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Steven Finkelstein

  • Professor
  • Isabel McCutcheon Harte Centennial Chair in Astronomy (Holder)
  • Astronomy
Profile image of Steven Finkelstein
stevenf@astro.as.utexas.edu
PMA
16.316
Website

Biography

Dr. Finkelstein graduated with a B.S. from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2003, and with a Ph.D. from Arizona State University in 2008. After graduating, he conducted research at Texas A&M University as the Postdoctoral Research Associate from 2008-2011. Dr. Finkelstein started as an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin in 2012, and became an Associate Professor in 2017. His research group's studies include: First Stars & Galaxies, Reionization Era & First Galaxies, Stellar Populations, Star Formation (Extragalactic), HETDEX: Dark Energy Experiment.

Research

Dr. Finkelstein's research group seeks to understand when and how galaxies first formed out of the cosmic dark ages. How long after the Big Bang did it take for the first stars to ignite? What were the properties of the first galaxies, and how do they differ from our Milky Way? How were the earliest black holes seeded and how did they grow? How did galaxies and accrediting black holes contribute to the reionization of the intergalactic medium?

He focuses on answering these questions through observations with state-of-the-art telescopes, including the largest telescopes on the ground and JWST and Hubble in space. They aim to achieve a physical understanding by interpreting our data through vibrant collaborations with theoretical astrophysicists from many groups around the world.

The research group collaborates within the Cosmic Frontier Center, designed to combine the observational and theoretical expertise in early galaxy formation at UT Austin to make breakthrough discoveries. The research group includes several postdocs and graduate students, each working on different pieces of the puzzle, often working together to acheive their goals. Recently their key effort has been the JWST CEERS project.
 

Dr. Finkelstein's research interests include: Observations of the Early Universe; Galaxy Formation and Evolution; Reionization; Chemical Evolution of the Universe.

Courses

AST301 - Introduction to Astronomy (non-science major survey course)

AST358 - Galaxies and the Universe (upper-level astronomy major course)

AST386 - Galaxies at High Redshift (graduate course)

Research Areas

  • Cosmology or Space

Fields of Interest

  • Extragalactic

Centers and Institutes

  • Cosmic Frontier Center

Education

  • B.S., University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (2003)
  • Ph.D., Arizona State University (2008)

Publications

  • Wold, I., Finkelstein, S., Barger, A., Sowie, L. & Rosenwasser, B. 2017, A Faint Flux-Limited Lyman Alpha Emitter Sample at z~0.3, Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal

    Jaacks, J., Thompson, R., Finkelstein, S., & Bromm, V. 2017, Baseline Metal Enrichment from Population III Star Formation in Cosmological Volume Simulations, Submitted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

    Livermore, R., Finkelstein, S., & Lotz, J. 2016, Directly Observing the Galaxies Likely Responsible for Reionization, Astrophysical Journal, 835 113

    Invited Review Article: Finkelstein, S. L. 2016, Observational Searches for Star-Forming Galaxies at z > 6, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 33, 37

    Jung, I., Finkelstein, S. et al. 2016, Evidence for the Suppression of Star-Formation in the Centers of Massive Galaxies at z = 4, Astrophysical Journal, 834, 81

    Song, M., Finkelstein, S. et al. 2016, Keck/MOSFIRE Spectroscopy of z=7-8 Galaxies: Lyman-alpha Emission from a Galaxy at z=7.66, Astrophysical Journal, 826, 113

    Song, M., Finkelstein, S. et al. 2016, The Evolution of the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function at z =4--8: A Steepening Low-Mass-End Slope with Increasing Redshift, Astrophysical Journal, 825, 5

    Jaacks, J., Finkelstein, S. & Nagamine, K. 2016, Connecting the Dots: Tracking Galaxy Evolution Using Constant Cumulative Number Density at z = 3--7, Astrophysical Journal, 817, 174

    Finkelstein, S. L., Song, M., Behroozi, P. et al. 2015, An Increasing Stellar Baryon Fraction in Bright Galaxies at High Redshift, Astrophysical Journal, 814, 95

    Finkelstein, S. L., Ryan R, Papovich, C. et al. 2015, The Evolution of the Galaxy Rest-Frame Ultraviolet Luminosity Function over the First Two Billion Years, Astrophysical Journal, 810, 71

    Song, M., Finkelstein, S. et al. 2014, The HETDEX Pilot Survey. V. The Physical Origin of Lyalpha Emitters Probed by Near-infrared Spectroscopy, Astrophysical Journal, 791,3

    Finkelstein, S. L., Papovich, C., Dickinson, M., et al. 2013, The Discovery of a Rapidly Star-forming Galaxy 700 Million Years After the Big Bang at z = 7.51, Nature, 502, 524

    Finkelstein, S. L., Papovich, C., Ryan, R., Pawlik, A., Dickinson, M., Ferguson, H., Finlator, K., Koekemoer, A., Giavalisco, M. and the CANDELS Team 2012, CANDELS: The Contribution of the Observed Galaxy Population to Cosmic Reionization, Astrophysical Journal, 758, 93

    Finkelstein, S. L., Papovich, C., Salmon, B., Finlator, K., Dickinson, M., Ferguson, H., Giavalisco, M., Koekemoer, A., Reddy, N. and the CANDELS Team 2012, CANDELS: The Evolution of Galaxy Rest-Frame Ultraviolet Colors from z = 8-4, Astrophysical Journal, 756, 164

    Finkelstein, S. L., Cohen, S. H., Windhorst, R. A., Ryan, R. E., Hathi, N. P., Finkelstein, K. D. and the WFC3 ERS Team 2011, Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Lyman Alpha Emission at z = 4.4, Astrophysical Journal, 735, 5

    Finkelstein, S, L., Cohen, S. H., Moustakas, J., Malhotra, S., Rhoads, J. E. & Papovich, C. 2011, Dust Extinction and Metallicities of Star-Forming Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies at Low Redshift, Astrophysical Journal, 733, 117

    Finkelstein, S. L., Hill, G. J. & Gebhardt, K. et al. 2011, The HETDEX Pilot Survey III: The Low Metallicities of High-Redshift Lyman Alpha Galaxies, Astrophysical Journal, 729, 140

    Finkelstein, S. L., Papovich, C., Giavalisco, M., Reddy, N., Ferguson, H., Koekemoer, A. & Dickinson, M. 2010, On the Stellar Populations and Evolution of Star--Forming Galaxies at 6.3 < z < 8.6, Astrophysical Journal, 719, 1250

    Finkelstein, S. L., Cohen, S. H., Malhotra, S., Rhoads, J. E., Papovich, C., Zheng, Z., Wang, J. 2009, A Plethora of AGN Among Lyman Alpha Galaxies at Low Redshift, Astrophysical Journal, 703, L162

    Finkelstein, S. L., Papovich, C., Rudnick, G., Egami, E., Le Floc'h, E., Rieke, M., Rigby, J. & Willmer, C. 2009, Turning Back the Clock: Inferring the History of the 8 O'clock Arc, Astrophysical Journal, 700, 376

    Finkelstein, S. L., Cohen, S., Malhotra, S. & Rhoads, J. E. 2009, Evolution of Lyman Alpha Galaxies: Stellar Populations at z sim 0.3, Astrophysical Journal, 700, 276

    Finkelstein, S. L., Malhotra, S. Rhoads, J. E., Hathi, N. P. & Pirzkal, N. 2009, The Expected Detection of Dust Emission from High-Redshift Lyman Alpha Galaxies, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 393, 1174

    Finkelstein, S. L., Rhoads, J. E., Malhotra, S. & Grogin, N. 2009, Lyman Alpha Galaxies: Primitive, Dusty or Evolved?, Astrophysical Journal, 691, 465

    Finkelstein, S. L., Rhoads, J. E., Malhotra, S., Grogin, N. & Wang, J. 2008, Effects of Dust Geometry in Lyman Alpha Galaxies at z = 4.4, Astrophysical Journal, 678, 655

    Finkelstein, S. L., Rhoads, J. E., Malhotra, S., Pirzkal, N. & Wang, J. 2007, The Ages and Masses of Lyman Alpha Galaxies at z sim 4.5, Astrophysical Journal, 660, 1023

    Finkelstein, S. L. & Morse, J. A. et al. 2006, Optical Structure and Proper-Motion Age of the Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnant 1E 0102-7219 in the Small Magellanic Cloud, Astrophysical Journal, 641, 919

Awards

  • 2011 - Hubble Prize Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 2015-2016 - McDOnald Observatory Board of Visitors Teaching Excellence Award
  • 2016 - UT Austin College of Natural Sciences Teaching Excellence Award
  • 2017 - UT Austin Dads' Association Centennial Teaching Fellowship