Paul Hickson's Research Paul Hickson Research Interests One of the most basic unresolved questions in modern astronomy is how galaxies form and evolve. Because of the finite speed of light, we see distant galaxies as they were in the past. The light travel time for the most distant visible galaxies is several billion years, comparable to the age of the universe, so by studying distant galaxies we are also looking back in time.
Many distant galaxies look significantly different from their nearby counterparts.
One of the differences is that new stars are forming in distant galaxies at a much more rapid rate. A possible reason for this is that the star formation is triggered by gravitational interactions between galaxies. By comparing distant galaxies with nearby ones, it should be possible to identify the nature and causes of such evolutionary effects in galaxies. My research involves both observations of very distant galaxies, and studies of nearby interacting galaxies. Compact Groups of galaxies provide the best environment for galaxy interactions to occur, so it is natural to study these systems in order to better understand the interaction process and its effects.