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The JWST FRESCO survey: legacy NIRCam/grism spectroscopy and imaging in the two GOODS fields

Dust attenuation, dust content, and geometry of star-forming galaxies

As Simple as Possible but No Simpler: Optimizing the Performance of Neural Net Emulators for Galaxy SED Fitting

UNCOVERing the extended strong lensing structures of Abell 2744 with the deepest JWST imaging

JWST UNCOVER: Extremely Red and Compact Object at z phot≃ 7.6 Triply Imaged by A2744

Kate Whitaker is an observational extragalactic astronomer who studies galaxy formation and evolution over the past twelve billion years of cosmic time. 

Working with the Cosmic Dawn Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, Whitaker and her team are working towards pushing our detection of quiescent “red and dead” galaxies even earlier in time (within a billion years of the Big Bang itself!) with a goal understand the detailed physics of the structures and underlying stellar populations of these early massive galaxies.

In 2019, Whitaker gained international attention for her work on a team that discovered a new monster galaxy hiding behind a cloud of stardust.

Detection of Dead Galaxies

Galaxy formation and evolution

Astronomy

UMass Amherst Faculty Profile

Personal Website

Google Scholar Citations

The James Webb Space Telescope prompts a rethink of how galaxies form

New image from Webb Telescope, processed by UMass astronomers, reveals the deepest parts of space in Pandora’s Cluster

UMass Amherst astronomers help uncover new details deep in space

hubble space telescope

Most distant star ever seen found in Hubble Space Telescope image

Hubble telescope finds dead galaxies. Scientists say they may help us understand 'where we're from'

Hubble Finds Early, Massive Galaxies Running on Empty

Associate Professor of Astronomy

A team of astronomers, including some from UMass Amherst, have discovered traces of a huge “monster” galaxy never seen before. UMass Assistant Professor of Astronomy Kate Whitaker and postdoctoral fellow Christina Williams at the University of Arizona are both UMass alumni. Whitaker and Williams worked together on the galaxy discovery project. Carolee McGrath sat down with Whitaker to learn more about the discovery and what it all means.

UMass New Galaxy Discovery | Connecting Point | Nov. 20, 2019

UMass Professor Kate Whitaker talks about the discovery of a new monster galaxy.

UMass Team Discovers New 'Monster' Galaxy

Title: A Requiem for Massive Galaxies
Presenter: Prof. Kate Whitaker - UMass Amherst, US

Abstract: 
When the Universe was merely three billion years old, about half of massive galaxies had already formed the bulk of their stars and new star formation plummeted.  How these ‘red and dead’ (quiescent) galaxies quench at such early times remains a puzzle, as their dark matter halos contain large gas reservoirs. This gas should cool efficiently, sustaining star formation over long periods.  In this talk, I will review the recent innovative techniques developed to probe the physical properties of early quiescent galaxies, and the key observations constraining their formation histories.  I will present promising paths forward towards solving this puzzle that leverage strong gravitational lensing and the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope and ALMA, as well as a look toward the future with exciting new public facilities.
 
Short Bio:  
As an observational extragalactic astronomer, Kate Whitaker studies galaxy formation and evolution over the past twelve billion years of cosmic time. In addition to her position as an Assistant Professor in the Astronomy Department at UMass Amherst, she is also an associate faculty at the Cosmic Dawn Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. Whitaker's research group actively collaborate with DAWN, working towards pushing our detection of quiescent “red and dead” galaxies even earlier in time (within a billion years of the Big Bang itself!). Their goal is to understand the detailed physics of the structures and underlying stellar populations of these early massive galaxies.

A Requiem for Massive Galaxies with Kate Whitaker

The first year of observations from the James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the Universe. Webb is a 6.5-meter space telescope sensitive to infrared light, detecting the light of ancient galaxies greater than 13 billion years. 

These first galaxies seem to be forming earlier and more rapidly than previously thought, defying predictions from our best theoretical models.  And the evidence continues to mount — we now find an abundance of oversized supermassive black holes, and, when the Universe was merely one billion years old, we find examples of star formation plummeting in ‘too early’, ‘too massive’ galaxies. 

Taken together, our entire knowledge of early galaxy formation is in a state of flux. In this talk, Whitaker will introduce you to the capabilities of NASA’s newest flagship mission and highlight a few of the most exciting and revolutionary results to date. Among these is the story of distinguishing the most distant galaxies from those enshrouded in thick veils of dust while teasing out the hidden monsters inside.

Katherine E. Whitaker is an Associate Professor of Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Associate Faculty at the Cosmic Dawn Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a 2019 Alfred P. Sloan fellow and 2023 Kavli Fellow. Whitaker completed her undergraduate degree at UMass Amherst in 2005, after which point she earned her PhD in Astronomy at Yale University in 2012. Whitaker was a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center from 2012-2015 and then brought a NASA Hubble Fellowship to UMass Amherst from 2015-2017. She was an Assistant Professor at UConn 2017-2019, later moving back to UMass in 2019.

This lecture was originally recorded on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at the Aspen Center for Physics as part of the Nick and Maggie DeWolf Foundation Winter Lecture Series.

Fresh Tracks into Galaxy Formation with Webb with Kate Whitaker

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