Education

  • 2021: Ph.D. in Astrophysics at the University of Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
    Thesis: "Interplay between relativistic and thermal plasma in relaxed galaxy clusters"
  • 2017: Master's degree in Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
    Thesis: "A combined JVLA and Chandra study of the Abell 2626 galaxy cluster"
  • 2014: Bachelor's degree in Astronomy at the University of Bologna (Bologna, Italy)
    Thesis: "Dinamica dei due e/o pochi corpi: Sistema Solare, Sistemi Binari"
  • 2011: High school diploma at Liceo C. Livi (Prato, Italy)

Employment

  • 2022-2024: Postdoctoral researcher at INAF - Osservatorio di Padova
    Project: "Galaxies in clusters: the radio and X-ray view"
  • 2021-2022: Postdoctoral researcher at INAF - Osservatorio di Padova
    Project: "Characterizing galaxy evolution in clusters at radio wavelengths"
  • 08/2019 - 11/2019: Marco Polo fellowship at Sterrewacht Leiden - Visiting Ph.D. student
    Project "Detecting diffuse emission at the center of relaxed cluster with LOFAR"

Other

  • Since 2022: Member of the International Astronomy Union

Research

A list of the works in which I am involved can be found on the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System.

Ongoing projects:

Jellyfish galaxies

Ram pressure stripping, a process whereby the hot, pressurized intracluster medium (ICM) removes the interstellar medium (ISM) from a galaxy, plays a crucial role in regulating galaxy evolution within galaxy clusters. The jellyfish" galaxies exhibit long tails of ionized plasma, a consequence of the displaced ISM trailing behind the galaxy's stellar disc for tens of kpc. These tails provide a unique window into a multitude of astrophysical phenomena, including star formation under extreme conditions and the complex interplay between hot and cold plasmas.

[Image caption: Multi-wavelength view of the jellyfish galaxy JW100 .]

Radio emission in galaxy clusters

In galaxy clusters we can observe the largest radio sources in the universe. These objects are produced by complex interactions between magnetic field, cosmic rays and hot plasma. My research is focused on the study of the physical connection between the thermal and non-thermal plasma.

[Image caption: LOFAR image of the Kite radio source in Abell 2626.]

PT-REX

The study of spatial correlations between different emissions can provide key insights into the physical processes beneath. I developed the Point-to-point TRend Extractor (PT-REX) to automate this analysis. PT-REX can be used to compare radio, X-ray or optical emission with a set of different statistica tools. For further information, check the article.

Contact me

E-mail: alessandro.ignesti@inaf.it