The Formation of Quiescent Galaxies

Speaker

Sirio Belli (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)

Date, time, and location

November 15, Friday, 11am in 104A

Abstract

Why do massive galaxies in the early universe stop forming new stars and become quiescent? The nature of this quenching process is one of the most important missing pieces in the puzzle of galaxy formation. A number of physical mechanisms have been proposed, but observational evidence is still lacking. Using deep near-infrared spectroscopy, I have explored the stellar ages, stellar kinematics, and ionized gas properties for quiescent galaxies at 1<z<2.5. I will present recent results from these studies and discuss their implications for quenching.