CAB Seminar on Thursday 05th of March at 12:00 (CET) by Michele Perna (CAB)
Laura Colzi
CAB
SEMINARS
Thursday, 05th March 2026, 12:00 (CET) (Auditorio/Zoom)
Galaxies do not evolve in isolation. In the prevailing picture of hierarchical structure formation, they grow through repeated mergers and interactions, events that profoundly reshape their structure and fuel the growth of their central supermassive black holes. Understanding these transformative phases is key to reconstructing the history of galaxy evolution across cosmic time.
In this seminar, I will discuss how the unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are revolutionising our view of galaxy assembly in the early Universe. In particular, I will present recent results from the GA-NIFS survey (Galaxy Assembly with JWST/NIRSpec Integral Field Spectroscopy), a program with strong roots at CAB designed to resolve the internal structure and environments of galaxies at redshift z ∼ 3-11, when the Universe was less than two billion years old. Our observations reveal that dual and multiple Active Galactic Nuclei (i.e. systems in which two or more accreting supermassive black holes coexist within their own galaxies) are far more common at high redshift than previously anticipated.
These systems provide unique laboratories for studying black hole growth during galaxy interactions and represent the progenitors of the gravitational-wave events that future missions such as LISA will detect. More broadly, I will highlight how JWST is allowing us to uncover short-lived and previously hidden phases of galaxy evolution, including the discovery of the most distant ring galaxy known, likely produced by a recent head-on collision with a small satellite. These JWST observations demonstrate how mergers can drive rapid structural transformation, intense star formation, and black hole activity in the early Universe.
Join zoom meeting at: https://rediris.zoom.us/j/85134397594?pwd=Sms4OUdSWmdocGh3R1dwU1NJaWk2Zz09
Meeting ID: 851 3439 7594
Passcode: 125143
Previous seminars can be found at CAB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/CentrodeAstrobiologia
A full list of seminars in our webpage: https://cab.inta-csic.es/en/training/academy/cab-seminars-2025-2026/