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April 2020 Membership Meeting - Main Speaker Presentation

Event Date

HAS April Membership Meeting

 via ZOOM

Vince Estrada-Carpenter

Galaxy Evolution in the Infrared

 

Vince Estrada.jpg

Abstract – The field of galaxy evolution attempts to understand how galaxies form, interact, and cease their star-formation. In order to study how galaxies evolve, we must observe large samples of galaxies at different epochs in the Universe’s history. We can achieve this by looking deep into space and observing galaxies whose light has had to travel billions of light-years. Observing these galaxies is made easier with telescopes equipped with infrared instruments that allow us to study features in galaxies which would otherwise be unobtainable. My work focuses on using data from the Hubble Space Telescope to study what types of stars make up massive galaxies. Using these data sets I have been able to see how massive galaxies in the early universe chemically evolve, how their “ages” evolve with the universe, and how we can link their morphologies with their formation histories. 

Bio – Vince Estrada-Carpenter is a 5th-year Astronomy PhD candidate at Texas A&M University. His area of research is galaxy evolution, with a specific focus on understanding the properties of massive galaxies in the early universe. To do this Vince use a very specific type of data set (grism spectroscopy) which are available through the Hubble Space Telescope and, in the future, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope. 

Vince originally attended college to become an accountant, only to realize his true interest was in astronomy. After earning an Associates of Science in Physics from Austin Community College, Vince transferred to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas where he earned a Bachelors of Science in Physics. At Southwestern Vince did his first astronomy research project trying to measure the mass of a supermassive blackhole. Vince’s work in this field has earned him several fellowships and in 2019 he was named a NASA FINESST Future Investigator. 

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Since we're all practicing safe social distancing, we have decided to bring our April Speaker to you virtually through the Zoom online meeting platform!  Please watch your email over the next 48 hours, as you should receive an email inviting you attend, you'll need to register using the link in the email.  Please register soon so we know how many people to expect.

We'll have the online chat feature available to us during the talk, and once the presentation is over, we can open up the audio lines for more questions.  I'm excited that this we're able to get together in this fashion, and I hope you can join us then.  We hope to see you online with us on Friday evening!

Joe Khalaf

President

Houston Astronomical Society