Stephen Hamer

I study the processing of gas within galaxy clusters, some of the largest gravitationally bound strucutres in the Universe.  These structures are permiated with hot and rapidly cooling gas and represent interesting and unique labratories in which to study galaxy evolution processes.

I use multi-wavelength observations taken by a multitude of different telescopes to study how the hot gas cools, condenses onto the central galaxy and its supermassive black hole, drives star formation and outbursts from AGN which ultimately disrupt the the gas, slowing its cooling in a perpetual feedback cycle. 

To study this wide array of processes I use spectroscopic observations to constrain the kinematics of the gas to understand how it is moving.  By studying the energetics and physical properties of the gas I investigate the processes responcible for illuminating it and moving it about within the cluster.  Finally by looking at chemical tracers within the gas I can constrain where it has origonated and how it has been processed by the system.

Combining all of this together accross multiple gas phases is nessasery to develope a full understanding of the physical processes governing galaxy evolution within the cluster core.  Lessons learned within these environments can then be applied to the larger galaxy population to help us understand why our Universe is the way it is.