Tod R. Lauer
Tod R. Lauer, Astronomer
NOIRLab, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, AZ 85726
Phone: (520) 318-8290
tod.lauer@noirlab.edu
Areas of Interest
Cosmology, Large Scale Structure of the Universe, Evolution of Galaxies,
Distance Scale, Structure of Galaxies, Dense Stellar System,
Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei, Stellar Populations, Image Processing
Previous Research Projects
The Nuker Team:
HST Investigations of the Centers of Galaxies
This is an ongoing project to use HST to study
the central structure of early type galaxies. The program
combines WFPC2 imaging with FOS and STIS spectroscopy.
A key part of the program is understanding the demographics
of massive central black holes.
Marc Postman
(STScI) and Tod Lauer, with John
Hoessel (Wisconsin) and William Oegerle (JHU), are conducting a survey
to explore the evolution of large scale structure over the age
of the universe. This project used KPNO 4-m CCD images to identify
faint galaxies to 24th mag over a contiguous 16-square degree area of sky.
Analysis is in progress.
Tod Lauer & Marc Postman measured the motion of the Local Group of
galaxies with respect to a frame comprising a volume-limited full-sky
sample of Abell clusters within 15,000 km/s.
Work is now progress to extend the frame to 24,000 km/s.
NOIRLab is operated by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy
(AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the
National Science Foundation