How do we "autopsy" a galaxy from billions of light-years away? Join  world-renowned astrophysicist Dr. Elisabete da Cunha as she  sits down with Astrophiz host Brendan O’Brien to explore the life, evolution, and eventual "death" of the most massive structures in the universe.

From her early inspirations under the stars of Portugal to her groundbreaking work in Extragalactic Astronomy, Elisabete shares her personal journey and the high-tech tools used to decode Starlight, Cosmic Dust, and Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs).
In this episode, we dive into:

Galaxy Evolution: How star systems grow and transform over billions of years.

Radio Astronomy: Using invisible light to peer into the deep universe.

Stellar Populations: What the chemistry of stars tells us about the history of space.

Cosmology & Dark Matter: The invisible forces shaping our galactic neighborhood.

Whether you are a student of astrophysics or a casual stargazer, this conversation offers a unique, charming, and deeply insightful window into the forensic evidence of our universe.

Read the full transcript and see the show notes at: https://astrophiz.com/2026/03/18/galaxy-forensics-with-dr-elisabete-da-cunha-astrophiz-230/

Subscribe to Astrophiz for your monthly dose of space science, telescope technology, and expert interviews.

Full Transcript

Elisabete230V1

Exceptional Interviews with exceptional scientists.
Brendan sometimes even gets how and why science works, and each month he conducts in-depth interviews with leading astro and space researchers. In each episode we feature Astrophysicists, Space Scientists, Particle Physicists, Data scientists, Antenna engineers, Instrument scientists, optical & radio astronomers, Satcomm engineers, project leaders and aurora hunters. For Astrophotographers, also each month we also hear from Dr Ian ‘Astroblog’ Musgrave who tells us when, where and what to look for in the sky over the coming weeks and explains astronomical phenomena in ‘Ian’s Tangent’.
This ongoing series has taken us through the history, theory and practice of radio astronomy from Faraday to Gravitational waves. Each episode includes the latest news roundup in this golden age of astrophysics. Enjoy!  This podcast is free, ad-free and unsponsored, the way all good science is.

New tracks tagged #Galaxy Forensics