Home / Faculty

Faculty Directory

Department Chair: Raja Guha Thakurta Department Manager: Abby Campbell Wong
Department Chair: Constance Rockosi Graduate Advisor: Lindsay Lauver
Undergraduate Program Director: Graeme Smith Administrative Assistant: position is vacant
Graduate Program: Brant Robertson Administrative Assistant, Astrobiology Institute: Deana Tanguay
David Chih-Yuen Koo
  • Title
    • Professor Emeritus/Astronomer
  • Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division
  • Department
    • Astronomy & Astrophysics Department
    • UC Observatories
  • Phone
    831-459-2130
  • Email
  • Fax
    831-426-3115
  • Website
  • Office Location
    • 263 Interdisciplinary Sci Bldg
  • Mail Stop UCO / Lick Observatory
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Astronomy, Astrophysics

Summary of Expertise

astrophysics

Research Interests

Faint surveys of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) continue to be the primary focus of my research in observational cosmology. Besides using the Keck Telescopes to obtain deep spectroscopic surveys (e.g., DEEP2 & DEEP3) of the distant universe, my research also exploits the exquisite optical and near-infrared images from the Hubble Space Telescope (e.g. CANDELS) as well as complementary panchromatic (multiwavelength) imaging ranging from the X-ray using Chandra in space to the radio using the VLA from the ground (see AEGIS program). The science goals are to answer the basic questions of 1) how did galaxies acquire their stars, gas properties, dust, and morphologies? 2) what has been and explains their evolution in star formation, supermassive black hole growth, infall and outflow of gas, chemical abundances, and development and assembly of galactic structures such as bulges, disks, bars, clumps, and dark matter halos? and 3) can we explain what we observe with the most advanced theoretical simulations?

Biography, Education and Training

PhD UC Berkeley 1981
Carnegie Fellowship and Associate Research Position, Carnegie institution of Washington-DTM, 1981-1986
Space Telescope Science Institute Fellowship, STScI, 1986-1987
Assistant Astronomer and WFPC2 Instrument Scientist, STScI, 1987
Astronomer/Professor UCO/Lick Observatory UCSC, 1988-2014 

Emeritus: Professor/Astronomer UCSC 2014-present

 

Honors, Awards and Grants

 

Selected Publications

Here is a link to my most recent 100 publications using ADS.  For the 200+ refereed publications ordered from highest citations first (citation ordered).

 

Selected Presentations

 

Selected Exhibitions

 

Selected Recordings

 

Selected Performances

 

Teaching Interests