Galaxy Formation & Evolution
Galaxies research at the IfA
A key challenge in extragalactic astronomy is to understand the physical processes responsible for the formation and evolution of galaxies. Research programmes within the IfA cover many different aspects of galaxy evolution, from both an observational and a theoretical perspective.
Members of the IfA are currently leading several large-scale multi-wavelength and spectroscopic surveys of the distant Universe, designed to trace how the properties of galaxies have evolved over cosmic time.
Approaching the same question from the opposite direction, members of the IfA are also leading highly detailed observational studies of the structure, content and assembly history of galaxies in the local Universe, including our own Milky Way.
From a more theoretical perspective, members of the IfA also run state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations, which provide a powerful method for exploring the physical dependencies of galaxy evolution and interpreting the latest observational data.
It is through a combination of the latest observational and simulation results that we aim to develop a better understanding of the key physical processes responsible for driving galaxy evolution.