By Myles Sauer

B次元官网网址 Staff

A national nonprofit organization that has delivered research and training programs in Canada for 17 years is working with universities to foster industrial and social innovation across the country. But one studentB次元官网网址檚 work at the University of Victoria has implications that go far beyond our own galaxy.

Twenty-two-year-old Braulio Antonio, an undergraduate student at National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, was one of over 500 international students chosen for the Mitacs Globalink program.

Antonio says he developed an interest in astronomy and astrophysics in college. B次元官网网址淚 learned that black holes are present in the nucleus of many galaxies,B次元官网网址� he wrote in an email. B次元官网网址淟ater I got more interested in galaxies themselves, [and] their dynamics, composition, and evolution.B次元官网网址�

Over the course of 12 weeks this summer, he worked under Sara Ellison, a professor at the University of Victoria, to better understand the phenomenon of B次元官网网址榞alaxy mergers.B次元官网网址�

Galaxy mergers occur when two or more galaxies are close together and get caught in each otherB次元官网网址檚 gravitational pull, which eventually leads to them colliding and forming a single, much larger galaxy.

Working with Ellison, Antonio looked at a statistical sample of galaxies using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to better understand their properties, and from there, made a map of where and when the stars formed, and how rapidly. The second part of their research involved looking at the distribution of gas and stars during the merger process.

B次元官网网址淥ne of the questions we can answer by looking at galaxy mergers is how this process drives galaxy evolution,B次元官网网址� says Ellison. B次元官网网址淲hen we look at giant galaxies, like the Milky Way, we know there are billions of stars in them. We think they get that way from smaller galaxies merging together, over and over again. We think galaxies grow by snowballing together.B次元官网网址�

What they found, Ellison says, is an B次元官网网址渋nside-out processB次元官网网址� in which galaxies with high rates of star formation undergo bursts of new stars in their centre; likewise, low rates of star formation correlate with similarly B次元官网网址渋mpoverishedB次元官网网址� centres.

Ellison and Antonio are currently co-authoring a report on their findings which should be published by the end of the year.

A total of 28 other Mitacs Globalink students from Brazil, China, France, Germany, and Tunisia were also in Victoria this summer working in labs at UVic and Royal Roads University. According to Alejandro Adem, CEO and scientific director of Mitacs, thatB次元官网网址檚 because CanadaB次元官网网址檚 become a destination location for international students.

B次元官网网址淭he top three reasons foreign students choose to study here are the quality of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 education system, our reputation as a tolerant and non-discriminatory society and our reputation as a safe country,B次元官网网址� he said.

Now back in Mexico City, Antonio says heB次元官网网址檚 happy to have experienced studying in Canada. B次元官网网址淚 found UVic a great university, and Victoria itself a beautiful city.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淏esides the skills [acquired],B次元官网网址� he continued, B次元官网网址渨hen it comes to the research project itself, it really settles a path to follow for my graduate career.B次元官网网址�