Keerthana Jegatheesan
Former PhD student
I’m a former PhD student in extragalactic astronomy, where I studied galaxies in the local Universe using spectroscopy to understand how they form and evolve across cosmic time. I worked primarily in the optical regime with integral field spectroscopy using SDSS-MaNGA.
Project
The many faces and personalities of galaxies are shaped by physical processes that affect their different components – like bulges and discs – in different ways and leave characteristic imprints on the light and spectra of these components. Disentangling their spectra can reveal vital clues that can be traced back in time to understand how galaxies and their components form and evolve across cosmic time. While individual galaxies give important clues in exquisite detail, a more statistical approach is needed to understand how galaxy populations evolve as a whole. During my PhD, I was working on projects within the BUDDI-MaNGA framework, where we built the first largest statistical sample of bulge and disc spectra to date, for local galaxies using the recent data release of MaNGA. With this novel approach, we examined the spectra of bulges and discs of spiral galaxies, to look for clues of formation pathways by reconstructing their mass assembly histories and studying their stellar populations. With projects making use of BUDDI applied to different galaxy morphologies, we look for hints on the formation and evolution of bulges and discs in today’s galaxy population.
Highlights
- ANID Doctoral Scholarship
- France Excellence Charpak Master Scholarship
- University of Tokyo Summer Internship Programme (UTSIP) 2017
Publications
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9879-2119
My PhD thesis titled “Tracing the formation histories of spiral and elliptical galaxies with integral field spectorscopy : A comprehensive analysis of galactic evolution using spectro-photometric decomposition of galaxy components” can be found here.
Extracurricular activities
A lover of quiet spaces, I’m usually curled up with a good book in my spare time. I also enjoy baking and exploring different teas, and I’m happiest when I spend time with animals.
Contact me
keerthana.jegatheesan [at] mail.udp.cl