Related papers: Stellar Dynamics and the implications on the merge…
We present an expanded kinematic study of the young cluster NGC 2264 based upon optical radial velocities measured using multi-fiber echelle spectroscopy at the 6.5 meter MMT and Magellan telescopes. We report radial velocities for 695…
We examine the nuclear morphology, kinematics, and stellar populations in nearby S0 galaxy NGC 404 using a combination of adaptive optics assisted near-IR integral-field spectroscopy, optical spectroscopy, and HST imaging. These…
Stars in the Galactic disc, including the Solar system, have deviated from their birth orbits and have experienced radial mixing and vertical heating. By performing hydrodynamical simulations of a galactic disc, we investigate how much…
Galaxy interactions and mergers play a significant, but still debated and poorly understood role in the star formation history of galaxies. Numerical and theoretical models cannot yet explain the main properties of merger-induced…
In order to understand what controls the star formation process in luminous starburst mergers (e.g., NGC 6240, Arp 220, and so on), we investigate observational properties of two samples of high-luminosity starburst galaxies mapped in…
We analyse the phase-space structure of simulated thick discs that are the result of a significant merger between a disc galaxy and a satellite. Our main goal is to establish what would be the characteristic imprints of a merger origin for…
Clusters are excellent test benches for verification and improvement of stellar evolution theory. The recent detection of solar-like oscillations in G-K giants in the open cluster NGC6819 with Kepler provides us with independent constraints…
Star formation in starbursts appears to be biased toward compact clusters, with up to 20% of all stars formed in them. Observations with HST show that many of these clusters have luminosities (-9 > Mv > -16), UBVI colors, and half-light…
Stellar mergers and common-envelope evolution are fast (dynamical-timescale) interactions in binary stars that drastically alter their evolution. They are key to understanding a plethora of astrophysical phenomena. Stellar mergers are…
We investigate the dynamical evolution of galaxies in groups with different formation epochs. Galaxy groups have been selected to be in different dynamical states, namely dynamically old and dynamically young, which reflect their early and…
We present the detection of a low surface-brightness stellar counterpart to an enormous (190 kpc) ring of neutral hydrogen (HI) gas that surrounds the nearby radio galaxy B2 0648+27. This system is currently in an evolutionary stage between…
We present the results of a new spectroscopic and photometric survey of the central region of the galaxy cluster A3921 (z=0.094). We detect the presence of two dominant clumps of galaxies: a main cluster centred on the BCG (A3921-A), and a…
We measured evolution of the $K$-band luminosity function and stellar mass function for red and blue galaxies at $z<1.2$ using a sample of 353 594 $I<24$ galaxies in 8.26 square degrees of Bo\"otes. We addressed several sources of…
Mergers between gas--rich disks and less--massive dwarf galaxies are studied using numerical simulation. As the orbit of a satellite decays through dynamical friction, the primary disk develops large-amplitude spirals in response to its…
A sample of 27 disturbed galaxies that show signs of interaction but have a single nucleus were selected from the Arp and the Arp-Madore catalogues. For these, the K_s band images from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) are analysed to…
Long slit spectra recorded with GMOS on Gemini South are used to examine the star-forming history of the lenticular galaxy NGC 5102. Structural and supplemental photometric information are obtained from archival Spitzer [3.6] images.…
To understand the nuclear stellar populations and star formation histories of the nuclei of spiral galaxies, we have obtained K-band nuclear spectra for 41 galaxies and H-band spectra for 20 galaxies in the ISO Atlas of Bright Spiral…
Integral field spectroscopy surveys provide spatially resolved gas and stellar kinematics of galaxies. They have unveiled a range of atypical kinematic phenomena, which require detailed modelling to understand. We present results from a…
The discovery of two active black holes in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3393, separated by about 490 light years, revealed a merging event. This led us to look for other evidences of galaxy collision and merging through the analysis of the…
We study the dynamics of faint stellar substructures around the Umbrella Galaxy, NGC 4651, which hosts a dramatic system of streams and shells formed through the tidal disruption of a nucleated dwarf elliptical galaxy. We elucidate the…