Astronomy
Host Department
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Astronomy
Research Topic B
Abstract of the proposed UNIPhD research project
What are the physical mechanisms that guide the evolutionary routes of galaxies and produce all the trends that we observe in the local universe? StePS (Stellar Population at intermediate redshift Survey) with the excellent data quality, use of state-of-the-art techniques, and algorithms to analyze galaxy spectra brings us closer to understanding how our world has evolved. This thesis project allows to deal with brand-new spectroscopic data and lead scientific analyses tackling fundamental and still open questions regarding the evolution of galaxies in the last 7 Gyrs. When and how do galaxies stop forming stars and quench? Are quenched galaxies really dead, or do they rejuvenate during their life?
Short bio
Alina Ikhsanova graduated this year from the Astronomy Department of Kazan Federal University. She has loved books about space since she was a child. During her school years, she went to astroschools, which were organized by her future university. After passing the final exams successfully, she did not doubt for a second. She knew where she wanted to go and what science she wanted to devote her life to.
There are a lot of different areas of research in astronomy, and at first it was unclear to her what exactly she wanted to do. When she was in her first year of study, she learned that there is no clear understanding of how galaxies evolve. She was struck by this fact. After all, this should be our fundamental knowledge. Since then, she has always wanted to do extragalactic astronomy, but she has also tried herself in other fields, in particular, her first coursework was devoted to modeling the light curves of polars. That is how she joined the Laboratory of Spectroscopy and Photometry of Extragalactic Objects, The Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SAO RAS), where she has been working under the supervision of Dr. Alexey Moiseev. There she got not only a lot of knowledge about extragalactic astronomy, but also gained the experience in spectral observations of extragalactic objects on Russia’s largest 6-meter SAO RAS telescope. She was involved in the processing and analysis of the spectra of active galaxies. Some of the results were included in the publication by Keel et al, 2022. Two of her term papers were devoted to the Teacup Galaxy. Her diploma project is devoted to the influence of active galactic nuclei on the interstellar medium. With the results of her work, she participated in several conferences, including international ones. She is very glad that her education and research experience allows her to continue her scientific career at the University of Padova!
