Dr. Mark Swinbank

I am an extra-galactic astronomer in the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham. My research interests include the formation and evolution of galaxies, galaxy clusters, large scale structure and galaxies in interaction. I exploit multi-wavelength data to explore the properties of distant (high-redshift) galaxies in order to explore the processes which shaped the local Universe (such as the Milky-Way). In particular, I use strong gravitational lensing (the deflection of light by massive foreground galaxy clusters) to boost the sizes and brightnesses of images of distant, young galaxies to resolve structures and dynamics on scales which would otherwise be impossible with current technology. I also work on obscured star-formation -- dusty galaxies -- selected at sub-mm and radio wavebands. These galaxies are seen in the sub-mm as the UV/optical starlight from young, massive stars is absorbed by dust and re-radiated in the far-infrared waveband. Sub-mm galaxies are a major population in the early Universe, contributing around 50% of the energy density at redshift (z)~2; (ie. seen 10 billion years ago) and represent the formation epoch of todays massive luminous elliptical galaxies.