Welcome to my Homepage.

Here you will find out about my scientific work on
Galactic Dynamics.


(Location Photo: Cordillera de Los Andes)

About

I am a FONDECYT Postdoctoral Research Fellow working in the group of Complex Stellar Systems at the Institute for Astrophysics at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC). I was born in the wonderful country of Chile, growing up in Osorno. Since I have memory I love dinosaurs (how not to, just see the amazing Triceratop's head in the picture). Later, I learned about much larger and equally amazing beasts: galaxies.
I enrolled to study Physics and Astronomy at the Universidad de Concepción in the Physics and Astronomy Departments where I joined the Theory Group (Bachelor, Titulo and Master). Later I moved to Germany and obtained my doctoral degree at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in München, working at the Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) within the Dynamics Group at the OPINAS Group. And after this, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Physics of Galactic Nuclei group (PGN) at MPE, joining also the Computational Astrophysics group (CAST) at the Observatory of the LMU (USM).

I am an astronomer passionate about the study of the dynamics and evolution of local galaxies. For this I develop models and simulations using a wide range of methods, software and programming languages. By closely working with observations, my dynamical models are a powerful instrument that can reveal substructures in galaxies, their dark matter content, and the mechanisms driving their evolution. This allows to make predictions to motivate or strengthen observational proposals. Furthermore, given that galactic dynamics permeates many astrophysical process, it allows me to collaborate in various research areas, as well as it strongly motivates me to teach this essential topic to the future generations of astronomers in Chile.

Finally, when I'm not engaged doing astrophysics or coding, I enjoy many activities like learning to play instruments, book reading, sports (biking, running, martial arts), some farming, stress baking an ultimate bread or pizza dough recipe and finally, thinking about the immortality of the crab.

You may download my CV here.

Research

Interests

◉ Local Group ◉ Barred galaxies ◉ Stellar & orbital dynamics
◉ Andromeda & Milky Way ◉ Dwarf spheroidal galaxies ◉ N-body simulations
◉ Local Group Dwarfs ◉ Galaxy Clusters ◉ Made-to-measure modelling
◉ Fornax Cluster ◉ Star clusters ◉ Hydrodynamics

Projects

Goals: these projects encompass studies of the dynamics of local galaxies, using for this models that reproduce high resolution observations. These models also allow to study the mechanisms that drive the evolution of these systems. Additionally, these models are used to produce mock observations, providing predictions for future observations.

Methodology: the approaches and methods of the dynamical modelling include: semi-analytical orbital calculations (such as the new code DELOREAN), N-body codes with tree methods, particle-mesh methods, and the Made-to-Measure modelling, whilst the hydrodynamical simulations are performed with grid codes such as Ramses, or SPH codes like Gadget3. Fortran or C for the simulation, and performing the data analysis with Python, Supermongo, IDL, Mathematica, MATLAB, among others.

Projects Webpage (link): the modelling includes dwarfs in the Milky Way system, as well as the central bar and bulge of the Andromeda galaxy. Further information and details can be found in this Link to Webpage here.

Publications

An updated list of my publications and collaborations can be found in ADS (link)
or in the new ADS with statistics here new ADS (link)

First Author Publications

16. The Milky Way satellite galaxy Leo T: a perturbed dwarf? (Link Paper, in prep.)
Blaña et al. in preparation
15. Dwarfs in the Milky Way halo outer rim: first in-fall or backsplash satellites? (Link Paper, accepted in MNRAS)
Blaña, Matias; Burkert, Andreas; Fellhauer, Michael; Schartmann, Marc; Alig, Christian
14. Sculpting Andromeda -- made-to-measure models for M31's bar and composite bulge: dynamics, stellar and dark matter mass. (Link Paper)
Blaña, M.; Gerhard, O.; Wegg, C.; Portail, M.; Opitsch, M.; Saglia, R.; Fabricius, M.; Erwin, P.; Bender R., 2018. MNRAS doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty2311 (Link)
13. Andromeda chained to the Box - Dynamical Models for M31: Bulge & Bar. (Link Paper)
Blaña, M.; Wegg, C.; Gerhard, O.; Erwin, P.; Portail, M.; Opitsch, M.; Saglia R.; Bender R., 2017. MNRAS.466.4279B
12. Life and death of a hero - lessons learned from modelling the dwarf spheroidal Hercules: an incorrect orbit? (Link Paper)
Blaña, M.; Fellhauer, M.; Smith, R.; Candlish, G. N.; Cohen, R.; Farias, J. P., 2015 MNRAS.446..144B
11. Leo IV and V - A possible dwarf galaxy pair? (Link Paper)
Blaña, M.; Fellhauer, M.; Smith, R., 2012 A&A...542A..61B
10. Leo IV and V - A possible dwarf galaxy pair? (Part II: a binary star clusters scenario). (Link Paper)
Blaña, M.; Fellhauer, M.; Smith, R., 2011 BAAA...54..397B

Collaborations

9. Unravelling stellar populations in the Andromeda Galaxy (Link Paper)
Grzegorz Gajda, Ortwin Gerhard, Matías Blaña, Ling Zhu, Juntai Shen, Roberto P. Saglia, Ralf Bender, 2021 A&A 647A
8. The survey of Planetary Nebulae in Andromeda (M31) II. Age-velocity dispersion relation in the disc from Planetary Nebulae (Link Paper)
Souradeep Bhattacharya, Magda Arnaboldi, Nelson Caldwell, Ortwin Gerhard, Matías Blaña, Alan McConnachie, Johanna Hartke, Puragra Guhathakurta, Claudia Pulsoni, Kenneth C. Freeman, 2019 A&A 631A
7. Stellar populations of the central region of M31 (Link Paper)
Saglia R.; Opitsch, M.; Fabricus, M.; Bender R.; Blaña, M.; Gerhard, O., 2018 A&A
6. Evidence for non-axisymmetry in M31 from wide-field kinematics of stars and gas (Link Paper)
Opitsch, M.; Fabricus, M.; Saglia R.; Bender R.; Blaña, M.; Gerhard, O., 2017 A&A.611A.38O
5. How fast is mass-segregation happening in hierarchical formed embedded star clusters? (Link Paper)
Domínguez, R.; Fellhauer, M.; Blaña, M.; Farias, J. P.; Dabringhausen, J., 2017 MNRAS.472..465D
4. Could Segue 1 be a destroyed star cluster? – a dynamical perspective (Link Paper)
Domínguez, R.; Fellhauer, M.; Blaña, M.; Farias, J. P.; Dabringhausen, J.; Candlish, G. N.; Smith, R.; Choque, N., 2016 MNRAS.461.3630D
3. The difficult early stages of embedded star clusters and the importance of the pre-gas expulsion virial ratio (Link Paper)
Farias, J. P.; Smith, R.; Fellhauer, M.; Goodwin, S.; Candlish, G. N.; Blaña, M.; Dominguez, R., 2015 MNRAS.450.2451
2. Ursa Major II - reproducing the observed properties through tidal disruption (Link Paper)
Smith, R.; Fellhauer, M.; Candlish, G. N.; Wojtak, R.; Farias, J. P.; Blaña, M., 2013 MNRAS.433.2529S
1. A possible formation scenario for dwarf spheroidal galaxies - II. A parameter study (Link Paper)
Assmann, P.; Fellhauer, M.; Wilkinson, M. I.; Smith, R.; Blaña, M., 2013 MNRAS.435.2391A

My Thesis

III. Dynamics of the bar and the bulge of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) (Doctoral Thesis) (Link PDF [English])
II. Effects of the Initial Mass Function on the Infant Mortality of Embedded Star Clusters (Master Thesis) (Link PDF [English])
I. Life of a Hero –Hercules, Stream or Dwarf Galaxy? (Thesis Professional Astronomer Degree) (Link PDF [English])

Contact & Questions

Thanks for visiting my Homepage, and please feel free to contact me for any question, writing me to matias.blana.astronomy@gmail.com or using the form below.

Also, if you want to apply to fellowships or grants in Chile or Germany, but do not know how, I am happy to help; I successfully applied to the programs of the DAAD (doctorate), ANID (Master), Becas Chile (Postdoc), FONDECYT (Postdoc), and participated at the IMPRS program, acquiring experience in the German and Chilean academic systems.

Also, write me if you want to study astronomy as a career and you have questions on the daily duties of astronomers (you can also check a presentation here).

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