AbstractsAstronomy & Space Science

The effect of environment on the evolution of nearby gas-rich spiral galaxies

by Kathrin Wolfinger




Institution: Swinburne University of Technology
Department: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology
Degree: PhD
Year: 2014
Keywords: Astrophysics; Neutral hydrogen; Ursa Major; Galaxy evolution
Record ID: 1055108
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/388966


Abstract

The distribution of galaxies in the Universe is not uniform - galaxies are located in filamentary structures, groups and clusters. Due to the small separation between galaxies in high density regions, galaxy-galaxy interactions may occur, which can transform the properties of the galaxies. In my thesis, I classify the Ursa Major region and look for evidence of galaxy transformation. This study utilizes observations of neutral hydrogen, which is a sensitive tracer of environmental effects. I find that the Ursa Major region is a `supergroup', i.e. several galaxy groups in the process of merging, whose members show signs of transformation.