Formation and Evolution of Nearby Galaxies

NGC 6946, INT Project

The evolution of galaxies is driven by the birth and death of stars. The evolved stars are excellent tracers, not just of the feedback processes, but also of the underlying populations, that were formed from millions to billions of years prior to their appearance. The key challenge is to marry our understanding of these key components into coherent description of entire galaxies. We could determine how mass loss and dust production from the latest, coolest phases of stellar evolution depends on the star's luminosity (hence birth mass) and metal content.

Our team has recently pioneered the monitoring observation of the majority of dwarf galaxies in the Local Group. This research will gather independent diagnostics of the SFHs of different types of dwarf galaxies found in different environments, which help build a comprehensive picture of galaxy formation and evolution in the nearby galaxies. In addition, we also combine Spitzer Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope imaging of nearby dwarf galaxies in order to identify high-redshift AGB analogous. In this research, we will make the first definitive estimates of how dust production is affected at low metallicity and thus whether AGB stars can be significant contributors of these dust species in the early Universe. In our current research, we also aim to understand how galaxies such as our own have evolved to look the way they do today. Our current research on M33 provides the first integrated, as well as spatially- and temporally-resolved picture of the evolution of a spiral galaxy.

The proposed project offers Iranian astronomers and students access to observational research projects and foreign collaborations, thus helping build a generation of future users and operators of the Iranian National Observatory. It provides training in specialized skills, techniques, and good scientific practice, thereby contributing to developing a knowledge-based Iranian society.