top of page
Hubble Ultra Deep Field.jpg
Katiya Fosdick is pictured in front of an interesting high-redshift galaxy cluster from the HST SNAP sample

Katiya Fosdick

Astrophysics Ph.D. Student

Welcome!

I am a second-year graduate student at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research working with Prof. Mike McDonald.

 

I am motivated to understand how galaxy-rich structures evolve from small, actively-evolving galaxy groups to massive, dynamically-relaxed galaxy clusters along the protogroup -> group -> protocluster -> cluster structure-formation chain. I have historically used the brightest galaxies in groups and clusters, brightest group/cluster galaxies (BGGs and BCGs), to classify the dynamical ages of galaxy clusters.

 

My research interests also include galaxy evolution and formation, BGG/BCG evolution, intracluster light, and the relationships between galaxy properties and their environments. I am excited by galaxy-galaxy interactions that fundamentally change the galaxies involved and the clusters in which they reside. 

​

In my free-time, I like singing opera, caring for my fish tanks, and collecting and restoring antiques. 

Contact Information

MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research

70 Vassar Street

Office ---

Cambridge, MA, 02139

(608) 575-3183

bottom of page