Astronomy Colloquium

Since their discovery as enigmatic blueshifted absorption lines, it has been realized that galactic flows are a critical process in galaxy evolution. They are believed to carry mass and energy into and out of galaxies, shaping the properties of their baryons from sub-pc to hundreds of kpc scales. These flows are also invoked as the process connecting the stellar mass growth in galaxies with the growth of their supermassive black holes, which when accrete, are referred to as Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). In this talk, I will review the observational properties of AGN-driven winds. I will present an inventory of such flows in different galactic environments, which is based on multi-wavelength studies from X-ray to radio. I will highlight new advances in the field, including some surprising findings we have made. I will finish by discussing the role of these winds in shaping their galaxies' evolution, and will present several open questions that can be answered using new observing facilities, such as JWST. 

To view this talk via YouTube, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb1880Rn0qkKFkWyROUq1kRlgCsuBTrnd

The discovery of thousands of exoplanets revealed a huge variety in the sizes, masses, and orbital characteristics of planets outside of our solar system. What are the key parameters that shape this diverse planetary population giving rise to the intriguing patterns and trends that have been reported in modern observations? I will discuss how the physics of gas accretion and dust-gas interaction can be combined with the measured distributions of exoplanet radii, masses, and orbital periods to reveal their formation conditions, from close-in rocky planets to far-out gas giants. I will conclude by presenting pathways toward charting the full trajectory of planet formation, making a direct link between the exoplanetary population, the properties of their host stars, and the morphology and evolution of protoplanetary and debris disks.

To view this talk via YouTube, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb1880Rn0qkKFkWyROUq1kRlgCsuBTrnd

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The past decade has seen tremendous progress in simulating realistic dwarf galaxies. Despite the hype, not all dwarfs are simulated equally. Given their shallow potential wells, dwarfs are an excellent probe of star formation and feedback processes. In this talk, I'll outline a campaign to simulate the largest suite of dwarf galaxies to date, in environments both near the Milky Way (the DC Justice League simulations) and further afield (the Marvel simulations). These high-resolution simulations are probing dwarf galaxy formation from LMC-mass scales down into the regime of the ultra-faints for the first time. Our realistic dwarf galaxies can be used to interpret galaxy formation and to make predictions for future observations. I will highlight some of the first results from the Marvel and Justice League suites of simulations.

To view this talk on YouTube, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb1880Rn0qkKFkWyROUq1kRlgCsuBTrnd

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