Ismael Pessa

About me

I am currently a Ph.D. student, member of the IMPRS-HD program, working under the supervision of Dr. Eva Schinnerer as an active member of the PHANGS collaboration at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg.

The main focus of my research is studying how nearby galaxies form new stars, and what are the main mechanism driving this process. To this end, I use PHANGS/ALMA CO data as a tracer for the cold molecular gas from which stars are formed, and connect it with measurement of the ionized ISM and stellar continuum obtained from the PHANGS/MUSE dataset.

I am also involved in the study of the spatially resolved stellar populations of the PHANGS/MUSE sample, and the measurement of the rotation curve of PHANGS galaxies at high spatial resolution using different kinematic tracers. For more details on my research, please visit my research and publications pages.

Other activities I like, besides astronomy include playing accordion, guitar, and drum, and watching my cat doing absolutely anything.