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Extragalactic
Astrophysics &
Observational Cosmology Group
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| Monique
Christine Aller |
Postal
Address:
ETH Zurich
Institute of Astronomy, Physics Department, HIT J21.5
Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27
CH-8093 Zurich
Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0)44 633-7098
Fax: +41 (0)44 633-1476
email: aller@phys.ethz.ch |
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Curriculum
Vitae
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Education:
2007 - PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI, USA
2001 - M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI, USA
1999 - B.A. cum laude, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA
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Employment:
October 2007 - present - Postdoctoral Researcher, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Sept 1999 - Aug 2007 - Graduate Student Research Assistant/ Instructor,
U. Michigan, USA
Summer 1998 - Summer Research Assistant (REU), NAIC, Arecibo
Observatory, USA
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Research
Interests
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Evolution
of galaxies, and characterizing the distribution of
supermassive black holes (AGN) and their relationships
with their host galaxies.
Evolution of Galaxies in the COSMOS
Presently, in close collaboration with Marcella Carollo and
Pascal Oesch ,
I am studying the star formation in massive early-type galaxies, both with and without a disk,
in the COSMOS.
Previous studies have shown that approximately 30% of massive early-type galaxies (ETGs)
to a redshift of 1 exhibit signs of recent star formation. Using a COSMOS mass-complete
sample of approximately 4300 morphologically selected ETGs
(approximately 2100 ellipticals and 2200 lenticulars), with photometric redshifts
between 0.2 and 1.0, we are comparing the galaxy properties of red and blue ETGs.
We are specifically examining the mass distribution of these two populations, the
geometry of the star formation in ETGs, and the environmental dependence of the star formation history,
as a function of the stellar mass. This work will be submitted for publication shortly.
I am also working on developing an I_AB=26.0 magnitude-limited,
morphological catalog of galaxies in the COSMOS.
This catalog will be an extension of, and improvement on, our current catalog
(which was an I_AB=24.0 magnitude-limited sample with morphologies assigned using the
ZEST (Zurich Estimator of Structural Types) algorithm ).
The new catalog will use the ZEST+ algorithm which will automatically measure an expanded set
of galaxy parameters, and which will replace the PCA analysis with a more powerful estimator of morphological type.
Supermassive Black Holes in the Local Universe
I am also involved in studies of supermassive black holes in the local universe,
including measurements of their masses (e.g. see
Siopis et al. 2008 and Gultekin et al.
2009a ,
2009b ),
determinations of their cosmic (mass) distribution ,
and studies of their relationships with their host galaxies .
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Selected
Papers
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Host Galaxy Bulge Predictors of Supermassive Black Hole Mass
Aller, M.C., & Richstone, D.O. 2007,
ApJ, 665, 120
The Cosmic Density of Massive Black Holes from Galaxy Velocity Dispersions
Aller, M.C., & Richstone, D. 2002, AJ,
124, 3035
Paris, France June 2008
Meeting: COSMOS Science Meeting
Contributed talk: “The Formation of Massive Galaxies in Dense and Low Density Environments”
Leiden, Netherlands July 2006
Workshop: “Galactic Nuclei Workshop”
Contributed talk: “Host Galaxy Bulge Predictors of Supermassive Black Hole Mass”
Washington D.C., USA January 2006
Conference: 207th American Astronomical Society Meeting
Contributed talk: “The Relationship Between SMBH Mass and Gravitational Potential Energy”
Washington D.C., USA January 2002
Conference: 199th American Astronomical Society Meeting
Contributed talk: “The Black Hole Mass Density from Velocity Dispersions”
Boulder, Co, USA January 1999
Conference: URSI National Radio Science Meeting
Contributed talk: “Excision of Radio Interference from Observations of Hydrogen Absorption Lines from Highly Redshifted Quasars” |
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Student
Supervision at ETH Zurich
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M. Jauslin: A Multiwavelength Analysis of COSMOS Data
M. Schaer: An Examination of Bulge:Disk Decompositions in the COSMOS
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