The Brightest Cluster Galaxy and Intracluster Light - Louise Edwards

Explore the fascinating world of brightest cluster galaxies and intracluster light in this 29-minute lecture by Louise Edwards from CalPoly. Delve into the application of astrostatistics and machine learning tools to galaxy formation and evolution. Discover how current and future Integral Field Unit surveys are revolutionizing our understanding of galaxies by producing hundreds of spectra per galaxy across tens of thousands of galaxies. Learn about the wealth of information contained in galaxy morphology through imaging data, down to the pixel level and across various wavelengths. Examine how statistical and machine learning-powered outlier detection algorithms are uncovering anomalous galaxies that challenge our current paradigms, and how these discoveries will accelerate with upcoming projects like Rubin, DESI, Roman, Euclid, and the SKA. Gain insights into the crucial role of data science tools in linking observations with theoretical models, including cosmological hydrodynamical simulations and dark matter-only simulations with semi-analytic or empirical models.