Dr Lilian Garratt-Smithson

I am a ASTRO-3D research scientist, with a particular focus on using theoretical modelling to better understand observables from the ASKAP-FLASH survey.

I am interested in the life cycle of galaxies and how this is affected by multiple generations of stars. Previously I investigated this using hydrodynamical simulations of entire galaxies, along with the giant molecular gas clouds, which are the birth place of stars. These simulations focussed on the interplay of supernova explosions with the gradual heating of the interstellar gas by massive stars (those with a mass at least 8 times that of the Sun).

My current work is looking at some of the coldest gas in the galaxy and how this is affected by evolutionary processes such as mergers, along with star formation. I am particularly interested in what large cosmological-scale simulations can tell us about the atomic Hydrogen (HI) gas inside galaxies and linking this to the ASKAP-FLASH HI absorption survey.