Megan Donahue APS Colloquium

Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Colloquium

Monday, February 01, 2016 at 4:00 PM

JILA Auditorium

Refreshments served 30 minutes prior to start of talk in front of the JILA Auditorium.

Megan Donahue, Michigan State Univ.

"Precipitation and Galaxy Evolution"

Abstract:

In massive galaxies and in clusters of galaxies, the thermodynamic state of the circumgalactic gas seems to regulate whether or not star formation is occurring in the central galaxy. I will discuss the observational evidence for this claim. I will also discuss implications for lower mass galaxies if regulation via precipitation triggering plays an important role in those galaxies as well. Physical predictions of this model will be presented.