Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Maruša Bradač

The main topic of Prof Maruša Bradač’s research are the first galaxies in the Universe. She tries to find the answer to the question how galaxies including ours were created. Breakthrough research in this area will take place with the observations of the James Webb telescope. Dr Maruša Bradač participates in this project as a member of the research group which developed one of the four most important scientific instruments on this telescope the NIRISS camera. Dr Maruša Bradač also studies the composition of space, her specialisation being the measurement of characteristics of dark matt er, the elusive “ that makes up one quarter of the universe.

Prof Dr Maruša Bradač, astrophysicist, is the recipient of the ERC Advance Grant entitled FIRSTLIGHT in the amount of EUR 2million for a period of 5 years. “With the FIRSTLIGHT project I will focus my research outlook on the early history of the Universe, the time when the first stars and galaxies were created. I will use the data obtained by my group with the James Webb Space Telescope, as our group developed one of the most important scientific instruments on this telescope, the NIRISS camera. Based on these data she will study the dark age when the first galaxies likely reionised the neutral hydrogen and changed space from opaque to transparent for visible light”, the project is described by Prof Bradač who until recently worked as a professor at the University of California, Davis, USA. This ERC Advance Grant enables her to successfully continue her career in Slovenia and establish her own research group collaborating with colleagues from Italy, the USA and Canada.

Building up a research group, hiring a postdoctoral associate (potential 5 year position): https://jobregister.aas.org/ad/9333535d

Selected:

• M. Bradac. The high-redshift Universe with Spitzer. Nature Astronomy, 4:478-485, May 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1104-5
• M.Bradac, K.-H.Huang, A.Fontana, M.Castellano, E.Merlin,R.Amor n, A. Hoag, V. Strait, P. Santini, R. E. Ryan, S. Casertano, B. C. Lemaux, L. M. Lubin, K. B. Schmidt, T. Schrabback, T. Treu, A. von der Linden, C. A. Mason, and X. Wang. Hubble Frontier Field photometric catalogues of Abell 370 and RXC J2248.7-4431: multiwavelength photometry, photometric redshifts, and stellar properties. MNRAS, 489 (1):99-107, Oct 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz2119
• A. Hoag, M. Brada c, K. Huang, C. Mason, T. Treu, K. B. Schmidt, M. Trenti, V. Strait, B. C. Lemaux, E. Q. Finney, and M. Paddock. Constraining the Neutral Fraction of Hydrogen in the IGM at Redshift 7.5. ApJ, 878(1):12, Jun 2019. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab1de7
• M.Bradac, A. Hoag, B. Lemaux, C. Mason, D. Pelliccia, T. Treu, and V. Strait. Spectroscopic Probes of Galaxies at the Epoch of Reionization. BAAS, 51(3):39, May 2019
• M. Bradac, D. Garcia-Appadoo, K.-H. Huang, L. Vallini, E. Quinn Finney, A. Hoag, B. C. Lemaux, K. Borello Schmidt, T. Treu, C. Carilli, M. Dijkstra, A. Ferrara, A. Fontana, T. Jones et al. ALMA [C II] 158  m Detection of a Redshift 7 Lensed Galaxy behind RXJ1347.1-1145. ApJ, 836:L2, February 2017. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/836/1/L2
• M.Bradac, R.Ryan, S.Casertano, K.H.Huang, B.C.Lemaux, T.Schrabback, et al. Spitzer UltRa Faint SUrvey Program (SURFS UP) I: An Overview. ApJ, 785:108, April 2014. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/785/2/108
• A. Hoag, M. Brada c, M. Trenti, T. Treu, K. B. Schmidt, K.-H. Huang, B. C. Lemaux, J. He, S. R. Bernard, L. E. Abramson, C. A. Mason, T. Morishita, L. Pentericci, and T. Schrabback. Spectroscopic con rmation of an ultra-faint galaxy at the epoch of reionization. Nature Astronomy, 1:0091, April 2017. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-017-0091
• V. Strait, M. Brada c, D. Coe, A. C. Carnall, L. Bradley, D. Pelliccia, K. Sharon, A. Zitrin, A. Acebron, C. Neufeld et al. RELICS: Properties of z & 5.5 Galaxies Inferred from Spitzer and Hubble Imaging, Including A Candidate z   6.8 Strong [O III] emitter. ApJ, 910 (2):135, April https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abe533