Chemical abundances of long-lived stars can be used as fossil records of Galactic history, hence serving as a proxy for the Milky Way’s DNA. We use this idea to develop phylogenetic tools to study the evolution of galaxies using chemical abundances as the heritable trait. This means closely working with evolutionary biologists and mathematicians since it is not straightforward to know which tools are most suitable for astronomy.
Type of project: Research – actively recruiting new young researchers
Status: Ongoing
Researchers: Paula Jofre, Sara Vitali, Danielle de Brito, Theo Signor, Evelyn Johnston, Kurt Walsen
Funding source: Nucleo Milenio ERIS