Research
My work spans scales from spatially-resolved kinematics of individual galaxies to the hot gas in galaxy clusters, wavelengths from radio to X-rays, and objects from z>4 to z~0. I combine observations with cosmological simulations to understand how galaxies grow, interact with their surroundings and the two-way effect on their evolution.
IllustrisTNG · The CGM of satellites
Starving satellites: how galaxies lose their gas reservoir
de Isídio, Popesso, Tacchella et al. 2026b, A&A (in press)
Using MaNGA-like mock galaxies from IllustrisTNG, we reconstruct the histories of ~7,300 galaxies (2,800 satellites) as a function of time since they fell into their group or cluster. Satellites lose ~90% of their hot circumgalactic gas within ~4 Gyr of infall, and their hot gas mass closely tracks their star formation. Quenched satellites keep forming stars for at least ~3 Gyr after infall before declining sharply: a delayed-then-rapid shutdown driven by the gradual erosion of the hot circumgalactic medium.
IFU data of z~0 galaxies · The kinematics of quenched galaxies
Environment written in galaxy kinematics
de Isídio, Popesso et al. 2026a, A&A 709, A263
The first systematic census of quenching mechanisms based on kinematic asymmetries, using ~6,700 MaNGA galaxies. Different quenching processes leave different signatures on the motions of gas and stars. The most effective pathways leave almost no kinematic imprint once a galaxy is fully quenched, pointing to slow processes (more than 3 Gyr) such as starvation. Quenched, undisturbed satellites are significantly more compact than disturbed ones, suggesting that environment quenches satellites through rapid gas stripping followed by long-term starvation.
VLA, GMRT & Spitzer data · DM distribution
Velocity [km/s]
Dark matter in Milky Way analogues
de Isídio, Menéndez-Delmestre et al. 2024, ApJ, 971, 69
We cannot easily measure the Milky Way’s dark matter halo from inside it, so we studied five external Milky Way analogue galaxies with deep HI data and Spitzer mid-IR imaging. We built rotation curves with 3D kinematic modelling, separated the contributions of stars, gas and dark matter with an MCMC approach, and found a dark matter density of 0.21–0.55 GeV/cm³ at the Sun-equivalent radius, consistent with Milky Way estimates. I followed this up as Co-PI of 155 hours of new VLA and GMRT HI observations.
Collaborations
I also contribute to collaborative work on galaxies falling into clusters (SAMI and TNG-Cluster), AGN feedback in cosmological simulations (FLAMINGO, SIMBA, IllustrisTNG, COLIBRE), hot gas in galaxy groups and clusters (Magneticum), the stellar-to-halo mass relation (eROSITA), and galaxy kinematics at cosmic noon. I am Co-I and working-group deputy of EMPOWER, a 150-night VLT/KMOS Large Programme.