Francesca Rizzo

About Me

I am a DAWN/Interactions Fellow at the Cosmic Dawn Center , a research center located in Copenhagen at the Niels Bohr Institute.

I did my PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching (Germany) under the supervision of Dr Simona Vegetti and Prof Simon White. You can find here my PhD thesis, "A strong gravitational lensing view on the dynamical properties of high-redshift star-forming galaxies".

For my Master Degree in Astrophysics and Cosmology, I studied at University of Bologna (Italy) and I obtained my Bachelor in Physics at University of Pisa (Italy).

I grew up in Casarano, a village in Puglia, a fabulous region in southern Italy.

Research

I am interested in the ways in which galaxies form and evolve across cosmic time. In particular, my research focuses on galactic dynamics, that is the study of the motion of gas and/or stars within galaxies. Through this kind of study, I learn how different physical processes shaped the variety of galaxies that we observe today.

My research is focused on high-redshift galaxies, young and distant objects that give us information about the early stage of the Universe. Detailed studies of these objects are almost impossible for current telescopes, because they appear very small and faint. I overcome this limitation by using nearby galaxies as magnification glasses that give distorted and magnified images of the background objects. In this case, the glass is the mass of the foreground galaxy that causes a distortion of the space-time, so that the light of the background galaxy is distorted. This phenomenon is called gravitational lensing and was predicted by Einstein and observed for the first time by Eddington in 1919.

Publications

Link to my library on ADS

First Author

• Rizzo F., Vegetti S., Fraternali F., Stacey H. R., Powell D.; "Dynamical properties of z ~ 4.5 dusty star-forming galaxies and their connection with local early-type galaxies"; MNRAS, 507, 3952; 2021, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021MNRAS.507.3952R/abstract
• Rizzo F., Vegetti S., Powell D., Fraternali F., McKean J. P., Stacey H. R., White, S. D. M.; "A dynamically cold disk galaxy in the early Universe"; Nature, 584, 7824; 2020, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020Natur.584..201R/abstract
• Rizzo F., Vegetti S., Fraternali F., Di Teodoro E.; "A novel 3D technique to study the kinematics of lensed galaxies"; MNRAS, 481, 5606; 2018, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018MNRAS.481.5606R/abstract
• Rizzo F., Fraternali F., Iorio G.; "S0 galaxies are faded spirals: clues from their angular momentum content"; MNRAS, 476, 2137; 2018, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018MNRAS.476.2137R/abstract

Co-Author

• Tozzi G., Cresci G., Marasco A., Nardini E., Marconi A., Mannucci F., Chartas G., Rizzo F., et al.; "Connecting X-ray nuclear winds with galaxy-scale ionised outflows in two z ∼ 1.5 lensed quasars"; A&A, 648, 99, 2021, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021A%26A...648A..99T/abstract
• Stacey H. R, McKean J. P., Powell D., Vegetti S., Rizzo F., Spingola C., Auger M. W., Ivison R. J., van der Werf P.\,P.; "The rocky road to quiescence: witnessing the compaction and quenching of quasar hosts at z ~ 2"; MNRAS, 500, 3667, 2021, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021MNRAS.500.3667S/abstract
• Powell, D., Vegetti, S., McKean, J. P., Spingola, C., Rizzo, F., Stacey, H. R.; "A novel approach to visibility-space modelling of interferometric gravitational lens observations at high angular resolution"; MNRAS, 2020, in press, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020MNRAS.tmp.2608P/abstract
• Akhshik, M., Whitaker, K. E., Brammer, G., Mahler, G., Sharon, K., Leja, J., Bayliss, M. B., Bezanson, R., Gladders, M. D., Man, A., Nelson, E. J., Rigby, J. R., Rizzo, F., Toft, S.; Wellons, S.; Williams, C. C.; "REQUIEM-2D Methodology: Spatially Resolved Stellar Populations of Massive Lensed Quiescent Galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope 2D Grism Spectroscopy"; ApJ, 900, 184, 2020, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020ApJ...900..184A/abstract
• Spingola, C., McKean, J. P., Vegetti, S., Powell, D., Auger, M. W., Koopmans, L. V. E., Fassnacht, C. D., Lagattuta, D. J., Rizzo, F., Stacey, H. R., Sweijen, F.; "SHARP - VI. Evidence for CO (1-0) molecular gas extended on kpc-scales in AGN star-forming galaxies at high redshift"; MNRAS, 495, 2387, 2020, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020MNRAS.495.2387S/abstract

Other publications

This is a proceeding of the XXXth IAU General Assembly, Focus Meeting on “Galactic Angular Momentum”, August 2018, Vienna, Austria. Link

Press releases

• ESO press release on my Nature paper: "ALMA sees most distant Milky Way look-alike" (August 2020)
• INAF press release on my Nature paper: "Molto giovane, incredibilmente ordinata" (August 2020)
• This is a research highlight on my first PhD paper on MPA webpage: "A novel 3D technique to study the kinematics of lensed galaxies" (August 2018)

Media

• Forbes: "Discovery: ‘Ring Of Light’ Galaxy Close To The ‘Big Bang’ Echoes Milky Way, Say Puzzled Scientists
• CNN: "Astronomers find galaxy similar to Milky Way more than 12 billion light-years away"
• Independent: "Scientists find distant galaxy surprisingly similar to our own and its further away than any before"
• Vice: "Scientists Found a Lookalike of Our Own Galaxy Deep in Cosmic Time"
• Focus, Germany: "Ferne Galaxie widerspricht gängiger Theorie"
• El Pais: "Encuentran un gemelo de la Vía Láctea en la infancia del Universo"
• La Vanguardia: "Descubren una galaxia que pone en duda la teoría dominante sobre la creación del universo"
• RTL: "Un "bébé" galaxie identifié à 12 milliards d'années-lumière: "Cet anneau de lumière ressemble étrangement à notre Voie lactée"

Video and Podcasts

• Webinar for Astronomiamo: "Galassie primordiali in UltraHD"
• Talk for Astronomy on Tap - London: "An unprecedented ultra HD view of a distant galaxy"
• Video Interview for MediaInaf TV: "Così giovane ma già così ordinata: scoperta una lontana sosia della Via Lattea"
• Interview for Co.Scienza: "Galassie all'alba dell'Universo"
• Interview for Cosmic Controversy: "How We All Got Here Galaxy Evolution over Cosmic Time"

Contacts

My email is Francesca.rizzo@nbi.ku.dk.

Elements

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