Prof. Erica Ellingson
Department of Astrophysical and
Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado
Fellow of
the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy.
Research Interests
I work on topics
concerning the evolution of galaxies and quasars,,
large scale structures and observational cosmology-- the origin, contents
and evolution of the universe. Much of my recent work concerns measurements
of dark matter distributions and galaxies in clusters of galaxies-- giant
structures of hundreds or thousands of galaxies and clouds of hot gas, held
together by the gravity of invisible dark matter. I use a variety of different
types of telescopes for my research: large and small ground-based telescopes
from around the world, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Infrared
Telescope, and the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-Ray space telescopes.
Caption:
1) 2) A Hubble Space Telescope
image of one of the RCS distant clusters (z=0.77). The blue and red arcs around
the central region are much more distant galaxies (up to z=4.78). Their
appearance has been magnified and stretched to this extreme shape via
gravitational lensing from the warping of space by the cluster's great mass,
and we can use these images to constrain the cluster's dark matter mass
distribution.
2) Hot X-ray emitting gas confined
by the gravity of an RCS galaxy cluster, observed by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
The temperatures and shapes of these cluster gas clouds provide yet another way
of measuring the dark matter in clusters.
3) Image of an RCS cluster at
z=0.38, showing the galaxy colors in the cluster core. Blue galaxies are
actively forming stars whereas red galaxies have ceased their star formation in
the cluster environment. The ÒcirrusÓ and contours show the projected galaxy
density in the cluster as measured from photometric redshifts.
Current Research Projects:
On the Road to Coma:
A longitudinal study of cluster galaxy evolution (APO, HST, Chandra)
The RCS Cluster
surveys (20,000 red-sequence-selected clusters to z=1): APO, CFHT, HST, Gemini,
Chandra, Spitzer
Cosmological constraints from large sample of galaxy
clusters
Star formation in and near clusters and superclusters
of galaxies
Comparing cluster-finding efficiencies and cluster dark matter mass
estimates from multi-wavelength measures
Multi-wavelength
Observations z=1 clusters from the Sparcs/GCLASS
Cluster Surveys (Spitzer, Gemini, Chandra, XMM)
Mapping the Infall regions of Clusters; Galaxy
Evolution in Large scale structures (CFHT, CTIO, Magellan, SALT)
Teaching
Courses I've
taught at CU include undergraduate Astronomical Observations and
Instrumentation (ASTR 3510 and 3520), graduate-level Astronomical Observations
(ASTR 5750), a graduate level course on Galaxies, (ASTR 5720),
introductory-level Stars and Galaxies (ASTR
1200) , Modern Cosmology (ASTR 2010) and Ancient Astronomies of the World (ASTR
2000). Honors courses include ÒCosmology, Galileo and GodÓ and ÒSky Watching.Ó
I am the director of CU-STARS, a program which works
towards recruiting and retaining students from diverse backgrounds in STEM majors
at CU.
Outreach and Public Speaking
I've written,
produced and presented several planetarium shows at CU's Fiske Planetarium
covering forefront research on topics such as dark matter, dark energy and galaxy
evolution, and regularly present public lectures on these topics for groups in
Colorado and elsewhere. and have been a featured
speaker for astronomy tours in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Asia.
IÕve given plenary presentations on observational cosmology for the American
Astronomical Society and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Other Stuff
I'm married to APS
professor Nick Schneider. We have two kids, and we all enjoy backpacking, skiing,
and travel.
Dr. Erica Ellingson
CASA UCB 389
U. Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309
303-492-6610
email: Erica.Ellingson
–at- colorado.edu