Related papers: Galaxies and Cladistics
More than 50 years have elapsed since the first studies of star clusters in the Magellanic Clouds. The wealth of data accumulated since then has not only revealed a large cluster system, but also a diversified one, filling loci in the age,…
Increasingly good statistical data on the galaxy population at high and low redshift enable the development of new phenomenological approaches to galaxy evolution based on application of the simplest continuity equations. This has given new…
This article reviews the prevailing paradigm for how galaxies and larger structures formed in the universe: gravitational instability. Basic observational facts are summarized to motivate the standard cosmological framework underlying most…
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…
Modern data empower observers to describe galaxies as the spatially and biographically complex objects they are. We illustrate this through case studies of four, $z\sim1.3$ systems based on deep, spatially resolved, 17-band + G102 + G141…
We have constructed a family of simple models for spiral galaxy evolution to allow us to investigate observational trends in star formation history with galaxy parameters. The models are used to generate broad band colours from which ages…
This paper reviews the current status of measurements of galaxy clustering at high redshifts (z > 0.3). The focus is on the inherent limitations in the observation and interpretation of the ``evolution of clustering''. It is likely that…
The beginning of the 21st century marked the "modern era of galaxy surveys" in astronomy. Rapid innovation in observing technology, combined with the base built by galaxy catalogs and atlases dating back centuries, sparked an explosion of…
The most massive galaxies in the present-day Universe are found to lie in the centres of rich clusters. They have old, coeval stellar populations suggesting that the bulk of their stars must have formed at early epochs in spectacular…
Elliptical galaxies have been observed to cluster near a ribbon along a two-dimensional plane (the Fundamental Plane of Elliptical Galaxies) in the three dimensional space of effective radius, effective surface brightness and central…
Clusters of galaxies are the largest gravitationally-bound objects in the Universe, having diameters on order of Mpc. Our work asked whether their shapes (morphologies) change over time as the Universe ages. We observed a sample of 165…
The traditional method of morphological classification, by visual inspection of images of uniform quality and by reference to standards for each type, is critically examined. The rate of agreement among traditional morphologists on the…
Classifying the morphologies of galaxies is an important step in understanding their physical properties and evolutionary histories. The advent of large-scale surveys has hastened the need to develop techniques for automated morphological…
This paper presents a review of the topic of galaxy formation and evolution, focusing on basic features of galaxies, and how these observables reveal how galaxies and their stars assemble over cosmic time. I give an overview of the observed…
Research done during the previous century established our Standard Cosmological Model. There are many details still to be filled in, but few would seriously doubt the basic premise. Past surveys have revealed that the large-scale…
Traditionally globular clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies have been distinguished by using one or more of the following criteria: (1) mass, (2) luminosity, (3) size, (4) mass-to-light ratio and (5) spread in metallicity. However, a few…
I present a biased review of when the epoch of formation of galaxies (both disks and ellipticals) maybe took place. I base my arguments in simple (mostly) analytic models that have been recently developed to reproduce most of the observed…
Detailed models of galactic disk formation and evolution require knowledge about the initial conditions under which disk galaxies form, the boundary conditions that affect their secular evolution and the micro-physical processes that drive…
Aimed at understanding the evolution of galaxies in clusters, the GLACE survey is mapping a set of optical lines ([OII]3727, [OIII]5007, Hbeta and Halpha/[NII] when possible) in several galaxy clusters at redshift around 0.40, 0.63 and…
The secular evolution process which slowly transforms the morphology of a given galaxy over its lifetime through mostly internal dynamical mechanisms could naturally account for most of the observed properties of physical galaxies (Zhang…