Matthew A. Taylor

About Me

*no penguins were harmed in the taking of this photo

Born in the beautiful Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, I am an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at the University of Calgary in Calgary, AB. Prior to this I earned my PhD in Astrophysics from Pontificia Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile before holding a positions as Gemini Science Fellow based at Gemini Observatory North in Hilo, HI, as an NRC Postdoctoral Fellow at Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics in Victoria, BC.

In another life before astronomy, I spent several years working as a professional cook in Nanaimo and Victoria, BC, prior to earning my BSc from the University of Victoria. As a result, I very much enjoy cooking at home, trying new techniques and creating tasty (usually?) concoctions. I love combining different global techniques and ingredients to expand my repertoire!

Being Canadian, I happily maintain the stereotype of being a huge hockey fan. On any given night between October and June, one can find me cheering on my Canucks, Penguins, and/or Victoria Royals. Additionally, I always enjoy a good geek-out with friends around a tabletop game. From classics like cribbage to modern 4X games like Scythe, time-permitting I'm almost always happy to sit down and roll the dice.

When the weather is good, I love getting outdoors for hiking, camping, or just to enjoy the deafening silence that only Nature can provide. I try to take advantage of the beautiful Rocky Mountains when possible, although sadly not often enough! If hiking or camping aren't options, then sometimes it’s great to just take the camera somewhere interesting to try and get some unique photos in such a picturesque environment.

Education:

BSc in Combined Physics & Astronomy, University of Victoria (2011)

PhD in Astrophysics, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2016)

Research Interests: Low-mass stellar systems in the nearby universe.

Research

Central massive black holes in compact stellar systems

Stellar populations of compact stellar systems

Low-mass satellite systems of nearby giant galaxies in groups and clusters

Formation history of NGC5128/Centaurus A, and its outer halo population

Dwarf galaxy structural and stellar population properties

Do Massive Black Holes Comes in Small Packages? A census of black holes in compact stellar systems in the Virgo cluster with JWST/NIRSpec
Collaborators: P. Côté, M. Valluri, L. Ferrarese, J. Roediger, E. Peng, V. Baldassare, H. Baumgardt, M. Bentz, J. Blakeslee, K. Dage, Y. Ko, C. Liu, E. Vasiliev, K. Wang, T. Woods
An upcoming JWST Cycle 1 project for which we have been awarded 41.2 hours of time. We are using JWST/NIRSpec+IFU to measure the motions of stars deep in the cores of ultra-compact dwarfs galaxies, compact elliptical galaxies, and nuclear star clusters throughout the Virgo galaxy cluster. The kinematical measurements will show evidence for the dynamical influence of massive black holes in the cores of these systems, or rule out such presence. The existence (or lack thereof) will inform theories on black hole formation, and provide evidence for so-called "intermediate mass black holes" that may be common in compact stellar systems.

Survey of Centaurus A's Baryonic Structures
Collaborators: T.H. Puzia, P. Eigenthaler, R.P. Muñoz, M. Sauda-Bovill
A deep, wide, multi-band (u’g’r’i’z’) survey of the Centaurus A galaxy group, of which NGC 5128 is the central massive galaxy. Covering ~70 sq. degrees using the Dark Energy Camera, this is among the deepest and widest ground-based surveys of NGC 5128 ever conducted. Our group’s primary goals are to detect >99% of the group’s star cluster systems, discover many faint new dwarf galaxies and trace out tidal features. These results will place strong constraints on the formation history of NGC 5128, and have significant near-field cosmological implications.
DATA
PUBLICATIONS

Next Generation Fornax Survey
Collaborators: T.H. Puzia, P. Eigenthaler, Y. Ordenes-Briceño, R.P. Muñoz, E. Johnston, Y. Rong
This ambitious survey uses the Dark Energy Camera and the VISTA Infrared Camera to image the nearby Fornax galaxy cluster in optical and near-infrared wavelengths. The on-sky footprint corresponds to all baryonic structures within the cluster virial radius, with the aim of building a near-complete census of low-mass satellites (i.e. globular clusters, dwarf galaxies, nuclear clusters, and ultra-compact dwarfs) in the intra-cluster medium.
PUBLICATIONS

The Velocity Field of NGC5128's Outer Halo
Collaborators: T. Bridges, H. Jerjen, D. Forbes, L. Spitler
As a follow-up program to early SCABS results, we used the 2dF-AAOmega facility on the Anglo-Australian Telescope to obtain spectra for ~2000 globular cluster candidates around NGC 5128. The spectra are reduced and in the queue to be analyed, with the primary science goals being i: confirm Centaurus A group membership, ii: map out the velocity field of NGC 5128 into its distant halo at high cadence, and iii: test for the existence of coherent rotation of the Centaurus A group ranging from kpc to Mpc scales.

Neighbourhood Watch: Taking Stock of Baryonic Structures in the Nearby Universe
Collaborators: B. Miller, T.H. Puzia, R. Sanchez-Janssenn
With two prominent nearby galaxy groupings, each representing extreme ends of local galaxy densities, we have placed both NGFS and SCABS under a larger umbrella program we call Neighbourhood Watch (NW). NW is deeply imaging several nearby galaxy groups—namely NGCs 2997, 3115, 3923, 4594, and 6744—covering a wide range of environmental densities to investigate scaling relations of low-mass stellar systems and their reliance/roles in the mass assembly of galaxy groups/clusters.

Community

Please contact me for virtual public outreach and/or classroom astronomy talks!

Teaching:

ASPH307: Observational Astrophysics (University of Calgary, Winter 2024)
ASPH401: Galactic Astrophysics (University of Calgary, Fall 2023)
ASTR209: Introduction to Astronomy, The Cosmos (University of Calgary, Winter 2023)
ASPH401: Galactic Astrophysics (University of Calgary, Fall 2022)
PHYS598/599 Undergraduate Thesis Supervision
- Monica Bellamy: Automated Globular Cluster Identification Using Bayesian Machine Learning Algorithms (University of Calgary, 2023/2024)
- Cameron Leahy: Artificial Dwarf Galaxy Experiments Using Automated Detection Techniques Applied to Wide-field Imaging (University of Calgary, 2022/2023)
- Vaughan Lacharite: Radial Velocity Measurements of NGC5128 Globular Clusters (University of Calgary, Winter 2023)
- Luke Zhao: Machine Learning Applications to Globular Cluster Selection in Optical Imaging (University of Calgary, Fall 2022)

Graduate Student Supervision:

Currently recruiting MSc student to begin in Fall 2024
Ryan Primdahl, MSc, 2023-2025
Cameron Leahy, MSc, 2023-2025
Solveig Thompson, MSc, 202202024

Selected Outreach Activities:

"Be an Alien Astronomer" Interactive Exhibit, Beakerhead Festival (Calgary, AB; September 2023)
Public Talk at Rothney Astrophysical Observatory Space Night: "Do Massive Black Holes Come in Small Packages? How to find black holes that don't want to be found." (Calgary, AB; October 2022)
Mount Royal University Summer Space Camp: Q&A and interactive astronomy activities (Calgary, AB; August 2022)
Guest SHAD-Carleton Lecture, SHAD-Canada summer students (remote; Calgary, AB; July 2022)
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Virtual Public Talk: "Judge Me By My Size Do You? Tales of the littlest galaxies that could." publitc outreach talk (Victoria, BC; January 2021)
University of Victoria Open House Virtual Public Talk: "So You Think You Can Galaxy?" public outreach talk (Victoria, BC; December 2020)
Journey Through the Universe 2018, 2019: visited eight elementary school classrooms on the Big Island of Hawai'i to teach children between grades 2-5 about how different cultures view constellations and guided them through an exercise demonstrating how constellations would appear from different perspectives around the galaxy. (Hawai'i Island, HI)
Hilo/Kona Astroday 2017, 2018, 2019: joined the Gemini Observatory booth to share information about careers, discoveries, and the wonders of astronomy with members of the Hawaiian community both young and old. (Hilo/Kona, HI)
Astronomy on Tap Hilo Public Talk: "So You Think You Can Galaxy: the life and times of the littlest star systems that could." public outreach talk. (Hilo, HI; December 2017)
Astrotweeps 2017: curated the popular astrotweeps twitter account to engage the Twitter community about my work. (Hilo, HI)
University of Victoria Open House 2009-1010: assisted in UVic's Department of Physics and Astronomy weekly open house and public sky watching events. (Victoria, BC)

Equity, Diveristy, and Inclusion:

University of Calgary Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Committee Chair (2022 - present)
National Research Council of Canada Anti-Racism Seminar (Victoria, BC; 2021)
NOIRLab Unconcious Bias in Hiring Training (Hilo, HI; 2018)

Photos

While far from a professional...heck, even a hobbyist is a stretch...I still enjoy taking my camera out and trying to capture some interesting images from time to time. Please enjoy a selection of some of my favourites, and do come back as I'll try to update this page every now and then.