Large-scale galaxy environments: clusters, groups and filaments

The morphology, star-formation history, dynamics, and many other properties of galaxies depend strongly on where they formed and where they live. In other words, galaxies are affected by their environment. We have already studied in great detail the most extreme environments (cores of rich galaxy clusters), but milder environments such as the groups and the filamentary structures that feed galaxy clusters remain largely unexplored. We know that these environments must play an important role on galaxy evolution because many of the galaxies that fall into clusters have already been "pre-processed" by the time they arrive to the cluster core. In this project we will combine state-of-the-art numerical galaxy formation and evolution models with new and unique observational data taken with some of the most innovative astronomical instruments to, first, map these structures and identify the galaxies that inhabit them and, second, study their properties to find out how these environments affect their history.