Katiya Fosdick Astrophysics Ph.D.
Student

I am a first-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. 

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