Note: This project page is still under development. Content is being updated regularly.
Summary
This research investigates the UV upturn phenomenon observed in early-type galaxies. The UV upturn refers to an unexpected rise in ultraviolet flux in the spectra of these galaxies, which are typically dominated by old stellar populations.
Using data from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite, we analyze the UV properties of early-type galaxies to understand the stellar populations responsible for this phenomenon. Our analysis combines photometric data with spectroscopic observations to characterize the nature and distribution of UV-bright sources.
The study focuses on galaxies in the Virgo cluster, providing insights into how stellar evolution and galactic environment influence the UV upturn characteristics.
Motivation
Understanding the UV upturn is crucial for several reasons:
- Stellar Population Studies: The UV upturn provides constraints on the presence and properties of hot evolved stars (such as extreme horizontal branch stars and hot white dwarfs) in old stellar populations.
- Galaxy Evolution: The strength of the UV upturn varies among galaxies and correlates with various galactic properties, offering clues about galaxy formation and evolution.
- Age and Metallicity Effects: Investigating how the UV upturn depends on stellar age and metallicity helps refine our models of stellar evolution in different environments.
- Observational Constraints: Modern UV space telescopes like GALEX provide unprecedented data quality, allowing for detailed statistical studies of the UV upturn across large galaxy samples.
Code & Resources
The analysis code and data products from this project are available on GitHub. Each repository contains detailed documentation and example notebooks.
Main Analysis Pipeline
Python scripts for GALEX data processing and analysis
Photometry Tools
Custom photometry routines for UV data
Visualization Notebooks
Jupyter notebooks for creating publication-quality figures