentum to stars; new stars are formed…
The growth of galaxies is one of the key problems in understanding the structure and evolution of the universe and its constituents. Galaxies can grow their stellar mass by accretion of halo or intergalactic gas clouds, or by merging with…
The manner the galaxy accretes matter along with the star formation rates at different epochs, influence the evolution of the stable isotopic inventories of the galaxy. A detailed analysis is presented here to study the dependence of the…
The star-formation histories of the main stellar components of the Milky Way constrain critical aspects of galaxy formation and evolution. I discuss recent determinations of such histories, together with their interpretation in terms of…