Bianca Maria Poggianti is an Italian astronomer studying the
evolution of galaxies
The study of galaxy formation and evolution is concerned with the processes that formed a heterogeneous universe from a homogeneous beginning, the formation of the first galaxies, the way galaxies change over time, and the processes that have gen ...
and
galaxy clusters. Originally from
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, she is a director of research for
INAF, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, associated with the
Astronomical Observatory of the University of Padua.
Research
Poggianti has been a member of the
Morphs collaboration The Morphs collaboration was a coordinated study to determine the morphologies of galaxies in distant clusters and to investigate the evolution of galaxies as a function of environment and epoch. Eleven clusters were examined and a detailed ground-b ...
, a coordinated study of the shapes and evolution of galaxies in distant clusters. She is known for her research on the correlation between galaxy size and the timing of star formation, and on the effects of the
intergalactic medium on the motion of galaxies within clusters. Most recently, she has studied the
ram pressure that is believed to strip gasses from galaxies in large clusters, leading to the formation of
jellyfish galaxies, the cessation of star formation in the stripped galaxies, and the initiation of
active galactic nuclei at the centers of these galaxies.
Recognition
Poggianti is a winner of the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award of the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
References
External links
GASP program led by Poggianti
*
Interview with Bianca Poggianti ''She Is An Astronomer'', 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poggianti, Bianca
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Italian astronomers
Italian women scientists
Women astronomers