Alice E. Shapley

Alice E. Shapley is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. She was one of the discoverers of the spiral galaxy BX442.

Shapley received a A.B. in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Physics at Harvard-Radcliffe University in 1997, and a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in 2003.

Shapley's research areas are based on galaxy formation and evolution, the feedback processes in starburst galaxies, stellar populations at high redshift, and the evolution of the inter-galactic medium at high redshift.

Alice has been listed as a contributing author on 100 publications dating back to 2000. She is listed as the primary author in eight publications, including “The Direct Detection of Lyman-Continuum Emission from Star-forming Galaxies at z ~ 3”.

The Direct Detection of Lyman-Continuum Emission from Star-forming Galaxies at z ~ 3

UV spectroscopic observations of samples for z~ 3 star-forming galaxies showed uncharacteristically deep penetration into the Lyman continuum region. Ionizing radiation escaping from individual galaxies at high red shift were detected, and the ratio of emergent flux density to Lyman continuum region was determined. The collected data for the average emergent flux density ratio contradicted the escape fraction previously implied from past publications. The team was able to confirm estimates of the level of the ionizing background from galaxies and quasars, but the emergent far-UV spectra could not be confirmed. To help solve this problem, the group suggests taking a sample of LBGs with deep Lyman continuum measurements that is an order of magnitude larger and covers a larger range of luminosity than what they gathered.

Testing metallicity indicators at z~1.4 with the gravitationally lensed galaxy CASSOWARY 20

The star-forming galaxy CASSOWARY 20 was studied in this publication. Temperature and density-sensitive emission lines were used to generate physical properties of the system, as well as a chemical analysis of its atmosphere. The galaxy was found to have a surprisingly low carbon-to-oxygen ratio, suggesting it was quickly formed by a chemical reaction. Emission lines and absorption features allowed the group to determine the metallicity of CASSOWARY 20 with a small level of uncertainty. Large-scale outflows of interstellar medium were similar to related data from galaxies with higher rates of star formation.

• 1997, Leo Goldberg Prize, Harvard
• 1997-1998, Virginia Gilloon Fellowship, California Institute of Technology
• 1998-2001, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
• 2006, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship
• 2006, Packard Fellowship
• 2010, McMaster Cosmology Lecture
• 2014, Aaronson Lecture

• Extensive experience in optical and near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy
• Palomar 200-inch telescope (COSMIC, LFC)
• Keck Observatory (LRIS, HIRES, ESI, NIRC, NIRSPEC)
• Hubble Space Telescope (WFPC2)