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Ricardo Muñoz Vidal
Associate Professor, Director of the Astronomy Department
Background & Contact Information
Ph.D. in Astrophysics, 2008, University of Virginia, VA, USA. Postdoctoral Associate: 2008-2011, Yale University, CT, USA.
Research Topics:Near-Field Cosmology, Dwarf Galaxies, Galactic Structure, Local Volume.
Areas of interest
My current interests are focused primarily on the evolution of dwarf galaxies (particularly dwarf spheroidal galaxies and ultra-faint systems) and their interactions with our Milky Way. My work involves observational and computational (N-body simulations) studies of these systems aimed at understanding the role that Galactic tides play in shaping their structural and kinematical properties. Dwarf spheroidal galaxies are the faintest and possibly the darkest (most dark-matter dominated) kind of galaxies in the universe. Besides being interesting systems in their own right, they provide us with significant constraints on current cosmological models at small scales and can potentially teach us something about the nature of dark matter.
Biography
Ricardo R. Munoz is Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Virginia, USA. Afterwards he held a Postdoctoral position at Yale University, New Haven, USA. Since november 2010. Dr. Munoz works as a Professor at the Astronomy Department at Universidad de Chile. Currently, he is an Associate Professor (2017 to date).
Along with a strong research program focused on Near-Field Cosmology (see the section above), since the beginning of his position at Universidad de Chile, Dr. Munoz has been particularly active in administrative instances, both in service to the community as well as internally at the Department of Astronomy. During 4 and a half years, Dr. Munoz was the Chair of the Chilean Telescope Allocation Committee (CNTAC), responsible for assigning to the Chilean community the telescope time available through international agreements signed by the Universidad de Chile (currently manages more than 20 telescopes). In addition, Dr. Munoz has been a member in several national committees, such as the Gemini-Conicyt Committee and the Fondecyt study group of Astronomy, Cosmology and Particles. He has been a Chilean representative in the AURA Management Council for LSST (AMCL) and is one of the founders of the Chilean Participation Group (CPG) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) scientific collaboration. Internally, in the Department of Astronomy, Dr. Munoz has been Graduate Advisor and more recently he has been in charge of the Administration and Finance area.
He is a member of the Chilean and American Astronomical Societies (SOCHIAS and AAS).
Along with a strong research program focused on Near-Field Cosmology (see the section above), since the beginning of his position at Universidad de Chile, Dr. Munoz has been particularly active in administrative instances, both in service to the community as well as internally at the Department of Astronomy. During 4 and a half years, Dr. Munoz was the Chair of the Chilean Telescope Allocation Committee (CNTAC), responsible for assigning to the Chilean community the telescope time available through international agreements signed by the Universidad de Chile (currently manages more than 20 telescopes). In addition, Dr. Munoz has been a member in several national committees, such as the Gemini-Conicyt Committee and the Fondecyt study group of Astronomy, Cosmology and Particles. He has been a Chilean representative in the AURA Management Council for LSST (AMCL) and is one of the founders of the Chilean Participation Group (CPG) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) scientific collaboration. Internally, in the Department of Astronomy, Dr. Munoz has been Graduate Advisor and more recently he has been in charge of the Administration and Finance area.
He is a member of the Chilean and American Astronomical Societies (SOCHIAS and AAS).
Courses, Projects, Recent Publications
- Chemistry
- Astrophysics of Galaxies
- General Astronomy
- Galactic Astronomy
- Introduction to Astrobiology
