Dr. NICOLAS LAPORTE
I'm curently an Assistant Astronomer (faculty) at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille of the Aix-Marseille University working on the nature and physical properties of the first galaxies using the current largest ground-based (ALMA, GTC, Keck, VLT, etc...) and space telescopes (HST, Spitzer, JWST). I am also strongly involved in Outreach activities, especially those dedicated to children.
UPCOMING TALKS
[OUTREACH]
Dans les coulisses des premières observations du JWST
[Paris / FRANCE ]
03.02.2024
The ISM of distant galaxies
[Sesto/ Italy ]
15.01.2024
[OUTREACH]
Les premières galaxies vues par le JWST
[Anthony / France ]
08.03.2024
[OUTREACH]
Les phénomènes physiques "extraordinaires"
[Clermont-Ferrand / France ]
29.03.2024
MY LATEST RESEARCH
New observations of six of the most distant galaxies currently known have helped to pinpoint the moment of first light in the Universe, known as ‘cosmic dawn’. The new work is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and puts a new spotlight on what could be among the first galaxies formed in the Universe. (RAS Press Release)
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Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers found a rotating baby galaxy 1/100th the size of the Milky Way at a time when the Universe was only seven percent of its present age. Thanks to assistance by the gravitational lens effect, the team was able to explore for the first time the nature of small and dark "normal galaxies" in the early Universe, representative of the main population of the first galaxies, which greatly advances our understanding of the initial phase of galaxy evolution. (NAOJ Press Release)
Astronomers have used observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to determine that star formation in the very distant galaxy MACS1149-JD1 started at an unexpectedly early stage, only 250 million years after the Big Bang. This discovery also represents the most distant oxygen ever detected in the Universe and the most distant galaxy ever observed by ALMA or the VLT. The results will appear in the journal Nature on 17 May 2018. (ESO Press Release)
"Astronomers have used ALMA to detect a huge mass of glowing stardust in a galaxy seen when the Universe was only four percent of its present age. This galaxy was observed shortly after its formation and is the most distant galaxy in which dust has been detected. This observation is also the most distant detection of oxygen in the Universe. These new results provide brand-new insights into the birth and explosive deaths of the very first stars." (ESO Press Release)
"To peer into the distant universe is also to peer back in time. Researchers are seeing the tiny galaxy, which they nicknamed Tayna, as it existed 13.8 billion years ago. The early universe was likely populated by many such newborn galaxies but few have been observed before now because of their extreme faintness." (HST Press Release)