Recent Talks
List of all the talks in the archive, sorted by date.
Abstract
Durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX la biología ha emergido de forma explosiva como una disciplina con enorme proyección de futuro con toda clase de implicaciones sociales. El origen de esta revolución fue el desciframiento en 1953 de la naturaleza de la información biológica, el ADN. La propia estructura de esta molécula explica la forma en que la información biológica está impresa y lleva implícita además el mecanismo de replicación, de forma que esta información se transmite de forma fidedigna de una generación a otra a lo largo de miles de millones de años de evolución. El estudio de la estructura, función y propiedades del ADN ha sido uno de los focos principales de atención de la Biología en los últimos 30 años, ha dado lugar a tecnologías muy poderosas de manipulación genética en diversos organismos y ha permitido desarrollar proyectos de gran calado, como el Proyecto Genoma Humano. El desarrollo de estas tecnologías es muy rápido y abre la posibilidad en un futuro no muy lejano de la modificación genética dirigida de la propia especie humana. Durante el coloquio se presentarán los hitos del conocimiento biológico que han conducido a la situación actual y se discutirán las promesas, perspectivas y problemas potenciales que ofrecerá la biología del siglo XXI.
Abstract
Dwarf galaxies, being the most numerous and fragile galaxy population, provide unique clues on both the formation of baryonic systems and the role played by the environment in galaxy evolution. In this short talk, I will present the main observational properties of the dwarf galaxy population in a sample of 88 nearby (z < 0.1) galaxy clusters drawn from the SDSS-DR4. By comparing the different properties (spatial and velocity distribution, colour, etc.) of red and blue dwarfs we attempt to constrain the scenarios for the evolution of galaxies in high-density environments.
Abstract
The Virtual Observatory is an international initiative on standardizing astronomical data and protocols, as well as the development of scientific tools. Nowadays, the Virtual Observatory (VO) offers a number of powerful tools to manipulate and analyze catalogs, images, spectra and, of course, to inter-operate with the Virtual Observatory archives. In the SIE, we resume our SIEminar series, short and technical seminars, like this one in which Jorge will present the most interesting tools the Virtual Observatory offers.
Abstract
Warps of disk galaxies are ubiquitous. In almost every disk galaxy a bending of the disk occurs where the stars fade away and hence where the dark matter halo becomes dominant. A clear understanding of this phenomenon has not been reached yet. Analysing H I observations of a small sample of symmetric, warped disk galaxies we found that they exhibit a two-disk structure, the warp being the transition from the inner flat disk to an outer, inclined one. At the transition radius, the rotation curve changes. This points towards symmetric warps being a long-lived phenomenon reflecting an internal change in the structure of the Dark Matter halo.While warps usually occur where the stellar disks fade, examples of extreme warps are known that commence already at the centre of galaxies. One is present in the neutral gas disk of the "Spindle Galaxy "NGC 2685, formerly thought of as being a two-ringed polar ring galaxy. Utilising deep HI observations, we found that the two-ringed appearance is due to projection effects and that it rather possesses one coherent,extremely warped HI disk. Our success in fitting a tilted-ring model to the HI component, and, with that, assuming circular orbits of the tracer material, and the shape of the fitted rotation curve hint towards a rather spherical shape of the overall potential.
Abstract
El jovencísimo cúmulo GM 24, a una distancia de 2 kpc, se encuentra embebido en una caliente nube de CO aislada, en donde se formó hace menos de 105 años. El núcleo del cúmulo se compone de estrellas O tardías y de tipo B principalmente y pareciera carecer actualmente de una población estelar de baja masa. Se presentan nuevas observaciones en el infrarrojo cercano y medio que dan mayor definición a las características de sus principales objetos estelares jóvenes.
Abstract
Abstract
The composition of the outer solar system is of particular interest because it holds the key to understanding the chemical evolution of the Solar System. Observations at the edge of the Solar System are difficult because of distance and size limitations. The Spitzer Space Telescope has provided a wealth of data for Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), the small inhabitants of this remote part of the Solar System past the orbit of Neptune, as well as for Centaurs, similar objects to the KBOs but with orbits that come closer to the Sun. Are these observations sufficient to tell us what the composition of these objects is? We briefly introduce spectral modeling, its strengths and limitations. Making use of synthetic surface reflectance spectra we assess the feasibility of determining the composition of Kuiper Belt Objects and Centaurs making use of Spitzer-IRAC data alone.
Abstract
Bars are important engines for the evolution of structure in galaxies. Bars can cause secular evolution of both the gas and stellar distributions in galaxies, and recently it has been suggested that bars may be recurrent features, forming, dissolving, and reforming over a Hubble time. Models also have suggested that the strength of bars depends on how effectively the bar can transfer angular momentum to outer halo material. Evaluating current models requires an effective way of quantifying the strengths of bars. In my presentation, I will describe recent attempts to use gravitational torques implied by near-infrared images as a means of quantifying both bars and spirals in disk galaxies. I will also describe some of the recent findings based on Fourier analysis of early-type galaxy bars.
Abstract
I will present results from a survey of the star formation properties of nearby galaxies, using H alpha narrow-band imaging. The first half of the talk will cover the `expected' results of such a survey: how total star formation rates depend on galaxy morphology, the contribution of different types to the global star formation activity per unit volume of the nearby Universe, constraints on star formation histories, and indications of how stellar mass has been assembled in disks from the spatial distributions of young and old stars. The second half will look at some less expected spin-offs, including some surprising facts about the Magellanic Clouds, and new findings on progenitors of core-collapse supernovae.
Abstract
A continuous magnetic field evolving under the hydromagnetic frozen-in condition preserves its field topology. Depending on that field topology, the evolving field may inevitably develop electric current-sheets, i.e., magnetic tangential discontinuities, in the course of nonlinear fluid-field interaction. This inevitability obtains for all field topologies one could prescribe for the field, except those of a special subset of measure zero. This theory of Eugene Parker is based on demonstrating that a field endowed with a fixed topology cannot generally find an equilibrium state in which the field is everywhere spatially continuous. I will discuss a recent development of this magnetostatic problem from an intuitive point of view, giving a basic understanding of why current sheets not only form easily but do so throughout a magnetic field. Parker’s theory explains the heating of the solar corona, to million-degree temperatures, in terms of spontaneous current sheets that must form because of high electrical conductivity, and, yet, must dissipate in spite of that high (but finite) conductivity. This process may be the fundamental reason for the high-temperature plasmas found almost everywhere in the astrophysical universe
Upcoming talks
- UNDARK kick offThursday October 10, 2024 - 9:15 GMT+1 (Aula)
- TBDDr. Nikki ArendseThursday October 17, 2024 - 10:30 GMT+1 (Aula)
Recent Colloquia
Recent Talks
